Last week I talked here about the need to rethink public transit. This week, we return to the subject but from a different perspective. As a lifelong writer of advertising and marketing materials, I’ve always been interested in how people and industries are marketed (aka presented in the media). Advertising people like me are typically...
Anglophone reader Paul Travis forwards us this old-school video about ropeway safety in German. Given our still nascent grasp of the language and the importance of cable car safety, we invite our German-speaking friends to help translate. (Google is getting better but we still wouldn’t trust it beyond ‘Please direct me to the local gondola...
A quick look at some of the things that happened this week in the world of urban gondolas, cable cars and cable propelled transit: 3S Gondola in Magland<>Les Carroz<>Flaine (France)? A 8km, 5 station 3S gondola has been proposed to connect Magland’s TGV train station to the Flaine ski resort. Magland is a French commune...
Photographer: Photo by Flickr user Nan Palmero. About: Rio de Janeiro’s legendary Sugarloaf Cable Car is undoubtedly one of the world’s most famous ropeways. Built over 100 years ago by Augusto Ferreira Ramos, the system has retained its charm and remains one of Rio’s most important cultural and historical icons. Each year it transports over...
Oddly, one of the simplest but greatest joys I’ve experienced as a parent were Saturday morning subway rides with my daughter when she was between 3 and 6 years old. She loved the whole experience, from giving a ticket to the attendant in the booth, to looking out the window as the tunnel lights rushed...
A quick look at some of the things that happened this week in the world of urban gondolas, cable cars and cable propelled transit: Providência Cable Car (Rio de Janiero, Brazil) Residents of Rio de Janeiro can breathe a sign of relief, now that officials have announced the Teleférico da Providência will actually commence operations...
Photographer: Photo by Flickr user harmon. About: Although not actually a mass transit gondola, Hong Kong’s Ocean Park Cable Car acts like one. One of the world’s only “dual” mono-cable detachable gondolas, it efficiently uses two cable-car systems side-by-side. It boasts a 4000-person capacity spread over 252 cabins. The 1.5km ride is an indispensable link...
— — Thanks go to Reader Reto from Switzerland, who sent us a video of the mighty Pardatschgratbahn in Ischgl, Austria. This new 3S cable car adds to the small but growing list of tricable detachable gondolas in the world. It reportedly has the greatest height difference of any 3S: 1,251m! (That’s almost 50% taller...
A quick look at some of the things that happened this week in the world of urban gondolas, cable cars and cable propelled transit: Penang Skycab Plans for an urban gondola were announced this week in Penang, Malaysia. The 3km system — estimated to cost RM 250-300 million (USD$69-83 million) — will connect Penang Sentral,...
Photographer: Photo by Flickr user Sérgio Lopes. About: The Teleférico de Gaia is Porto, Portugal’s 562m urban cable car system. This gondola quickly takes tourists on a sweeping panoramic ride over this town’s historic UNESCO-recognized city center, from the Douro riverside to the upper deck of the magnificent Dom Luis I Bridge. More than tourist...