April, 2010

23
Apr

2010

Human Transit

Trying to write a post each day about cable transit and urban gondolas is exhausting. There’s so much more in the world of transportation that’s worth talking about, but just isn’t within the purview of this site. As such, I get my fix from other sites like Jarrett Walker’s excellent Human Transit blog.

Jarrett’s blog contains a wealth of information and insight and is great at cutting through the garbage. He provides strong global analysis, particularly when it comes to comparisons between transit technologies. His streetcars vs light rail post is a great example. He also manages to avoid the partisan bickering that is so irritating about most transit blogs nowadays.

I recently solicited Jarrett’s opinion about cable (via email) because his hometown is Portland, home of the Portland Aerial Tram. Among other things, Jarrett had this to say:

I’m not for or against gondolas (or aerial trams as I’ve heard them called).  There is clearly a category of steep hillclimbing problems for which they’re the best tool . . . As near as I can tell, one of the major negatives of gondolas is the extreme difficulty/cost/hassle associated with intermediate stops.  They pretty much have to be a direct link between just two stops, right?

Jarrett approaches the concept with questions, not statements of fact. For him, it’s not a question of For or Against. He admits he doesn’t know much about the matter (“as near as I can tell”)  and finishes with an explicit question (“just two stops, right?”). He clearly doesn’t understand the difference between an aerial tram and a gondola system, but why should he? He’s never had to address the question so the two are equivalent, which makes perfect sense. Furthermore, his perception is clearly coloured by his experience with Portland. But he’s confident enough in his abilities and worldview to recognize that Portland alone may not tell the whole story.

After I responded to his response, he had this today:

Thanks. I was ignorant about the difference between a gondola and an aerial tram!

I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to encounter a transportation planner that is willing to say they were “ignorant” about something. Even more refreshing is someone who demonstrates that learning about new things requires an open mind and a willingness to admit they don’t know everything. Jarrett’s a skeptic in the very best way.

I’ve sometimes heard that it’s not a good idea to hire consultants who are “learning on the job.” I couldn’t agree less. The best consultants are those highly competent individuals who want to learn on the job, but do so in a fast, efficient manner. These are people who want to learn about new ideas, new concepts and apply them to your particular situation. They’re valuable.

The world’s changing too fast nowadays to hire consultants who aren’t learning on the job. Consultants who’ve stopped learning will give you the answer to yesterday’s problems. Consultants who never stop learning, on the other hand, will give you the answer to tomorrow’s problems.

Which would you choose? Me, I’m going with Jarrett.

Urban Planning & Design
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22
Apr

2010

Hotmail and Paradigm Changes

I got my first email account in the summer of 1998. It was a Hotmail account. Someone dragged me to a local café and signed me up. It wasn’t that advanced at the time and I wasn’t overly impressed.

Was email great at the time? Sure it was, but I didn’t see it. I missed the potential and instead focused on the limitations of the service.

To use Hotmail you pretty much needed access to an internet café and had to be willing to spend five bucks for half an hour’s time. Surf the internet? Forget it. You got Hotmail, that’s it. You also needed the patience of a Buddhist monk given how long it could take for a terminal to become available.

Basically I thought email was novelty, nothing more, and I’ve been eating my words ever since. Now I couldn’t imagine my life without it and there now exists people alive today that have never lived in a world without it.

Think about that for a minute.

For you, me and anyone else over the age of 10, email changed our paradigm of communication completely and forever. But for those under the age of 10, they were born into this new paradigm, no change necessary. To them, email is communication and vice versa. Email is as natural to them as colour televisions and dishwashers are to us.

The naysayers and cynics can doubt the emergence cable transit all they want. But they’re wrong . . .

The Medellin Metrocable. Image by Steven Dale.

That paradigm shift’s already happened, it’s just invisible to most people. Yet to a generation of kids in Medellin, gondolas and transit are a natural fit. No change, paradigm shift or persuasion necessary. Why? Because they were born with it.

To them, this entire website would be a complete waste of time.

