Right now, there are two groups looking at urban gondola transit solutions: Developing World cities and Developed World cities. Pretty broad classification, I know, but bear with me.
Curiously, in the Developed World the technology gets little attention from the public sector. Typically it’s the private sector that pushes these systems as little more than touristic attractions. Sure there are exceptions like the Burnaby Mountain proposal in Vancouver, but the proposed Hamburg and St. Louis gondolas are more typical examples.
And yet in the Developing World, governments are all over the technology. This is where the technology’s major growth is coming from. As we’ve said before, the growth in South America is awe-inspiring.
Then there are the hybrids; those systems like the London Cable Car (Gondola) that have been spearheaded by the government but will be paid for by the private sector (presumably).
As I’ve argued before, the London Cable Car (Gondola) isn’t going to be a watershed moment for cable transit. But it may very well be the system that allows cable to cross from being seen in the eyes of western governments as nothing more than a Toy for Tourists and being viewed as fully-integrated parts of their local transit network.
This could very likely be the system that allows cable to cross the Rubicon into respectability and allow the industry to fully realize its first Medellin-esque “silver-bullet” system in the Developed World.
We’ll soon find out; the London Cable Car (Gondola) will be open in just over a year’s time.