Posts Tagged: Transit

21
Jul

2010

The Topography of Traffic

Far too often people talk about cable as a convenient technology for tackling topographical challenges. But that’s where it ends. It’s a niche technology, they claim, nothing more.

In other words: Cable’s ability to avoid physical obstacles is used as an argument against it. How much sense does that make?

The great irony is that topography is far less challenging to deal with than traffic. Mountains don’t tend to move; rivers don’t suddenly switch their direction of flow; ravines don’t come out of no where.

In other words: Topography is simple. What isn’t so simple is human beings and the traffic they generate.

Traffic is far more complex than topography. And if there’s one thing we’ve seen in the last 50 years, standard transit technologies such as buses, streetcars and light rail are miserable at dealing with traffic challenges.

But if you think of traffic and topography as one and the same – that is, they’re both physical obstacles that impede movement – you quickly realize the only way to deal with traffic is to treat it like topography: avoid it.

Go above it, below it or around it. Just don’t try and tackle it head on.



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17
Jul

2010

Taken For A Ride

Taken For A Ride is a documentary first broadcast on PBS in 1996. It tells the story of how a consortium led by General Motors, Firestone Tires and Standard Oil systematically worked to uproot the American streetcar network and replace it with roads, buses and private automobiles.

The short hand for this incident is the National City Lines Conspiracy (or the Great American Streetcar Scandal) and has its share of supporters and its detractors.

Those who believe in the conspiracy believe it whole-heartedly, and portray General Motors as a scheming, money-hungry corporation that is solely to blame for America’s shoddy public transit infrastructure.

Those who don’t believe in the conspiracy tend to say streetcars were too expensive to begin with and replacing them with buses and cars was simply a natural economic event.

Complicating the debate is the case against National City Lines, whereby the US government found that General Motors, et al did not conspire to monopolize the public transit industry, but did conspire to monopolize the provisions of supplies and parts to its subsidiaries.

The debate rages on to this day, 60-80 years after the original transgressions.

My guess is the answer lies somewhere between the two extremes. GM, et al probably were up to some shenanigans, but they probably weren’t solely responsible for the death of public transit in America.

Nevertheless, Taken For A Ride is a classic, and well worth exploring with an open, skeptical mind:





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14
Jul

2010

Sydney, Absurdity & Queues

Colin writes:

I’ve been following your blog for a little while, and although my immediate impression was that the idea was absurd, that quickly morphed into “well why why hell not?”

I’ve been a skiier/snowboarder for almost 35 years, and have ridden a lot of gondolas. One question I have is to do with queue control. I’ve found that unless there is a dedicated and authoritarian staff member controlling the queue, groups of friends are reluctant to be split into separate cars, and, to a lesser extent, strangers are reluctant to ride together.

What tends to happen is that the majority of cars leave the station less than full, and that this occurs even when there is a lengthy queue. In fact it’s much of the reason for the lengthy queue in the first place. It seems reasonable for friends to travel together – a journey together is often part of the goal, and not just a utilitarian way to arrive at a destination. How is this problem solved in urban transport gondola systems like in South America?

Also, I note that the gondolas can turn corners only with the help of a large (and expensive) turning station – otherwise they have to run in a straight line. When I look at my home city (Sydney, Australia) I note that almost no roads run in straight lines – they’re all curves, bends and corners. Combined with your advice to never put gondolas over private property, it seems the opportunities for gondolas in Sydney would be very limited.

There’s two parts to your email, Colin, but before I get to them first let me begin by thanking you for being open-minded enough to move from the absurd to the “why the hell not” position. I think everyone who first encounters the idea goes through a similar process of de-bugging. I also think it’s just plain easier for skiers to wrap their minds around.

As for queue-control, you’re totally right. Station attendants are a complete prerequisite. During rush hours, people wouldn’t be allowed to ride separately, vehicles need to depart at capacity. Though it would be wise to implement a dual queue strategy such that women could ride in female-only cabins should they desire.

Interestingly, Medellin implements a rush-hour dual queue strategy for a different reason: If you want a seat, you wait in the long line. If you don’t mind standing, you wait in the short line. It works well. But as I’ve mentioned before, the original Medellin Metrocable line suffers from over-crowding during rush hours and they’re planning a second parallel line to relieve congestion.

During off-peak hours, congestion and queues aren’t a problem and a vehicle is no more than a few seconds away.

Strangely, Medellin actually implements a policy whereby a vehicle cannot depart with only one person in it. This is meant to increase safety and decrease vandalism. It seems counter-intuitive, but they’ve found it works well. I’m not sure how well such an idea would fly in an English-speaking country.

As for Sydney: I don’t know, Colin, I’ve never been there. Currently cable systems do require angle stations to execute turns. However, they don’t have to be as large and imposing as you think (the Grindelwald-First is a great example of a slim-profile turning station).

I think that Sydney is so carved up by waterways that cable might lend itself beautifully to the city in point-to-point water-crossings. But again, I don’t know.

One of the goals of The Gondola Project was to help people understand that cable is just one of many options. In fact, I hope people understand that when considering any technology. Cable isn’t a cure-all but neither is LRT, BRT or PRT. Maybe cable isn’t right for Sydney, maybe it is, I don’t know. I think it more important to empower people to consider this technology in their own backyards and on their own terms.

It would be impossible for me (or anyone else) to know everything about every city. Instead I hope the information in this site is used by people like yourself to imagine unique and creative ways to use the technology in their own hometowns. That way, everybody wins.

So maybe I should turn your question around: How would you use cable in Sydney?



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13
Jul

2010

Never Meant To Be

Ski lifts were never meant to be used as public transit.

