4 ms·

Compare this to the cost of installing light/medium rail in your city. Why we dont install these in every city baffles me. You could run them right alongside bu

Compare this to the cost of installing light/medium rail in your city. Why we dont install these in every city baffles me. You could run them right alongside buildings.

ethagknight 10y ago
Because they can only haul 2,000 people per hour, with limited travel lengths and single point termini
- Fezzik 10y ago
  A slight modification: though slow, they can have multiple un/loading points. The main gondola at Whistler has a mid-mountain loading point along with a top and bottom un/loading point. The Peak to Peak Gondola only has a loading point at each end because it's crossing a giant chasm. Your point stands though: gondolas are probably not a great form of transport. That said, I have no idea what the speed limits would be for a gondola that was designed for speed.
  - pcarolan 10y ago
    They have those unloading points because they are able to take them off of the cable while loading and unloading. We don't design these for cities, but we could. This means loading/unloading could be coordinated across multiple nodes and you could even switch tracks which takes care of the fixed distance problem. Detachable chairlifts can do 12mph which is faster than many city buses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detachable_chairlift https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detachable_chairlift
- pcarolan 10y ago
  Detachable gondolas exist which means you can travel any length you want if you switch cables and have as many terminals as you want. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detachable_chairlift https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detachable_chairlift
- Retric 10y ago
  2000 people per hour per direction is a person every 2 seconds per direction which is not that far from a highway with single occupant cars. 1900 per lane is peak, but congestion is much slower. Speed is an issue, but larger gondolas can move more people fairly quickly.
gregcrv 10y ago
Some cities already have them and a lot of new projects are being built too. http://www.curbed.com/2016/7/25/12248896/urban-gondolas-cable-cars-cities http://www.curbed.com/2016/7/25/12248896/urban-gondolas-cabl... http://www.curbed.com/2016/5/19/11714678/urban-cable-austin-chicago-gondola-mass-transit http://www.curbed.com/2016/5/19/11714678/urban-cable-austin-...
degenerate 10y ago
They are great for getting up a mountainside, but horizontally... they might be too slow. What if we simply speed them up? Maybe too dangerous... but I'd love to see a proof of concept, maybe on a tech campus, and see how it does. I don't see any downside because ski lifts are so damn fun.
- pcarolan 10y ago
  Fun is a great reason to do this. Id love to see the Chicago loop from the sky for example.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
daviding 10y ago
DisneyWorld seem to be planning a gondola-based system for between two parks and two hotels. It is cheaper than extending the mono-rail and probably nicer for all than the usual buses they have. http://wdwnt.com/blog/2017/04/depth-speculation-disney-world-gondola-project-will-take-shape/ http://wdwnt.com/blog/2017/04/depth-speculation-disney-world...
volkl47 10y ago
They're not really comparable, rail offers far higher passenger capacities and multiple stops are much more practical. While you can make a multiple stage detachable gondola, every detach point/stage is adding significantly more points of failure and complexity. There is a reason you don't see more than ~3-4 stages and that's it. They are also very maintenance intensive and not all that reliable.
pjc50 10y ago
La Paz actually has a gondola-based commuter system: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mi_Telef%C3%A9rico https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mi_Telef%C3%A9rico Unique geography there; the city is in a bowl, but El Alto, its main commuter suburb, is on the high plain above the rim of the bowl. There is a single road linking them, which in rush hour is jammed with minibuses. London also has its "Emirates Air Line", which is a pointless gimmick that doesn't serve a useful route.
Cthulhu_ 10y ago
Those have a lot more requirements; capacity and such was already mentioned by others, but things like e.g. wheelchair accessibility is also important.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
gehsty 10y ago
Rio de Janeiro has these to help people travel around favelas. Really great as they can be installed nearly anywhere and they allow people to travel from point to point without navigating the potentially dangerous streets.

Compare this to the cost of installing light/medium rail in your city. Why we dont install these in every city baffles me. You could run them right alongside buildings.

ethagknight 10y ago

Because they can only haul 2,000 people per hour, with limited travel lengths and single point termini

Fezzik 10y ago
A slight modification: though slow, they can have multiple un/loading points. The main gondola at Whistler has a mid-mountain loading point along with a top and bottom un/loading point. The Peak to Peak Gondola only has a loading point at each end because it's crossing a giant chasm. Your point stands though: gondolas are probably not a great form of transport. That said, I have no idea what the speed limits would be for a gondola that was designed for speed.
- pcarolan 10y ago
  They have those unloading points because they are able to take them off of the cable while loading and unloading. We don't design these for cities, but we could. This means loading/unloading could be coordinated across multiple nodes and you could even switch tracks which takes care of the fixed distance problem. Detachable chairlifts can do 12mph which is faster than many city buses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detachable_chairlift https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detachable_chairlift
pcarolan 10y ago
Detachable gondolas exist which means you can travel any length you want if you switch cables and have as many terminals as you want. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detachable_chairlift https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detachable_chairlift
Retric 10y ago
2000 people per hour per direction is a person every 2 seconds per direction which is not that far from a highway with single occupant cars. 1900 per lane is peak, but congestion is much slower. Speed is an issue, but larger gondolas can move more people fairly quickly.

gregcrv 10y ago

Some cities already have them and a lot of new projects are being built too. http://www.curbed.com/2016/7/25/12248896/urban-gondolas-cable-cars-cities http://www.curbed.com/2016/7/25/12248896/urban-gondolas-cabl... http://www.curbed.com/2016/5/19/11714678/urban-cable-austin-chicago-gondola-mass-transit http://www.curbed.com/2016/5/19/11714678/urban-cable-austin-...

degenerate 10y ago

They are great for getting up a mountainside, but horizontally... they might be too slow. What if we simply speed them up? Maybe too dangerous... but I'd love to see a proof of concept, maybe on a tech campus, and see how it does. I don't see any downside because ski lifts are so damn fun.

pcarolan 10y ago
Fun is a great reason to do this. Id love to see the Chicago loop from the sky for example.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

daviding 10y ago

DisneyWorld seem to be planning a gondola-based system for between two parks and two hotels. It is cheaper than extending the mono-rail and probably nicer for all than the usual buses they have. http://wdwnt.com/blog/2017/04/depth-speculation-disney-world-gondola-project-will-take-shape/ http://wdwnt.com/blog/2017/04/depth-speculation-disney-world...

volkl47 10y ago

They're not really comparable, rail offers far higher passenger capacities and multiple stops are much more practical. While you can make a multiple stage detachable gondola, every detach point/stage is adding significantly more points of failure and complexity. There is a reason you don't see more than ~3-4 stages and that's it. They are also very maintenance intensive and not all that reliable.

pjc50 10y ago

La Paz actually has a gondola-based commuter system: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mi_Telef%C3%A9rico https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mi_Telef%C3%A9rico Unique geography there; the city is in a bowl, but El Alto, its main commuter suburb, is on the high plain above the rim of the bowl. There is a single road linking them, which in rush hour is jammed with minibuses. London also has its "Emirates Air Line", which is a pointless gimmick that doesn't serve a useful route.

Cthulhu_ 10y ago

Those have a lot more requirements; capacity and such was already mentioned by others, but things like e.g. wheelchair accessibility is also important.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

gehsty 10y ago

Rio de Janeiro has these to help people travel around favelas. Really great as they can be installed nearly anywhere and they allow people to travel from point to point without navigating the potentially dangerous streets.