Thoughts
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21
Apr

2010

Urban Gondolas Should Thank The Internet

There is a story of the scholar who, years ago, produced a dissertation that was loudly hailed as the best written and most valuable in a generation. A copy was reverently placed in the library files and the scholar, as an experiment, placed a crisp $20 bill among its pages. Every year he returned to the library and took down the dissertation. Every year, it fell open to the stuffed page. Every year, the $20 bill was still there, untouched.

– Isaac Asimov, 1992, Asimov Laughs Again

Twenty years ago, a few people (Neumann & Bondada in particular) made an attempt to popularize cable transit and urban gondolas. The push was made by a few scholars who published papers in journals that were read only by people who followed the cable industry . . . hopefully.

More likely, no one read them at all.

Occasionally they’d make presentations at conferences that were attended almost exclusively by members of the Automated People Mover (APM) and cable industry. The associated papers would later be published in compendiums read by cable industry veterans and cable engineering scholars . . . hopefully.

PhDs wrote dissertations. Masters candidates wrote theses. Hopefully more people than just me read them. Hopefully.

More likely, these compendiums, presentations, dissertations and theses languished on library shelves around the world, collecting dust and taking up space. Some have been collected, digitized and made available to the general public. Most are just footnotes.

That’s not to say they weren’t important contributions. They were. I use them in my practice constantly. But just because something’s important doesn’t mean it’s relevant.

Twenty years ago these documents weren’t relevant because cable didn’t have a shot at the big time. Nobody cared because it was a hopeless cause.

It didn’t matter that it was a good idea then (a better idea now), the friction of distance and the transmission of knowledge was just too great to allow the obscure idea of urban gondolas to spread. Today, however, things are different:

  • Today we have Skype. Twenty years ago we had extortionist long distance charges.
  • Today we have easyJet. Twenty years ago we had air travel that was affordable to only a few.
  • Today we have Amazon, Lulu and PDFs. Twenty years ago we had to courier books around the world at an astronomical cost.
  • Today we have teleconferencing and email. Twenty years ago we had high-priced week-long conventions in far-flung exotic locations.
  • Today we have WordPress, Twitter and Open Courseware at MIT. Twenty years ago we had hard-bound peer-reviewed journals vetted by a few gatekeepers who chose what information thrived and which died.
  • Today we have flickr. Twenty years ago we had expensive site visits and professional photographers.

Twenty years ago cable transit was hopelessly dead in the water because it was too expensive and difficult to spread such a strange idea. Now the industry is growing, exponentially year-upon-year. There’s hope now, big hope because the cost to communicate is miniscule compared to what it was. The internet enabled that.

Want proof?

Where’d you first hear about the Medellin Metrocable?

History / Research Issues / Urban Planning & Design
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20
Apr

2010

Public Transit is Scary for Women

One of the most common arguments against urban gondolas I hear is the issue of women’s safety.

The argument goes that women will not want to “be trapped” in a small box in the sky for fear of having to ride with another “sketchy” individual. Fair enough.

(I actually see this as a huge opportunity, but let’s get back to that problematic argument first.)

There are two common arguments used against this, both are useless:

  • Argument 1: This issue is no different than waiting for a bus on a darkened corner; riding an elevator; riding a subway late at night; etc. The argument is useless because it is equivalent to saying “we’re no more scary than the other guys!”
  • Argument 2: Urban gondolas are now equipped with closed circuit cameras and intercom systems. This argument is useless because it is a measure designed to deal with a problem after it’s already occurred.

The thing is, most public transit agencies use the exact same arguments and they never work! (Check out this article at Grist, to see how well those arguments hold up.)

These arguments tell people (women in particular) that their emotions are wrong; that statistics prove they are foolish for feeling the way they do. Telling people that their emotions are illegitimate is not the way to convince them of a product’s effectiveness and the entire public transit industry is complicit in this. I made that very mistake here.

Transit agencies love to demonstrate that public transportation is faster, safer, cheaper and better than the private automobile. So much so that telling people transit is good is an industry unto itself. And yet there isn’t a single city in North America where public transit is the transportation mode of choice for the majority of commuters.

Telling people what to think and how to feel just doesn’t cut it.