So what?

Locomotives were never meant to be used underground.

Wood was never meant to be used as lumber.

Pipe cleaners were never meant to be used for arts and crafts.

Cows were never meant to be used as beef.

Spaceships were never meant to be used by tourists.

Cell phones were never meant to be used as cameras.

Gold was never meant to be used as a store of value.

Wood rasps were never meant to be used as cheese graters.

Squid ink was never meant to be used to turn pasta black.

Computers were never meant to be used to watch movies.

Graphite was never meant to be used as pencil lead.

Satellites were never meant to be used for GPS.

Mold was never meant to be used as penicillin.

Mail was never meant to be used for direct marketing.

So what?



Want more? Purchase Cable Car Confidential: The Essential Guide to Cable Cars, Urban Gondolas & Cable Propelled Transit and start learning about the world's fastest growing transportation technologies.

12
Jul

2010

Thick Around The Middle

Have you ever noticed that the front-most and rear-most cars in a train are typically underused – indeed, sometimes empty! – even at the height of rush hour? Smart and experienced transit riders walk those extra 50 meters to the end of the subway platform and get a seat, while everyone else just crowds (miserably) into the middle.

Same thing with buses, streetcars and trams. Front’s packed solid, back’s often empty. What percentage of capacity does that empty space represent? Five percent? Ten? Twenty?

It’s illogical and irrational. But then again, so are humans.

When transit agencies report the offered capacity of a line, they report what’s theoretically possible assuming every square inch of space is taken up and every seat is filled. They assume that every space on the train is thick instead of assuming it’s just thick around the middle (or front).

It’s a poor assumption which ignores the fact that humans use transit, not equations. Transit engineers and planners, unfortunately, don’t seem to be taught that.

Include the human factor, and suddenly your transit line is probably carrying far fewer people than you actually think.

I don’t believe there’s a name for this phenomenon, but there should be. Any suggestions?



Want more? Purchase Cable Car Confidential: The Essential Guide to Cable Cars, Urban Gondolas & Cable Propelled Transit and start learning about the world's fastest growing transportation technologies.

09
Jul

2010

Cable Cars, Lesson 1: Introduction

The Las Vegas City Center Cable Car. Image by joanna8555.

The first and most important thing necessary to understand about Cable Cars as opposed to aerial cable technologies is this: The two technologies are not fundamentally different. Knowing your way around Gondolas and Aerial Trams will help your knowledge about Cable Cars immensely.

Both are characterized by passive vehicles being propelled along guideways for support. Both can provide detachability and both are characterized by a large variety of sub-technologies. Furthermore, like all aerial technologies, you can easily sub-divide Cable Cars into those that operate in a shuttle-based configuration and those that operate in a continuously-circulating configuration:

(Top) Continuously Circulating Configuration. (Bottom) Shuttle-Based Configuration.

Those familiar with aerial technologies will instantly notice the parallels: Shuttle-Based Cable Cars are equivalent to Aerial Trams and Funifors, whereas Continuously Circulating Cable Cars are equivalent to Monocable Detachable Gondolas (MDGs), Bi-Cable Detachable Gondolas (BDGs), Funitels and 3S systems.

The main difference between aerial and terrestrial technologies is this:

Whereas aerial technologies hang from steel cable guideways, Cable Cars are always supported from below by various supporting media, typically steel rails, I-beams, concrete and modular steel trusses.

This gives Cable Cars one distinct advantage over aerial technologies: The ability to maneuver around corners without need of angle stations.



Want more? Purchase Cable Car Confidential: The Essential Guide to Cable Cars, Urban Gondolas & Cable Propelled Transit and start learning about the world's fastest growing transportation technologies.

07
Jul

2010

Valparaiso Ascencors

In February The Gondola Project held a mini-competition. The winner was to receive their $50 prize by email money transfer.

Matt Thredgold of Wellington Cycleways won. But as Matt lives in New Zealand and email money transfers are apparently a uniquely Canadian phenomenon (they’re awesome, by the way), Matt asked that his prize come in the way of two CDs via Amazon Canada.

In exchange for that exception, Matt promised to post images from his recent trip to Valparaiso, Chile. For those unfamiliar, Valparaiso has the largest network of functioning Funiculars in the world, most dating from 100-150 years ago.

Clearly, I was happy to oblige. Click here to see the wonderful results.

This is how research is going to happen more and more. The old model used to be one or two researchers scouring obscure publications and writing obscure publications that no one’s ever going to read. That model is quickly dying if not already dead. And that’s a great thing. The internet’s simply faster, cleaner, cheaper and more efficient than peer-reviewed journals and government reports. Some people will fight to maintain the status quo, but it’s a losing battle because that old model was/is expensive, time-consuming and prone to all kinds of suspect Gate-Keeping.

Nowadays things are very, very different. Now things move at lighting speed and change doesn’t require millions of dollars. You don’t have the time or resources to get to Valparaiso, Chile? No problem. There’s a bicycle advocate in New Zealand whose already been there, done that. Send him a couple of CDs and he’s happy to help out. You’ll have your pictures and research next week.

Here’s the great irony: Matt and I managed to “broker” our deal in nothing more than a few minutes. A couple emails, a couple blog posts and a quick trip to Amazon. The CDs themselves, however, took 5 months (5 months!) to arrive on Matt’s doorstep.

And people wonder while snail mail and compact discs are dying businesses.

Thanks again, Matt!



Want more? Purchase Cable Car Confidential: The Essential Guide to Cable Cars, Urban Gondolas & Cable Propelled Transit and start learning about the world's fastest growing transportation technologies.