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Dec 03, 2015
Engineering, Thought Experiments

3 Innovations In Gondola Transit

A thought experiment: You’re now the owner of the world’s largest cable gondola transit manufacturer on the planet. This could be a fictional company or a real company; it doesn’t matter. You’re told by your CEO that three (and only three) innovations must be developed to ensure the technology’s viability into the future. One innovation...

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Sep 09, 2013
Thought Experiments

Understanding Travel Decisions—A Human Perspective

Like many people of my generation, I put myself through two university degrees working in restaurants and bars. The last spot I ever worked at was a high-end Irish Pub in Toronto’s financial district. Thankfully, the pub was located exactly 25 minutes’ walk from my apartment. I knew, because I’d meticulously timed it, measured it...

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Jan 21, 2013
Thought Experiments

Thought Experiment: The CompuTrans 3000

Because we haven’t done one of these in a while; a Thought Experiment: In the not-too-distant future a group of transit geeks invent the CompuTrans 3000*. It is the world’s most advanced method of analyzing and predicting the success or failure of a planned transit initiative based upon a series of metrics. It quickly establishes a...

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Aug 08, 2012
London Cable Car, Thought Experiments

London Cable Car Averages “Just” 20,000 Trips Per Day

The London Thames Cable Car (or “Emirates Air Line” if you so prefer) is quickly becoming not only one of the most expensive cable cars ever built – but also one of the most talked-about. It seems that no day goes by without someone coming up with something to criticize the system about. Problem is,...

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Mar 13, 2012
Thought Experiments, Uncategorized

Thought Experiment: Cuisine Zealotry?

A thought experiment: Imagine you’re a chef with a decent reputation, good training and a strong generalized understanding of most popular world cuisines. You know your Classical French, your Fresh Market California, your Asian Fusion, your Italian. But then one winter, you take a trip to The Philippines and discover something: Filipino cuisine is incredibly...

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Mar 06, 2012
Innovations, Questions, Thought Experiments, Thoughts

Dual Mode Gondolas – Hook and Anchor

Over the past week and half, we’ve discussed two hybrid/dual-mode transit technologies – AutoTram and DMVs. To build on this topic, I was contemplating if such a concept could apply to Cable Propelled Transit (CPT). I asked myself: what if a gondola cabin could be both propelled from above and below? Well, I decided to whip...

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Feb 01, 2012
Design Considerations, Thought Experiments

Thought Experiment: Towers vs. Stations

Firstly, I’d just like to thank Nick and Julia for pitching in so much these last couple of weeks. I’ve had a hectic schedule of travel and I couldn’t have done it without them. Secondly, I want to throw a question out there for our readers: I recently got into a discussion with a project team...

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Jan 03, 2012
Economics, Thought Experiments

Thought Experiment: The Cost of Multi-modality

Whether we’re talking about Light Rail, Urban Gondolas, Monorails or PRT systems, I’ve recently begun to hear an argument against multimodal transit systems that I’ve yet to hear before: The cost. From a transit agency accountant or city finance perspective, multi-modality is nice in principle but incredibly costly to implement. Let’ s walk through this...

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May 16, 2011
Oddities, Thought Experiments

Thought Experiment: Should Roller Coaster Designers Design Public Transit?

Disclaimer: This post in no way, shape, form or description advocates using roller coasters or thrill park rides as mass public transit. Should Roller Coaster Engineers and Theme Park Designers participate in the design of public transit? Probably an insane idea; no doubt completely and 100%. But also probably worth exploring, if only in a...

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Feb 18, 2011
Thought Experiments

Thought Experiment: Business Development

A Thought Experiment: For the last two years CableRailGyroCopter Inc. has developed projects in 10 North American cities. Each were to be purchased by the public sector for the purpose of providing public transit. For the sake of simplicity, let’s assume each of the projects is two kilometers long and will cost $100 million USD...

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