Sometimes people want to answer complex questions when most people looking for answers just want the basics. When I first began this work, there was one really basic question about Cable-Propelled Transit (CPT) that dogged me and no one could answer it. It was a question that also dogged the think tank that first sponsored...
When I talk to anyone under the age of 35 about Cable-Propelled Transit (CPT) something almost always occurs: Without prompting, my partner in conversation will typically invoke the near-legendary Monorail musical number in The Simpsons episode “Marge vs. The Monorail.” For those who’ve never seen it, the story turns around a schemingly tuneful huckster bent...
Cable-Propelled Transit is not a cure-all for cities or for poor planning. Any fool can tell you that x is a cure-all for y. Even I could do it and I’m about as foolish as they come (a point most wouldn’t argue with). The question is, are you willing to just believe it out-of-hand, or...
but every city wants to be second. The competitive drive to be number one just doesn’t seem to permeate City Hall and that’s understandable. Infrastructure is terribly expensive and no politician or planner wants to embarrass themselves by green-lighting a future white elephant. Cities are therefore remarkably conservative when it comes to infrastructure. Cities tend...
. . . after graduating from planning school, I was visiting my partner’s family when plans arose to go hiking around her local ski resort. Let me make this clear from the beginning: I am no skier. I’ve skied twice in my life with little success and those occurrences were on hills of inconsequential size....