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Mar 08, 2010
Caracas Metrocable, Gondola, Medellin MetroCable

Medellin/Caracas!!!

Tune in Wednesday for the start of The Gondola Project’s first photo essay: Medellin/Caracas. I’ve just returned from Medellin, Colombia and Caracas, Venezuela where I toured five of the most important systems in all of cable transit. Two of them just opened mere weeks ago. There’s so much to say, this series could go on...

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Feb 22, 2010
Aerial Trams, Analysis, Gondola, Research Issues, Thoughts, Urban Planning & Design

Bondada-Neumann Study, Part 2

(This is Part 2 of a 2-Part piece on the Bondada-Neumann Study from the late 1980’s. In Part 1, I focused on the issue of Familiarity. In Part 2, I discuss the differences in perceptions between planners with cable experience and those without.) Bondada and Neumann’s discovery that transit planners and engineers had little familiarity...

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Feb 21, 2010
Aerial Trams, Analysis, Cable Cars, Gondola, Research Issues

Bondada-Neumann Study, Part 1

(This is Part 1 of a 2-Part piece on the Bondada-Neumann Study from the late 1980’s. In Part 1, I focus on the issue of Familiarity. In Part 2, I’ll discuss the differences in perceptions between planners with cable experience and those without.) In the late 1980’s two civil engineers from West Virginia University (WVU)...

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Feb 09, 2010
Gondola, Installations, Urban Planning & Design

Spokane Falls Skyride

I’m in transit today, traveling back to Toronto and it’s lovely minus 10 degree February temperatures. In the meantime, check out the Spokane Falls Skyride (video below). Given its urban/natural setting, this should be a fascinating system to discover more about. Any information on this installation would be greatly appreciated!

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Feb 07, 2010
3S, Aerial Trams, Gondola, Peak 2 Peak, Urban Planning & Design

The Peak 2 Peak (Part 3)

  Last month I toured Whistler’s Peak 2 Peak cable gondola system. This is Part 3 of a 3-part series on the system. Click on the following links to view Part 1 and Part 2. Most aerial cable systems offer a smooth ride. What little friction there is, is rarely felt by the rider. Except,...

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Feb 06, 2010
Aerial Trams, Gondola, Peak 2 Peak, Urban Planning & Design

The Peak 2 Peak (Part 2)

Last month I toured Whistler’s Peak 2 Peak cable gondola system. This is Part 2 of a 3-part series on the system. Click on the following link to view Part 1. The very first thing one notices about the Peak 2 Peak is the sheer scale of it. Everything is bigger, flashier and a little...

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Feb 03, 2010
Gondola, Haifa Cable Cars, Oddities, Urban Planning & Design

Haifa Cable Cars

Sometimes transit should just be fun. At the height of the economic crisis, the folks at O*GE InteractiveGallery in Haifa, Israel, decided to brighten people’s daily life with their Citymonsters art project. The transformation of the Haifa Cable Car was part of that project. The Haifa Cable Car is not a complex system. It dates...

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Jan 30, 2010
Gondola, Oddities

Classic Gondolas

None of these are what I would consider appropriate examples of Cable Propelled Transit, but they’re neat to look at nonetheless. They give you a sense of how old and basic the technology is. In essence, these are a few of the historic installations that gave rise to modern cable systems. They are still used...

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Jan 29, 2010
Funivia del Renon, Gondola, Hybrids, Urban Planning & Design

Funivia del Renon

Probably one of the single biggest counter-points to urban cable systems is the stations. People are quick to argue that the stations are large, ugly and imposing. It’s a difficult point to argue with because most cable stations are just that: Large, ugly and imposing. But then again, so are many of our traditional transit...

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Jan 28, 2010
BUGA Systems., Gondola, Peak 2 Peak, Urban Planning & Design

Test Drive A Cable System Today!

Take a look at that picture again . . . Now take a look at this one: Looks like the same system, right? Well, you’re sort of right and sort of wrong. It is, indeed, the same system, but they’re in two different cities! For those who don’t know (and I certainly didn’t), the biannual...

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