With a title inspired by—one can only assume—this month’s WWE Wrestlemania spectacular, Streetsblog writer Angie Schmitt recently let fly an invective against all things gondola. The piece, titled “Enough with the Gondolamania Already” is the kind of fact-free op-ed column one expects from a lesser publication than Streetsblog. It’s the kind of piece that’s meant to provoke...
As it seems to be picture week here on the Gondola Project, I feel that it is only appropriate to carry on this unofficial theme. Monday we saw new images of Livigno, Tuesday was Jackie Chan sporting a cable car sweater day, and Wednesday we got a glimpse of the progress of the Emirates AirLine (London cable...
Over at The City Builder Book Club (which Creative Urban Projects is a co-founder and sponsor of) we’re discussing chapter 18 of Jane Jacobs’ essential The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Chapter 18, for those unaware, is all about ‘The Erosion of Cities or The Attrition of the Automobile’ and is excellent reading for...
The internet’s a funny thing. It’s so easy to take things out of context, misinterpret or just generally get all riled up about something that turns out to be nothing. Without that in-person interactive component, virtually anything can be misunderstood – and typically is. Which is why I’m torn about a recent post over at...
I recently discovered a new site advocating for Urban Gondolas in Spokane, Washington. I have no idea the person(s) behind the site and it’s currently slim on details, but that’s okay. After all, it’s only a couple months old and these things take time to build up content, community and resources. Refreshingly, there’s no route or...
One of my favorite websites in the world is the satirical newspaper, The Onion. Its commentary is such a spot-on accurate depiction of how the world works, it’s oftentimes a more reliable source of news and commentary than our traditional sources. An absolute favorite article (from 2000) is titled Report: 98 Percent of U.S.Commuters Favor...
There’s nothing more common and consistently wrong in the transit planner’s toolbox as ridership forecasting and projections. It’s like voodoo: 90% of the time it doesn’t work, and the 10% of the time it does no one knows why (hint: it’s not because of the voodoo). So here comes Tom Rubin, a veteran transit consultant...
I recently spoke with a cable engineer who thought it completely absurd that people use Aerial Tram statistics to negate the feasibility of Urban Gondolas. When I told him such confusion was the norm rather than the exception, he became flustered. He simply couldn’t accept that people make that mistake. They’re two completely different performance packages!...
In February The Gondola Project held a mini-competition. The winner was to receive their $50 prize by email money transfer. Matt Thredgold of Wellington Cycleways won. But as Matt lives in New Zealand and email money transfers are apparently a uniquely Canadian phenomenon (they’re awesome, by the way), Matt asked that his prize come in...
Yonah Freemak, the tireless creator of The Transport Politic yesterday wrote about The Gondola Project and a piece I wrote for Planetizen. Yonah takes the perspective that cable transit is an enjoyable, interesting technology and wades into the Form vs. Function debate I highlighted recently. Yonah is an excellent writer, one whom I respect deeply....