Image via Toronto Star.

Yesterday, the Toronto Star profiled Toronto’s “only cable-propelled transit” system – Pearson Airport’s Link APM cable car connector.

It’s a good article and worth taking a look at, especially as they discuss how an upcoming rail connection to downtown Toronto will integrate with the existing system. Apparently the rail line will arrive ”on a rail spur that runs right down the middle of the two LINK guideways.”

(One caveat though: As per the image above, the arm that connects the cars to the cable is not a bogie, it’s called the grip. The bogie is the wheeled carriage the vehicles travel on.)

Picken’s thesis is intriguing.

According to Picken, the upcoming Phase II of the Silver Line Rail Link works out to a per foot cost of $44,856 USD. The vast majority of the line would be built along a traffic median in the Dulles Toll Road but would divert from the median to service the airport then return to the median.

You can note the line diversion in the above map as the dotted U-shaped line passing through Dulles Airport. Image via Dulles Metro.

Pickens calculates that the difference between merely continuing the line along the median and the airport diversion to be 7,359 feet. Opting to stay in the median and by-pass the airport would result in a potential cost savings of $330,095,304.

He’s also quick to note, however, that such an option would eliminate any direct connection to the airport, thus negating a great part of the appeal of the line.

Which is where gondolas come into play . . .

Pickens assumes that a gondola connection to Silver Line Phase II would be 6,591 feet. Using Whistler’s Peak 2 Peak as a benchmark, Pickens calculates a per foot cost for a 3S system to be $3,600 – which is reasonable, but may not be accurate given the cost escalations we’re seeing when applying the technology in urban environments. That works out to ~ $25m USD for a gondola connection.

Deduct $25m from $330m and you’ve just saved a whopping $305m USD while still providing the direct airport link.

I like this concept . . . a lot. My major concern, however, is with the cost estimate. As we’ve seen before, cable in urban environments (at least in westernized democracies) have a tendency to meet with a lot of scope creep and cost inflation. If we were to use the Burnaby Mountain situation as a benchmark, we could assume a potential cost escalation of up to 340%.

Yet even still that would only result in a cost of $85m USD for the gondola connection thereby saving the Dulles Silver Line approximately $250m USD.

At numbers like that, Picken’s idea deserves a lot of attention.

Today is Victoria Day in Canada which means Nick and Julia are off. Meanwhile, I got caught in a last minute work trip overseas.

As such, there was no material today and we’re sincerely sorry for the oversight.

Nevertheless, be rest assured we’ll have new materials – as usual – up tomorrow.

And for all our fellow Canadians out there: Hope you had a Happy May Two-Four!

How long until someone decides to use this as evidence that cable is bad for the environment? Image via Vox.

A quick look at some of the highlights from around the world of Urban Gondolas, Gondola Transit, and Cable Propelled Transit:

• Here’s something I never – and I mean never - thought I’d be obligated to include in a Weekly Roundup: A Gibraltar area ape took a harrowing cable car ride and found himself stranded onto a service cable running between the cars.

• In a report on the controversial Emirates AirLine, MSNBC mistakenly links to The Gondola Project as a means of calling us an “opponent” of the system. As we’ve stated before, we’re not opponents of the system, we simply have severe concerns about the project cost and the fare structure. A little nuance next time, MSNBC? Please?

• Something no business case or feasibility study can possibly capture: Inter Press Service has an excellent piece on cable transit in Caracas as a means of social inclusion. While it’s far from the most balanced piece of journalism, there are some great quotes. My favourite is a quote from a neighbourhood leader who says “In the cabins you run into people you didn’t know and people you knew before but had lost touch with. Now we have that day-to-day contact again, neighbourly relations.” It’s an interesting perspective and one worth contemplating further.

• Sticking with Caracas: More Metrocables on the way!

In terms of infrastructure construction, the city has also left its mark on the world with many impressive pieces of work. It boasts many accomplishments including: the first city to build a skyscraper; the world’s second busiest airport; the second oldest rapid transit system in the Americas and much more. However, like many large metropolitan cities in the US, the city has long been neglecting its infrastructure. While existing roads, buildings and bridges are all rapidly aging and crumbling, all levels of governments are unwilling to and/or incapable of investing more money into infrastructure.

For example in 2010, Chicago’s transit system had $7 billion in unfunded maintenance needs.

Despite being designed to run at 70 mph, some trains now must operate at 15 mph due to "fragile rails". Image by Flickr User ruffin_ready.

However, a ray of hope is now shining through. Under the leadership of the city’s mayor, Rahm Emanuel, a infrastructure finance instrument called the Chicago Infrastructure Trust (CIT) was recently developed and approved by council. With a fund of $7 billion, private investors will be able to submit proposals to the city. In turn, public officials will pick projects deemed the most worthy and match the private dollars offered.

Over the next years, other cities will be paying close attention to this financing tool. Undoubtedly, if proven successful, many officials will be eager to replicate and implement their own forms of the CIT in their city. Given the dearth of infrastructure investment in North America, this tool certainly looks promising and probably couldn’t have come at a better time.

For more information on CIT, please follow this link.

During testing phase, 700 kg weights are being placed into cabins to replicate 10 passengers. Image by thisislondon.co.uk.

Despite undergoing testing at the moment, a recent interview by ITV News with London Mayor, Boris Johnson, indicates that he is still not willing to guarantee that the cable car project will be ready in time for the Olympics.

However, he did agree that it would be unfortunate should the system be not completed by that time. Who knows, I guess we’ll see and keep our fingers crossed because as of today, there’s only 72 days before the Games start!

The Chongqing Cable Car. Image via flickr user Edward Jung.

We’ve known about the Chongqing Cable Car for a while now but have always lacked good information about it. We know it was an Aerial Tram, was around 1 km in length and it served for 29 years. But that’s about it.

Sadly, we’ll never have a chance to witness it in person as the system was officially retired in February of last year.

A new video of the system, however, sheds additional light on this little known oddity of public transportation. The video shows the systems clearly navigating several skyscrapers and dense urban form.

Most interestingly: One of the stations is located on what appears to be the top floor of an approximately 10 storey residential building. Even though the Singapore Cable Car did something similar a decade earlier, this is still an incredibly rare and unique feature with clear implications for urban public transit.

Too bad we’ll never get to see it. Take a look: