The above image was created by Andrew Burleson over at Neohouston.com. It’s a conceptual/theoretical CPT line he designed for a poorly-serviced area of Houston.
Conceptual transit lines are a cottage industry for the transit enthusiast and hobbyist. They’re wonderful and exciting and they’re everywhere. I think every major city has a few people who do this sort of thing, if not on paper, than in their heads. Such conceptual designs are fun and exciting. They get people to imagine what could be rather than what is.
Andrew’s conceptual cable line is, as far as I’m aware, one of the first such theoretical cable transit lines ever. That’s why it caught my attention.
So, in honor of Andrew’s work, I’d like to open this up a bit: Send us your conceptual cable transit lines for your city, county or region. Send us the crazy, the practical, the outlandish and the awesome. You can use Funiculars, Cable Cars, Gondolas or Aerial Trams. You can use a combination of any of the above. Make a map. Create a photoshop mash-up. Do whatever you want, just show us how you would use CPT in your community and send the by-product to gondola (at) creativeurbanprojects (dot) com.
Assuming people take me up on this offer, we’ll post a few of the best ones in the coming weeks.
(Medellin/Caracas will continue tomorrow.)
3 Comments
they should come to houston
Really inspired by the things I learned here~ I’ve been noodling an idea for a large EXPO in the tradition of same here in San Francisco. This one celebrating our two bridges 75th anniversaries, the opening of the new span of the Bay Bridge, and the fair that opened the bridges back in 1937. So, a retro fair, styled in the 30’s, but from the ground up a digital, cashless economic model, interfaced by the patron via their cell phones or tablets for everything from tickets to directions and language specific content for the individual user via smart tags, etc.
A key element of this fair will be it’s green-ness / carbon footprint. As such, taking your car would be severely discouraged and a Funitel would ideally connect the two closest BART stations to the EXPO site on a parcel of the former navy base on the Island of Alameda in San Francisco Bay. You couldn’t ask for an easier urban right-of-way, the I 880 is high enough to go under, and the Alameda Chanel narrow enough and max clearance for a breath taking ride [not too high!] with spectacular views of the bay. The extra stability of the Funitel would allow opperation despite the blustry bay winds.