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Nov 18, 2013
Case Studies, Monorails, Oddities, Other Transit Techs

Lyle Lanley From The Simpsons — Alive, Well and Building Monorails in Malaysia

In our never-ending quest to bring you the best and most unique transport stories, we were recently informed by a colleague of a curious transit system in Malaysia named the Malacca Monorail. Being true transit geeks (and huge fans of the Simpsons), we had no choice but to personally visit it ourselves. This 1.6km, 2...

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Mar 29, 2012
Light Rail & Streetcars, Monorails, Public Transit, Research Issues, Urban Planning & Design

Three Eye-Opening Papers On How We Build Transit

The other day I discussed how modal choice often has less to do with the intrinsic qualities of a technology and more to do with extrinsic factors. Those comments caused something of a stir with people coming out saying a variation of the following: Light Rail is a scam. Light Rail is awesome. It depends....

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Mar 27, 2012
ICTS, Monorails, Uncategorized

What The Death of The Sydney Monorail Teaches Us About Techno-Zealotry

On the recent news of the soon-in-the-offing death of the Sydney Monorail, Jarrett Walker at Human Transit had this to say: Technophile commenters will doubtless chalk this up the Sydney decision as a defeat for monorails in general.  I disagree.  It’s a defeat for one-way loops, poor connectivity, and symbolic as opposed to actual mobility....

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Jan 04, 2011
Monorails, Oddities

The Paradox Of Established Technologies

Quick! Hands up if you own an iPad! (Good, now hold that thought because I’ll get back to it at the end of this post.) A comment on a recent post over at Human Transit caught my eye: The post was titled All Aboard The Canadian Hydrogen Overhead Monorail Express and dealt with Canadian Inventor...

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Apr 09, 2010
Monorails, Oddities, Wuppertal Schwebebahn

The Wuppertal Schwebebahn

In the central German city of Wuppertal is a piece of transit infrastructure completely unique in the world. Translated directly, the Wuppertal Schwebebahn means “floating railway” and it’s easy to see how it received it’s name. Built in 1900, the Shwebebahn in the oldest monorail on the planet and an elegant piece of transit history...

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Mar 02, 2010
Analysis, Cable Cars, Las Vegas, Mandalay Bay, Monorails, Urban Planning & Design

Mandalay Bay Cable Car, Part 2

I recently travelled to Las Vegas, Nevada to explore that city’s two public cable systems. This is Part 2 of a 3 Part report on the Mandalay Bay Cable Car. The Mandalay Bay Cable Car is the kind of cable installation I love. It’s a modest, unassuming workhorse that demonstrates why cable is just so...

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Nov 04, 2009
Monorails, Thoughts, Voluntary Disclosure

CPT Is Not A Monorail

When I talk to anyone under the age of 35 about Cable-Propelled Transit (CPT) something almost always occurs: Without prompting, my partner in conversation will typically invoke the near-legendary Monorail musical number in The Simpsons episode “Marge vs. The Monorail.” For those who’ve never seen it, the story turns around a schemingly tuneful huckster bent...

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