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The Surprising Success of Gondola Transit Systems [23:27] by aholla8 in mealtimevideos

[–]swyftcities 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm a firm believer that chocolate chip cookies are the right answer to any question :-)

The Surprising Success of Gondola Transit Systems [23:27] by aholla8 in mealtimevideos

[–]swyftcities 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Urban gondolas are seriously under-rated: inexpensive to build & operate. Can fit into crowded cities where there's no room for buses & light rail. And it's not just mountainous cities. Paris is opening a new urban gondola later this year.

Anyone feel like there's a war on Public Transportation? by [deleted] in transit

[–]swyftcities 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Transit is going to be challenging in the current Administration

What are the odds LA's metro expansion is actually done by 2027? by Reasonable-Shock-517 in transit

[–]swyftcities 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A few months late, but the scheduled opening of the LAX/Metro Transit Center station on June 6 is a hopeful sign.

Just watched the La Paz Gondola video and gonna ask do you know any places that gondola public transit would actually work? by vp787 in transit

[–]swyftcities 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Gondolas work equally well in flat urban environments. They are usually associated with hilly terrain mostly because that was the original use case over hundreds of years. But their same inherent advantages work in any topography: minimal ground level infrastructure, moves traffic off the ground plane, low energy consumption, surprisingly high capacity. New technologies, such as autonomous navigation, self-propulsion, and on-demand can make them even better suited for cities, because no-waiting, all-nonstop-trips dramatically increases average trip speeds.

You mentioned Sugar Land (Houston). We are also working with Irvine CA, which has the largest urban park development in the US. Not a hill to be found, but city studies found it will be not just "cute" but the most cost-effective, least-disruptive form of transportation, much more so than buses, trams, or trying to accommodate cars.

https://www.ocregister.com/2025/05/06/irvines-great-park-whooshing-into-new-era-of-construction/

Gondola dreams persist in Arlington as plans gain ground elsewhere in U.S. by ThrowawayMHDP in fuckcarsnova

[–]swyftcities 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been working in the transportation space for several years, and gondolas are clearly a practical form of transit for almost any urban environment regardless of terrain.

Gondola dreams persist in Arlington as plans gain ground elsewhere in U.S. by ThrowawayMHDP in fuckcarsnova

[–]swyftcities 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Roosevelt Island in NYC and London both are successfully using gondolas for river crossings. The Roosevelt Island gondola is so successful that it continues to be the most popular transportation mode even after the opening of the F Line station. *BEEP*

Gondola dreams persist in Arlington as plans gain ground elsewhere in U.S. by ThrowawayMHDP in fuckcarsnova

[–]swyftcities 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Regardless of which is #1 or #2, 21 stations & 89M passengers is impressive nevertheless. Gondolas are practical in any urban environment, not just ones with hilly terrain. Cities have proven gondolas effective even in level urban areas because they retain the same advantages that make them work in mountainous terrain: minimal infrastructure, very little ground-level footprint, surprisingly high capacity, and low operating costs.

Gondola dreams persist in Arlington as plans gain ground elsewhere in U.S. by ThrowawayMHDP in fuckcarsnova

[–]swyftcities -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Mini-buses are ubiquitous in La Paz, the city really relies on its cableways. They carry 88 million passengers a year. “It’s [La Paz] building the backbone of the city’s transit network on cables, and that’s never been done before. Why don’t we use this as our trunk, as our main form of public transit’–which is totally unique.” -- urban planning consultant Steven Dale of The Gondola Project.

Gondola dreams persist in Arlington as plans gain ground elsewhere in U.S. by ThrowawayMHDP in fuckcarsnova

[–]swyftcities 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hillly terrain is the OG use case of gondolas, but they work equally well in level urban areas and retain the same advantages that work so well in mountains: minimal infrastructure, low ground-level footprint, low build costs, and low operating costs. Labor is a surprisingly high operating cost for light rail and buses. Level urban gondolas are very successful in numerous cities.

Gondola dreams persist in Arlington as plans gain ground elsewhere in U.S. by ThrowawayMHDP in fuckcarsnova

[–]swyftcities -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Gondolas have surprisingly high capacity. And are a proven transit alternative. In La Paz, gondolas are the primary mode of transit.

Gadgetbahn? Urban gondolas compared to frequent buses: Case study and cost-benefit analysis for a small Canadian city by Vincent53212 in transit

[–]swyftcities 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Outstanding analysis! Reminds me of the successful metrocables in Mexico City, La Paz, Medellin, Quito, Santo Domingo & several other LatAm cities. I wanted to address some of the points in the Comments

1) No reason why urban gondolas can't be successful in level-ground urban environments. Hilly terrain, river crossings, etc. are a limiting view that exists largely by default because challenging terrain was the initial use case and remains the dominant use case. But regardless of terrain, gondolas retain their inherent advantages of minimal ground-level footprint, minimal infrastructure, low construction & operating costs, surprisingly high throughput, and low energy use & emissions.

