Posts Tagged: Chicago

18
Jan

2013

Weekly Roundup: More on Chicago’s Cable Cars

Chicago Cable Cars by Greg Borzo.

A quick look at some of the things that happened this week in the world of cable cars, urban gondolas, and cable propelled transit:

  • The Sri Maha Mariamman Devasthanam temple committee in Kuala Lampur has given final approvals for a cable car to open in 2014.


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Weekly Roundup
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11
Apr

2012

Urban Gondolas in Chicago? (Revisited)

Regular readers of The Gondola Project will recall that Chicago recently announced plans to (potentially) install a gondola along their waterfront pier. Then, not content with merely a point-to-point tourist-oriented system, The Gondola Project’s very own Chicago native, Julia Padvoiskis struck out and designed her own concept of a waterfront gondola that would actually function as a fully-integrated part of her hometown’s transit system.

Well, it looks like at least a few people took notice and think Julia’s idea idea has merit.

On Monday, The Chicago Architecture Blog ran a column entitled Wiring Chicago With Cable Cars and provided some sound analysis and critical breakdown of the concept. Of note:

The idea may seem absurd at first blush, but it’s no more strange than building an elevated railroad loop through the middle of downtown, or reversing the flow of a major river, or turning an abandoned naval training pier into the most visited tourist attraction in the Midwest.People in lots of cities use cable cars to get around every day. Portland, Oregon and New York leap to mind. I’ve been on both of those lines. And a quick bit of Googling shows that other American cities are considering it, including Saint Louis. There’s even a mine in Colorado that uses cable cars to move ore around. Even the fattest Bears fan and harshest Chicago winter is no match for a mining operation in Colorado.

It’s well worth a read. Congrats, Julia!



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Chicago Cable Car
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15
Feb

2012

Sky Ride – 1933 Chicago’s World Fair

I accidentally stumbled upon this ad while reading the Economist on my subway ride home. Image by Zurich.

A week ago Julia provided us with a very sound analysis of using CPT technology in Chicago. Little did we know (or maybe we did), but suspended cable car technology already has a fairly colourful history in the Windy City.

The Sky Ride travelled at 6 mph or 9 kph across a lagoon. Image by Voice of America.

The Sky Ride was built in 1933 for the Chicago’s World Fair and was heralded as the fair’s architectural symbol and show piece. During its one year operational period, it’s estimated that the 32 “rocket riders” (i.e. cabins) helped transport 4.5 million passengers!

While some debate whether this ride should be considered a transporter bridge or an aerial tram – given it’s past success, perhaps a discussion of this system could be used as a launchpad to further develop the Chicago Cable Car proposal.

 



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1934 Chicago World's Fair / Aerial Trams / Chicago Cable Car / Proposals & Concepts
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31
Jan

2012

Chicago Gondola?

The Navy Pier in Chicago is expected to undergo huge changes. $85 million so far has been allocated towards its redevelopment. Image from Chicago Tribune.

Last week, St. Louis announced that an aerial gondola was in their redevelopment plans for the Arch.

And now, according to this news source, a team of designers has also proposed an aerial gondola in Chicago. The gondola line is planned to start nearby the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive and will glide above the congested streets of Chicago before delivering passengers to the Navy Pier.

While the gondola may not necessarily be a pure CPT and we don’t necessarily like seeing CPT used purely as toys for tourists, it is encouraging to see that the awareness of the technology is increasing and catching on.

If anyone has photos or additional information on this, we love to see it! Thanks goes out to Patricia for sending along the link to this.



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Proposals & Concepts
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24
Oct

2011

Benny The Bull’s Best Commute Ever?

This started making the rounds on Friday and I suppose we’re obligated to pass it on:

While we’re certainly advocates of “fun” transit around these parts, it’s worth throwing out the following:



 

Maybe this Flash Commute was fun for Benny the Bull and his friends, but if you were one of the over-tired  and under-caffeinated commuters sharing this Chicago subway car with Benny would you be particularly amused?

Would it make you more irritated or less? I guess it would depend on how much you were (or weren’t) looking forward to whatever job it was you were commuting to.



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Just For Fun
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