Some might say so, but I’m not one of them. A niche implies specificity. People assume Cable Propelled Transit to be a niche technology because, I think, they are most familiar with it in situations where a large change of elevation occurs. That change in elevation, these people would argue, is its niche. I look...
I’m traveling today and am out of internet contact (why can’t more airlines fix that problem?), so we’re going to watch a video (like when your high school history teacher was sick with strep throat) It’s short, it’s in French, and it should inspire the transit wonk in all of you (especially starting at 0:56)....
Way back in the day (we’re talking 1872 here) Cincinnati, Ohio was clustered at the base of several small mountains. As the city grew and expanded up the sides of the mountain city officials had a problem: How were people and goods to be moved up and down the mountains? This was, of course, before...
. . . it is a movement. Brian Tyler is an aspiring planner with degrees in economics and international business and he’s smart. His two websites (Paris, The Avant-Gard of Rail and Switching Modes) are innovative explorations of transit issues without the typical techno-babble. He knows how to connect. Two of his posts in particular...
Albert Einstein was once quoted as saying if at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it. Absurd indeed. When I first started my work on Cable-Propelled Transit (CPT), I hid it from everyone. I knew it was an absurd idea and the last thing I wanted to get tagged...
When you actually examine the data (Bent Flyvberg‘s data is particularly illuminating) you see that Light Rail Transit’s (LRT) ability to heal a city’s transit woes are negligible at best and non-existent at worst, especially in relation to the costs associated with the technology. So why, then, do we keep coming back to LRT? Well,...
One great advantage of ferry technology is that it can carry not only people, but cars too. The great problem with ferries, however, is the time and money involved in using them. Look at the Washington State Ferry Service, for example. Here’s a ridiculously expensive transportation option that offers the convenience of required reservations and...
Less-Than-One-Minute (LT1M) wait times should be the goal of every transit planner because it is a principle that focuses on the user rather than the operator. What the user wants is simple: to be able to travel whenever they want regardless of schedule. Imagine . . . . . . if your front door only...
To be successful, an Insurgent Technology, Idea or Technique must be markedly different from those accepted Incumbent Technologies, Ideas or Techniques of the given day. But different is not enough. Not only must the Insurgent be different, she must also be demonstrably superior to the Incumbent and have strength and support on loan from a...
There are two minor sub-groups of CPT technology: Aerial Trams and Funiculars. Aerial Trams are like larger Gondolas. I’ll discuss this technology in greater detail later. Generally speaking, however, Aerial Trams are (relative to Gondolas) an out-dated mode of Cable-Propelled Transit. Compared with Gondola technology, Aerial Trams exhibit longer wait times between vehicles; lower line...