Yesterday Simon Hayes of Warf.co.uk wrote a piece on the upcoming London Thames Cable Car (Gondola). Work apparently is to start this summer and everything but the legalities have been finalized. A bidder has been named, but will not be announced until all legal agreements have been signed. A spokesman for Transport for London was...
In 1897, tens of thousands of people stormed the Klondike in search of gold and riches. Most of the prospectors came back empty handed. Those that didn’t and found their fortune did so after staking dozens of claims, most of which never paid off. That’s the thing about prospecting: 99% of the work is for...
Because the Chinese Tunnel Bus™ is so 2010, it’s time to introduce our first best-bet nominee for insane bus-based transit technology of the year: The Dutch Superbus… The Superbus is the brainchild of Netherlands astronaut and Delft University of Technology professor Wubbo Ockels, while the design itself was carried out by Dr. Antonia Terzi, an Italian aerodynamicist...
Julia sends along a link to a chairlift system in Montafon, Austria. So what do we make of it?
A quick look at some of the things that makes suspended urban transit work (or not): The Aerobus Aerobus: Self-propelled suspended urban transit Inventor: Gerhard Mueller First installation: 1970, Schmerikon, Switzerland Distance between Aerobus tower spans: 0.6km Distance between Peak2Peak gondola tower span: 3.0km Only major installation: 1975, BUGA Mannheim, Germany Months in service: 6...
A few highlights from around the world of Urban Gondola Transit and Cable Propelled Transit: Maclean’s Magazine gives a quick write-up about the Complexo do Alemao Teleférico. Interestingly, we finally learn what the system price was: $74-million (presumably USD). That gives a per kilometer cost of roughly $22-million, which is fairly impressive considering it will...
So apparently last week the port wine-producing city of Vila Nova de Gaia in Portugal is the latest city in the world to open an urban gondola transit system. Similar to the Complexo do Alemao Teleférico in Rio de Janeiro, this one opened without a peep from the English-speaking world. As such, we know virtually...
To start with Part 1, click here. Aesthetically, the Sentosa Island Gondola is a tale of two systems. It’s schizophrenic in its physicality, towing the line between stark utilitarianism and modern, urban chic. Never however, do those two aspects converge effectively. It’s as though there are two halves to its personality, and neither ever seem...
The Sentosa Island Gondola is one of the world’s oldest urban gondola transit systems. Commonly referred to as the Sentosa Island Cable Car (it’s an MDG gondola), the system is utterly normal in most respects but was a pioneer in two very important ways: It was the first system to ever span a major port/harbour and;...
These are a few of the more intriguing tidbits I learned about New Zealand while in Wellington to attend the New Zealand Planning Institute’s annual conference. Most of the lessons were learned via heresay, gossip, first-hand observation and rumour, so take them for what they’re worth. Time hasn’t permitted me to double-check any of the...