So here’s the opportunity: Why not design your cable system so that it actually makes people feel safer. And don’t use tricks, gimmicks or signage. Make it clearly, demonstrably safer than all the other options. Here’s how:

  • Tactic 1: Fully automate your ticketing operations. This is already standard practice with a lot of transit systems, but should be standard practice with cable.
  • Tactic 2: Use attendants at every station. This helps with loading, off-loading and passenger requests. You can afford these attendants because your cable transit vehicles are driverless and your ticketing operations are automated (Tactic 1). It should be noted, station attendants are standard on all urban gondola systems.
  • Tactic 3: Use slim-profile stations. Small stations are easier to police and attend than large stations. Think streetcar platform small.
  • Tactic 4: Stay low to the ground. Keeping your vehicles as low to the ground as possible increases access to emergency services.
  • Tactic 5: Provide all-women cabins during daytime hours. This is a low-cost, easy policy to implement that has been used in cities around the world on traditional transit systems.
  • Tactic 6: Provide single-rider/group cabins during evening hours. This, again, is a low-cost, easy policy to implement. Provide some means to communicate which vehicles are currently in “single-rider” use to prevent new passengers boarding at other stations.

Station Attendants are standard practice in all urban gondola systems. Image by Steven Dale.

Station Attendants not only provide increased security, they can assist those who require assistance entering and exiting a vehicle

Station Attendants not only provide increased security, they can assist those who require assistance entering and exiting a vehicle. Image by Steven Dale.

Tactic 6 is the most important because it increases both perceived and actual levels of safety for all because riders can self-segregate as they see fit. It is also a tactic that only CPT can offer. The reason cable alone can offer this is simple: Drivers are too busy driving to be attendants. And if you have drivers, you probably can’t afford attendants.

Furthermore, during off-peak hours, transit vehicles are mostly just empty seats. Because there are no drivers in the vehicles, there is little additional cost in providing single-rider/single-group cars. The small vehicle size of cable increases this capability.

Such tactics and policies are simple to create and easy to execute with almost no additional cost. By doing so, public transit can finally stop telling people they should feel safe and get to the real work of making them safe.

Creative Commons image by moriza.

Analysis / Urban Planning & Design
6
Comments
19
Apr

2010

Congratulations to the Ryerson Cable Propelled Transit Team!

The Ryerson University School of Urban Planning's Student Lounge, February 2010. A team of 9 students from the School became the first team of planning students to tackle the oftentimes difficult topic of cable transit in the urban realm.

For the last 3 months, myself and a team of 9 students from Ryerson University’s School of Urban and Regional Planning have been working through the implications of what cable transit could mean for their city. A week-and-a-half ago, the team presented their findings in front of their colleagues, faculty and a 5-person panel of engineers, planners and architects.

It was a fascinating presentation and an afternoon of lively discussion. Sometimes conversation was heated and confrontational; other times, conciliatory and understanding. It was a great experience for the students to wrestle with a technology they’d never even heard of and inform the cable industry about how to better fit the technology into the urban environment.

One of their reports was so well-received, it generated talk of converting it into a primer text on the technology. As far as I know, this is the first ever group of urban planning students (not engineers or civil engineers) to actively work with this technology and the steep learning curve made for hard work. They did a great job and should be commended for their work.

Their insight, advice and imagination should go a long way to improve cable transit for the urban realm.

The Ryerson team laid essential groundwork, but there’s far more that needs to be done. Hopefully, other university planning programs are interested in continuing the team’s work. So let me put it out there: Are you or your university’s architecture, civil engineering and/or urban planning program interested in working on such a project some time in the future? If so, drop us a line at gondola (at) creativeurbanprojects (dot) com .

No commitments necessary, obviously. Let’s just start a dialogue.

Special thanks to Ryerson University; the cable transit team; faculty supervisor, Tom Ostler; the School’s Director, Mitchell Kosny; and panel members, Don Verbanac, Paul Bedford, Doug Jin and René Boiselle.

Research Issues / Urban Planning & Design
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18
Apr

2010

Forcing Functions

We all do stupid things. Constantly. Wouldn’t it be nice to have something that prevents those things?

