A quick look at some of the statistics that make your cities work (or not): Average cost of daily parking in Manhattan: $31 George Costanza: My father never paid for parking, my mother, my brother, nobody Cont’d: A garage. I can’t even pull in there. It’s like going to a prostitute. Why should I pay,...
A few highlights from the around the world of Urban Gondolas and Cable Propelled Transit: The City Fix profiles Haifa, Israel’s underground Funicular, calling it the shortest subway in the world. Mountainscene reports the Skyline gondola in Queenstown, New Zealand will be equipped to allow bicycles on the vehicles. The entire regeneration project should be...
…is one of the largest manufacturers of public transit technologies in the world. And guess where they began. They started out building snow-mobiles. Feel free to draw your own comparisons.
In 1998 a group of companies led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kobe Steel invented a new form of transit. The system, to be located in the town of Midorizaka, would blend aerial ropeway, monorail and people mover technologies to create something altogether unique. They called it the Skyrail. It operates at 18 km/hr, has...
From the 1987 Russian film Assa comes the peculiar scene below – apparently set in Sochi, home of the 2014 Winter Olympics. The song, performed by Boris Grebenshchivkov is titled Golden City (thanks, Google Translate!). Does anyone know if this thing is still in operation? Does anyone know what it is?
A quick look at some of the statistics that make your cities work (or not): Special Toronto Edition Toronto’s nickname: Hogtown Hogtown’s new mayor: Rob Ford Political ambitions: Derail gravy train Personal vehicle tax: Scrapped Potential money saved: $60 Municipal land transfer tax: Scrapped Potential money saved: $1,000’s Garbage collection: Outsourced War on cars: Scrapped...
Despite some controversy, Korea’s Environment Ministry has decided to allow 1 or 2 new cable cars/gondolas/aerial trams in many of its national parks. An editorial likes the idea of a cable car for Hobart, Tasmania while a 1,700 person-strong Facebook group lends their support. Why, incidentally, are so many cable car/gondola/aerial tram proposals coming out of...
Let’s consider the innovations the Cable Propelled Transit industry has developed, proven and/or popularized in the last 15 years: The 3S Corner turning Intermediary stations Full integration with other transit modes The Reintroduction of bottom-supported Cable Cars and Mini-Metros The Hybrid Funicular Heated Gondolas Air-Conditioned Gondolas Operability in winds above 100 km/hr (the Funitel) The...