Gondolas Could Be the Next Great Urban Transportation Device

I saw the Rio de Janeiro gondola system [0] on Brazil with Michael Palin [1] a couple of days ago, and spurred on by the fact I've always enjoyed travelling on these systems, I began searching out more information about them around the world. I found a fantastic (for transport wonks :-) website called the Gondola Project [2] which has a vast amount of info (there's a link to it buried in the OP Wired article) about all the different types of systems and which circumstances they fit best. It also mentions the several aerial ropeway urban transport systems that are in successful operation around the world, such as Medellin, Colombia; Caracas, Venezuela [3]; Constantine, Algeria [4]; and Villa Nova de Gaia, Portugal [5].<p>To the commenters here saying "why can't they just make huge suspended buses", apart from the obvious engineering loads that entails, the problem is mostly that this means the gondolas have to stop at each "station" so that a decent amount of people can embark/disembark.<p>The most common modern gondola systems are built with MDG (monocable detachable gondola) technology, though the state of the art is the 3S (or TDG - tricable detachable gondola). More cables makes a 3S system more expensive, but makes the gondolas much more stable in higher winds, and allows them to travel faster along the line as well.<p>In these systems, many small gondolas flow in a continuous system, but are detached from the cable and slowed at stations so people can embark/disembark. This allows the main pull cable to always run at the same speed, which conserves energy and keeps all other attached gondolas moving. It also allows for corners (!) in the line (though a station must be located at the corner), as gondolas can be detached at a station, moved around by the required angle as they load/unload, and then reattached to the new cable which takes them off in a new direction. For a good example of this, see the Rio de Janeiro system mentioned above. Junctions can even be implemented this way if required (though the logistics would be interesting).<p>Rescue issues – most of these urban systems are designed to run over accessible areas, and no higher than 2-4 storeys from the ground, so if rescue is needed Fire Department crews can use standard equipment to reach the stranded gondolas.<p>Some commenters on the Wired article mention the Portland Aerial Tram system, and various disappointments around it. Aerial trams are different from gondolas in that there are normally only two cars, which move in opposite directions simultaneously, so each must be stopped at the same time, and any mid-point stations must be equidistantly located, unless you are happy having one car stopped in mid-air while the other is at a station. For examples of this with funicular railways, see the Innsbruck Hungerburgbahn [6] or the Wellington (NZ) Cable Car [7]. The main limitations on this kind of transport are slow load/unload times (hence longer passenger wait times), inflexible station layout requirements, non-detachable gondolas means no cornering etc.<p>Someone mentioned the "scared of heights" issue – my partner is scared of heights, but she was fine travelling on a gondola system similar to all these at Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney, as well as on the Nordkettenbahnen, the aerial tram in Innsbruck that takes off from the top of the Hungerburgbahn. Of course, YMMV. A system that probably _isn't_ good for people with a fear of heights is the new Stanserhorn Cabrio (stunning pic [8]) [9].<p>For (even more) info, The Gondola Project website has a big section called "Learn about cable transit" - fascinating stuff [10].<p>[0] <a href="http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/02/st_riogondola/" rel="nofollow">http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/02/st_riogondola/</a><p>[1] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_with_Michael_Palin" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_with_Michael_Palin</a> (Episode 3: The Road To Rio)<p>[2] <a href="http://gondolaproject.com/" rel="nofollow">http://gondolaproject.com/</a><p>[3] <a href="http://gondolaproject.com/2010/03/11/medellincaracas-part-1/" rel="nofollow">http://gondolaproject.com/2010/03/11/medellincaracas-part-1/</a><p>[4] <a href="http://gondolaproject.com/2012/07/19/constantine-telepherique-celebrates-12-million-passengers-announces-2-more-lines/" rel="nofollow">http://gondolaproject.com/2012/07/19/constantine-telepheriqu...</a><p>[5] <a href="http://gondolaproject.com/2011/04/08/new-urban-gondola-opens-portugals-teleferico-de-gaia/" rel="nofollow">http://gondolaproject.com/2011/04/08/new-urban-gondola-opens...</a><p>[6] <a href="http://www.nordkette.com/en/cable-railways.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.nordkette.com/en/cable-railways.html</a><p>[7] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellington_Cable_Car" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellington_Cable_Car</a><p>[8] <a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/24956/stanserhorn_cabrio-opening_day.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://dl.dropbox.com/u/24956/stanserhorn_cabrio-opening_day...</a><p>[9] <a href="http://www.stanserhorn.ch/en/travel/cabrio/" rel="nofollow">http://www.stanserhorn.ch/en/travel/cabrio/</a><p>[10] <a href="http://gondolaproject.com/learn-the-basics-what-is-cable-propelled-transit/" rel="nofollow">http://gondolaproject.com/learn-the-basics-what-is-cable-pro...</a>

