#Aerial Ropeways

Jun 04, 2010
Urban Planning & Design

Connecting Branson

(Today’s is a guest post by planner Michael D. Setty. Big thanks to Michael for taking the time to prepare this column for The Gondola Project’s readers – SD.) EIGHT MILLION ANNUAL VISITORS CLOG MISSOURI TOWN OF 7,000. Branson, Missouri is the “Country Music Capitol” of the U.S. Midwest, catering to more than eight million...

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Jun 01, 2010
Gondola

Aerial Technologies, Lesson 6: Pulsed Gondolas

Pulsed Gondolas are a semi-rare subset of the CPT universe and generally not appropriate for mass transit installations. Most were built in the mid to late 20th century, and it’s uncommon to find pulsed systems built nowadays.

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May 31, 2010
Toronto Metrocable

A Toronto Gondola System

A while back I wrote a post soliciting people to contribute their own Cable Propelled Transit conceptual ideas. Aside from some uptake from the good people over at neoHouston, there was little interest. No wonder: I never offered my own conceptual. Kinda’ hypocritical, huh? So, without further ado . . . Here’s how I’d use...

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May 29, 2010
History, Just For Fun, Oddities

Von Roll Sky Rides

Von Roll Seilbahn was a prolific Swiss builder of ropeway systems in the 20th century. While Von Roll itself lives on as a supplier of industrial and electrical components, the ropeway division was acquired by Doppelmayr of Austria in 1994.

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May 28, 2010
Caracas Metrocable

Caracas Metrocable Expansion Plans

The above map is the Caracas Metro System. Metro de Caracas, of course, is one of the few transit systems in the world to utilize a Cable Propelled Transit (they call it the Metrocable) system. Look closely at the map and you’ll see all the other CPT lines Metro de Caracas has planned. All eight of...

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May 26, 2010
Thoughts, Urban Planning & Design

Transit and the Hierarchy of Needs

Over at Human Transit, Jarrett Walker has an excellent post called Transit and the Hierarchy of Needs. In it, he explores Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs and its relationship to public transit. His argument boils down to this: People will only care about high-order transit concerns such as urban design and technology choice once their lower-order...

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May 25, 2010
Table Mountain Cableway

Rotating Aerial Trams

The Table Mountain Cableway in Cape Town, South Africa is an Aerial Tram with a twist (sorry): It slowly rotates 360° during its ascent and descent. It’s one of only 3 systems in the world that does this; the other two being the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway in California and the Titlis Rotair in central...

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May 22, 2010
Palmylink, Proposals & Concepts

Palmylink Rendering

Check out the Sketchup rendering of the Palmylink proposal that came out of New Zealand last week:

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May 21, 2010
Urban Planning & Design

Independence vs. Interdepence

I’ve heard the argument that cable’s not a viable form of transit because vehicles cannot move independently of each other. Standard transit technologies – the argument goes – are self-propelled and are therefore immune to problems experienced by other transit vehicles on a line. This argument is only half-true. The first part is true: Yes,...

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May 17, 2010
Baden Gondelbahn, Design Considerations, Gondola, Proposals & Concepts, Urban Planning & Design

The Baden Gondelbahn

This is the Baden Gondelbahn in Baden, Switzerland. It is a concept by Stephan Kalt, director of Regional Transport for Baden-Wettingen. Kalt’s concept connects the spa town of Baden with a local train station via Urban Gondola.

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