Post by gondola-project

Key Bridge, Washington D.C. Image by Mariordo (Wiki commons).

A quick look at some of the things that happened this week in the world of urban gondolas, cable cars and cable propelled transit:

New Numbers from Ngong Ping (Hong Kong)
According to a recent release, Hong Kong’s combination cable car and tourist attractions brought in over 1.83 million visitors last year, for which the average number of daily guests increased by 10.9 per cent over 2013.

Suspended Spring Breakers? (Miami)
It may be little more than a notion as of yet, but gondolas came up as a potential transit option during a planning and zoning meeting of the City of Miami Commission. As part of the elusive dream of “connecting mainland Miami to Miami Beach, Key Biscayne, and Dinner Key,” water taxis and ropeways may soon be the focus of a transit study.

Cable Cars for the Capitol (USA)
Over at CityLab, Kriston Capps lays out an argument for a cable car line to the Georgetown neighbourhood in Washington, D.C. Capps says that even though the fancypants retail district is in desperate need of an improved transit link, a Metrorail station probably isn’t in the cards until 2040. He also quotes Joe Sternlieb, CEO of the Georgetown Business Improvement District on something that sounds familiar:

“For half the price [of a streetcar line], a gondola running down K Street could serve seven times the capacity. A gondola could deliver people at twice the speed at rush hour. It could be built in a fraction of the time.”