Forcing Functions are a principle of industrial and interactive design that shapes human behavior in order to prevent error when using a machine, interface or system. They are functions that – quite literally – force us to behave in a particular way. Forcing Functions are often irritating and annoying but when designed properly, they prevent behaviors that are even more inconvenient and irritating:

  • The reverse key lock in cars. Before the advent of the key lock fob, cars could not be locked from the inside. Was it inconvenient to have to lock the car manually from the outside? Yes. Did it prevent thousands of people from locking their keys inside their cars? Also yes.
  • Placing your alarm clock out of reach of your bed. Yes, when the alarm goes off you have to get out of bed to turn it off. Really irritating, especially on a cold winter’s morning. But more irritating is when you slap the alarm off half asleep and miss your 8 am conference call.
  • Keycard activated lights in hotel rooms. Lights will only be engaged once you insert your hotel keycard in the appropriate slot. Prevents people from forgetting their card and from leaving lights on. A great example of a Forcing Function that benefits the service provider rather than the user.
  • Child proof medicine bottles. One of the most benign and irritating Forcing Functions ever developed. But the display of strength and ingenuity needed to open these bottles prevents children from accidentally ingesting medicine they shouldn’t.
  • Freezing your credit card in ice. A classic from the debt-reduction self-help world that is rarely if ever seen as a Forcing Function. The time it takes to return home from the store and thaw out the credit card provides room to pause and contemplate, preventing poorly thought out impulse purchases.
  • Repeated requests for confirmation of a computer-related action. 99 out of every 100 times you know you want to delete the file you just asked the computer to delete. So why then does your computer keep asking you if you’re sure? Because there’s always that one time out of every 100 when you’re not sure.

Forcing Functions are all around and often completely invisible to us. And yet they seem noticeably absent from our existing transit systems and technologies. I can think of at least half a dozen problems with public transit that could easily be resolved with the proper Forcing Functions:

  • People who do not exit by the rear doors of transit vehicles.
  • Riders who dangerously rush down stairs and platforms to “catch” a departing vehicle.
  • People who refuse to let people off of a vehicle before they board.
  • Drivers who take unapproved breaks.
  • Not having the “exact change.”
  • Riders who will not move to the ends of a subway platform or to the back of the bus.
  • People on escalators who clog both the “walk” lane and the “stand” lane.
  • Chronically behind-of or ahead-of schedule vehicles.

As I see it, our current transit systems are not designed to recognize how people behave in reality. They are instead designed under the assumption that people are purely rational decision-makers that will behave as they are supposed to. We know, of course, that this just isn’t the case.

I suspect there’s something in the human condition that doesn’t like the concept of Forcing Functions because it implies that we are fallible and capable of moronic errors in judgement. We don’t like to think of ourselves as stupid and therefore don’t like the idea of a system forced upon us to correct for our stupidity. No one likes to be reminded of their shortcomings, after all.

Problem is we are stupid. Each and every one of us. And there’s nothing wrong with that, so long as our stupid decisions don’t ripple through an entire system to the inconvenience and hassle of thousands. Why not just admit that, design around it and move on with our lives?

Ironically, admitting to our own stupidity might just be the smartest thing we could ever do.

Beyond those listed above, what other public transit problems can you think of that come down to simple, stupid human error? Name a few and try to suggest a simple Forcing Function that could correct for it.

Urban Planning & Design
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17
Apr

2010

More Urban Gondola Images

Image by Johannes Geisler, used with permissions.

Image by Johannes Geisler, used with permissions.

Image by the Doppelmayr Garaventa Group, used with permissions.

These images just landed in my inbox and I wanted to share them with everyone because I think they’re pretty special and inspiring. The first two are more from a series of renderings by Austrian design student, Johannes Geisler. You can see more of his designs here.

The final image is a new rendering of the Koblenz urban gondola system being opened for the BUGA horticultural show in Koblenz, Germany. That system should be operational any moment now. If you pay particular attention, you’ll notice something particularly important about this station: It’s an incredibly small, slim-profile station, ideal for the urban environment. Very exciting!

You can learn more about the Koblenz gondola, its unique design and BUGA here.

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BUGA Systems. / Oddities / Urban Planning & Design
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