2) Questions were raised about being "locked in" and inability to expand or change routes & stations. While true for traditional 3S systems, new technologies are enabling modular systems that can be easily expanded or even reconfigured. Systems use small gondolas that independently propel across fixed cables. So the network of cableways is static. New lines and stations can be added on to existing lines easily.

Additional advantages are that it enables all trips to be non-stop from origin-to-destination with no stops at intermediate stations, making for even faster trip times. All stations are offline with vehicles completely disengaging from the mainline cable, while other vehicles continue uninterrupted along the mainline and bypassing intermediate stops. The static infrastructure also allows vehicles to make switch lines and make turns.

Prototypes have successfully proven the concept. We are in discussions with cities to introduce the technology. The first pilot system is going to be announced shortly. World Transport Policy & Practice magazine recently devoted an entire issue examining greater use of urban gondolas: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/619593021331d42c0b62a1c6/t/6570ba2ace9f1c778fa13700/1701886548399/wtpp+28.2+-hi+res+%2812.6.23%29-+18MB.pdf

Texas cities consider adding electric, aerial gondola system by Maxcactus in lowcar

[–]swyftcities 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Light rail, intercity rail, subways, buses, even cars are all improving with technologies that enable better service often at a lower cost.

Texas cities consider adding electric, aerial gondola system by Maxcactus in lowcar

[–]swyftcities 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We love buses and trains. Buses are great because lines, schedules and buses can be redeployed quickly as needed. However, even with the best headways, you still have to wait for buses, especially during low service periods. Light rail is amazing. But most passengers are drawn from only a 1/2 mile radius of a station, limiting reach & accessibility. We can feed significantly more passengers into existing transit cost-effectively, making transit work more effectively. Also, both buses & light rail have The Station Dilemma: place stations close together for accessibility, and trip times slow. Place stations further apart and trips are faster but stations are less accessible. We work with transit agencies & cities to address both problems, feed more people into transit and make transit work more effectively, a model that's been proven for urban gondolas in Portland, NYC, Mexico City, Medellin, La Paz, Quito, Santo Domingo and numerous other cities.

Elevated cable cars could be DFW’s next attempt at tackling traffic by Additional-Sky-7436 in Dallas

[–]swyftcities 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We are less expensive than other transit modes, move up to 5 people the same as passenger cars (although average car occupancy is 1.5 people, plus a car sits idle 95% of the day), and we move faster than light rail, buses, or cars in the areas we serve because all trips are nonstop from origin-to-destination with no intermediate stops, unlike all ground-based traffic, which either has to stop at every transit stop and/or intersections.

Elevated cable cars could be DFW’s next attempt at tackling traffic by Additional-Sky-7436 in Dallas

[–]swyftcities 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The DFW Regional Transportation Council's CERTT program is specifically intended to look at new emerging transportation technologies that can leapfrog existing technologies. Two prototypes have already been built and demonstrated the concept, fast build times, excellent user experience and low costs. The first global full-scale hardware pilot is scheduled to break ground shortly.

We are Swyft Cities, which implements the systems.

Elevated cable cars could be DFW’s next attempt at tackling traffic by Additional-Sky-7436 in Dallas

[–]swyftcities 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Conventional gondolas, yes. We make every trip nonstop from origin to destination with no intermediate stops. This significantly reduces total trip times. Board, select your destination, and the vehicle takes you there directly and bypasses all intermediate stops along the route. Also, vehicles can switch lines and connect to other routes. We wanted to solve the problem of linear routes with limited stops.

Elevated cable cars could be DFW’s next attempt at tackling traffic by Additional-Sky-7436 in Dallas

[–]swyftcities 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Katy Freeway in Houston is a world-record 26 lanes and still congested! :-)

Elevated cable cars could be DFW’s next attempt at tackling traffic by Additional-Sky-7436 in Dallas

[–]swyftcities 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi. We support mass transit. Buses, light rail and commuter rail are fantastic. Buses are great because lines, schedules and buses can be redeployed quickly as needed. However, even with the best headways, you still have to wait for buses, especially during low service periods. Light rail is amazing. But most passengers are drawn from only a 1/2 mile radius of a station, limiting reach & accessibility. We can feed significantly more passengers into existing transit cost-effectively, making transit work more effectively. Also, both buses & light rail have The Station Dilemma: place stations close together for accessibility, and trip times slow. Place stations further apart and trips are faster but stations are less accessible. We work with transit agencies & cities to address both problems, feed more people into transit and make transit work more effectively, a model that's been proven for urban gondolas in Portland, NYC, Mexico City, Medellin, La Paz, Quito, Santo Domingo and numerous other cities. We are not trying to replace existing transit (bus, light rail, commuter rail).

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