It’s been a fairly slow week for cable, but a few interesting stories and tidbits floated out of the ether… As Vancouver’s Translink agency prepares to study a proposed gondola link between the Skytrain and Simon Fraser University, the usual chorus of cynics chime in: Rail For The Valley calls the study “pointless,” slags the...
This isn’t the most entertaining video around, nor does it have to do with Urban Gondola systems. It does, however, give viewers a decent impression of how cable systems are manufactured off-site, shipped to the site and then assembled onsite much like a giant lego set:
Yesterday, the LA Times reported on the world’s newest aerial tram, Mexico’s Copper Canyon Tram. According to the article, when at their highest, cabins are 1475 feet (450 meters) above the ground – 50 meters shy of being half a kilometer off the earth! If those figures turn out to be true (and I see...
If I told you that the best prosciutto you’ll ever try comes from a small producer two hours south of Toronto, what would you say? You’d probably ask where Toronto, Italy is. But after I corrected you by saying Toronto, Canada, what would your reaction be? There’s no such thing as Canadian prosciutto! is a likely...
An interesting short film about the San Augustin Metrocable line in Caracas, Venezuela: The Metro Cable of San Agustin from Urban Think Tank on Vimeo.
Watch the following excerpt from this 1958 episode of Disneyland TV and contemplate it for a few minutes: Now ask yourself: How many of these inventions and innovations did the narrator virtually guarantee we’d see in our lifetimes? And how many of them – more than a half a century later – have been realized?...
A QUICK LOOK AT SOME OF THE STATISTICS THAT MAKE YOUR CITIES WORK (OR NOT): Swinging bus stop: London A/C bus stop: Dubai Hammock bus stop: Vancouver Number of traffic jams on Beijing’s Friday Night: 140 You cannot get a snake to swallow an elephant: Chinese Traffic Metaphor Coolest bike lanes: Portland, OR Illegal bicycle...
This week there’s been a slew of stories about Urban Gondolas, Aerial Ropeways and Cable Propelled Transit (CPT): Big News: CBC News, The Vancouver Sun, Burnaby Now, CTV and Coquitlam Now all report that Vancouver area transit authority TransLink will pursue a business case study to explore an Urban Gondola connection between the Skytrain and...
As I’ve argued in the past, Urban Gondolas and Cable Propelled Transit (CPT) are not niche technologies. Sure, cable can be used in niche settings, but the sheer variety of settings and environments cable can be adapted to prevents it from being a niche technology. A technology that can adapt to dozens of niche settings...
A common question: Can gondolas be heated and/or air conditioned? It’s a logical question. As gondolas find more usage in the urban environment, heating and air conditioning is going to become more and more standard. Current urban applications haven’t required cooling and heating systems for the simple reason that most people aren’t in the vehicles...