As we’ve demonstrated before, cable cars, ropeways and gondolas are amongst the safest transit technologies in the world. But that doesn’t mean accidents don’t happen. A few days ago in Pakistan a cable car system snapped, sending 8 passengers plunging into the swollen Indus river below. No survivors were reported. A similar incident occurred last...
Note: Due to the Easter Break, the Roundup was moved from last Friday to today. We will continue with Roundups on Fridays from here on. A quick look at some of the highlights from around the world of Urban Gondolas, Gondola Transit, and Cable Propelled Transit: Various news outlets (here, here and here for example)...
Last week a German paraglider crashed into the cables of a Bavarian gondola. The incident trapped 20 people in the gondola for 17 hours overnight. There were no injuries or fatalities and all parties were rescued via helicopter. Does this mean gondolas are unsafe? No. It means accidents happen. For example: During the Christmas season...
Last week a chair lift at Sugarloaf Resort in Maine derailed injuring 8 people, none seriously. Nevertheless, the story was all over the news and internet. But as I’ve argued before here, the degree of media coverage a given technology’s failure causes is inversely related to the chance of that failure’s occurrence. So while it...