Comments on: Cable Misunderstandings on The Transport Politic

By: Steven Dale

Steven Dale — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 05:10:35 +0000

Jeff, It isn't really necessary because the systems are very energy efficient to begin with but, yes, you can do that and it's rather simple to do. I discuss that issue here.

By: Aerial Technologies, Lesson 7: 3S « The Gondola Project

Aerial Technologies, Lesson 7: 3S « The Gondola Project — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 05:04:10 +0000

[...] already read this post yesterday, please accept my apologies. This post was preempted yesterday by my response to The Transport Politic.) Image by [...]

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:06:52 +0000

Thanks for the feedback.

Adding vehicles brings up a question I have which I haven’t found an answer to yet (since I’m new to this site, it probably has already been answered, I just haven’t run across it yet.)

Is it possible to dynamically change the number of vehicles circulating according to the time of day?

For example: the early morning rush might require most of the vehicles (or is there a better term for this? pods?) to be in circulation, while during the off-peak, circulating that many vehicles may be unnecessary. It seems to me that removing extraneous vehicles during the off-peak period would decrease energy consumption and make the system more efficient in terms of resource use. The question is, it that possible and practical? Then again, perhaps that isn’t even necessary.

By: Steven Dale

Steven Dale — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:41:34 +0000

I think that’s incredibly prescient, Jeff. That potential does exist and the first Metrocable line in Medellin experienced that. Ways to avoid that: 1) Use a higher-end tech and plan for eventual increases in traffic. As long as the system has been designed to handle the additional load, more vehicles can be added relatively easily. 2) Recognize that the cost-effectiveness of cable means that you could install two lines (a couple kilometers apart from one another) for the price of one LRT line. In that way, not only do you get the capacity necessary, you also increase your network coverage dramatically. 3) Twin lines together such that more than one line utilize the same towers and/or stations. This has never been attempted before, but I’ve never heard anyone in the cable industry say it couldn’t be done. Do that, and you double (or triple) capacity and create the potential for express lines that skip every other (or every third) station.

Thanks so much for the insight!

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:04:00 +0000

About ridership estimates though.
I think that CPT with such short wait time will probably induce much higher ridership that a comparable LRT/BRT line would where there is a greater wait time. That said, if you replace a busy LRT line, it may strain the capacity of a CPT that has a higher capacity. Not that I’m arguing against this technology, but I’m saying the novelty (at least at first) and short wait time may make it more popular than a bus line would be.