A Siemens S70 LRV such as the ones used on the LYNX Blue Line in Charlotte, NC, can hold 68 passengers sitting, 230 including standers. One train comes every ten minutes peak, fifteen minutes off. This means we have a max capacity of 1380 pphpd (passengers/hour/direction) peak, 920 pphpd off.<p>These gondolas look like they can hold a max of about six passengers, but there's also a lot more of them. The article offhandly mentions a peak headway of thirty seconds. This implies a max capacity of 720 pphpd peak. For the same max capacity as current Blue Line service, we'd need to land a gondola every 15 seconds. The catch is that the Blue Line still has room to add trains, but landing a gondola every 15 seconds is probably pushing it.<p>I was expecting this to turn out rather poorly in the gondolas' favor, but considering the major advantages in capital cost, this actually doesn't look too bad. And they do have a point about high-frequency services attracting ridership. The main question is whether they can actually pull this off for the stated capital costs, and whether the operations and maintenance costs will come back to bite you later.

As the transit planner Jarrett Walker regularly reminds readers on his blog[1] and book of the same name, the real things that make a mass transit project effective are not about the particular technology being used to do the moving. The geometry of the network, its connections, and its schedule of service are what actually make it usable.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.humantransit.org" rel="nofollow">http://www.humantransit.org</a>

I was hoping they meant this kind of gondola: <a href="http://www.gondolas.com/images/gondola_main.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://www.gondolas.com/images/gondola_main.jpg</a>

I fondly remember being able to go many places in Manila, Philippines, in the downtown shopping/restaurant core, using only my feet - they had elevated walkways to take you over the busy traffic and the malls were inter-connected.<p>You could walk for quite some time and never be at ground level. Most people can walk 1 km extra per day and never notice losing any time, given the savings in waiting for transit or getting into and out of a car.

The article only briefly mentions the major prototypes for gondolas as real urban public transport. Medellin (Colombia) and Portland. Both were finished 2006. Before them, nobody considered gondolas as a real urban public transportation option. Now they do, and there has been a proliferation of interest (the recent line built in London, for one [not that it goes anywhere]).<p>The advantages often mentioned by transport planners are their cheapness to build and ability to traverse terrain easily (where trains and trams cannot). More importantly perhaps - people like them. Its a much better ride to work than on a subway or bus - thats for sure!

What about privacy issues?<p>Vancouver's transit authority has been discussing the possibility of replacing the bus service to Simon Fraser University, which is on top of a mountain, with a gondola, as in heavy snowfall conditions the bus can't handle the roads. The main criticism of the scheme has been from property owners that would be under the gondola line, as they would no longer have any privacy in their own back yards.<p>Similarly if one had a downtown scheme, there would be the possibility of a full gondola moving by your 10th floor window at all hours of the day.

Even only 15-20 feet off the ground, my instinct is that there's a fear factor in riding aerial gondolas unlike any in urban rail.

Austin is quickly densifying but still doesn't have any public transit other than buses.<p>This solution avoids all the pitfalls associated with conventional rails (street level and underground) and I see it very rapidly becoming very successful.

In my hometown Wuppertal, they had this since more than 100 years:<p><a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=schwebebahn+wuppertal" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/search?q=schwebebahn+wuppertal</a><p>Click on image search results.

I wonder how they would fare in this litigious society we live in? Toss in that the not stopping part would instantly bring up complaints under the ADA (American Disabilities Act) in regards to the handicapped using them.<p>How do they fare in various types of weather? Are they heated and cooled? Would each car be camera monitored? This would be to monitor the safety of the people riding, for example if someone had a medical issue or was being attacked.<p>No, while I like the idea I don't see how you implement the cars which can be easily used by the handicap and that has caused all sorts of extravagant costs in our local bus lines.

Is there any reason that a gondola can hold only a maximum of 6 passengers? Can't you have a gondola the size of a bus?<p>Imagine all the crazy muni lines in sf turned into gondola wires. Would be pretty awesome to be "flying" 15ft above all the traffic. Not to mention the timing and schedule of service would be consistent.

Good article, but I had to use reader on Safari on the iPad. Wired should know better than to disable zoom.

And, lo, a thousand steam punk enthusiasts cried up with joy.

This is flat out one of the most ridiculous ideas I have seen here in quite a while.

This seems to come round every few years, and yet nothing ever comes of it.<p>See also Hypersonic jets that will fly at the edge of the earth's atmosphere and do London to Sydney in two years.<p>//edit//That will teach me not to read the article. I thought this was about airships.