Gondolas As Serious Transit

Arlington

Arlington

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What does this site (http://gondolaproject.com/portland/) have to teach us? It is that new aerial trams (think Roosevelt Island) make increasing sense. London is building one to cross the Thames for the Olympics too.

Imagine a system with 4 segments:

Convention Center to South Station
South Station to Aquarium
Aquarium to North Station
North Station to Charlestown Navy Yard
 
There's a cool system recently built to connect hillside favelas in Medellin as well...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrocable_(Medellín)

I'm not sure I see the need for this in DT Boston, though. There's no unique geographical feature (a huge river or mountains) that would necessitate it. It might look somewhat interesting among the skyscrapers, but the experience wouldn't be any different than riding in a monorail, and it's probably less practical as a form of transportation where there's nothing like a huge incline necessitating it...
 
czsz said:
There's a cool system recently built to connect hillside favelas in Medellin as well...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrocable_(Medellín)

I'm not sure I see the need for this in DT Boston, though. There's no unique geographical feature (a huge river or mountains) that would necessitate it. It might look somewhat interesting among the skyscrapers, but the experience wouldn't be any different than riding in a monorail, and it's probably less practical as a form of transportation where there's nothing like a huge incline necessitating it...
Click to expand...

In Boston, it's political and financial barriers that it might be superior at overcoming.

Towers and cables are much cheaper than tunneling (a NS Rail link or a Red-Blue connector) and don't overshadow the streetscape or put a picket of columns like monorails do.

In London, there's no huge incline, just a river to be crossed (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/15959.aspx) and a corporate sponsor...who has dubbed it the Emirates Air Line
 
Kenmore Station to Central Square via the Charles River/Mass Ave?
 
Hull ferry dock to Georges Island where it then splits into a one way loop, hitting Lovell's Island, then Gallops Island, and then back to Georges Island and Hull.

JFK/Umass Station - Bayside Expo - Umass Boston - Marina Bay - Squantum Center

Medford Square to Wellington or Assembly Sq via scenic, slightly zig-zag-ish route down the Mystic River.
 
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Arlington said:
What does this site (http://gondolaproject.com/portland/) have to teach us?
Click to expand...

Doesn't it teach us that gondolas are good options in locations where dramatic changes in elevation or large bodies of water separate activity centers that aren't already well connected by transit or walking? In Boston, the inner harbor and a few residential hills a couple miles from downtown are probably the only places that fit the bill. Maybe if we took Powderhorn Hill from Chelsea and dropped it on top of Charles River Park, and then replaced the Soldiers Home on top with a recreated old West End, a connection between the summit and North Station or Government Center might make a good corridor for this idea.
 
North Station - Charlestown Navy Yard - Chelsea Center/Bellingham Square - Chelsea Memorial Hospital (some sort of VA hospital I think, and it's on a massive hill!) - Revere Center

EDIT: Funny that Belmont Square posted about the hill in Chelsea just before me. :p
 
...or down Washington St to Dudley through the South End another step towards the goal of the yet unfulfilled "equal or better" promise!
 
Roxxma said:
...or down Washington St to Dudley through the South End another step towards the goal of the yet unfulfilled "equal or better" promise!
Click to expand...

But where are we going to find all of the Gondoliers which be needed for all the Gondolas

Beside while tunneling is expensive digging canals is not cheap either

Oh -- What -- Oh?-- that kind of gondola -- Neva Mind!
 
Youve been reading my monthly post suggestion!

But seriously, gondolas and other aerial transit have a shit ton of advantages.

-Automated. The only staff needed is at stations, not on each "car"
-Extremely safe. Cable systems are actually the safest form of transport, and most of you ride an example every day (the elevator!). No need for a signalling system, grade crossings etc etc
-No digging costs
-Physical obstacles arent an issue. Groundwater, rivers, squares etc etc...doesnt matter! You can get a Kenmore-Harvard express gondola and it's remarkably easy.
-Its aerial, but without the biggest drawback of elevated rail, which are the shadows and such
-Its silent
 
Arlington said:
What does this site (http://gondolaproject.com/portland/) have to teach us? It is that new aerial trams (think Roosevelt Island) make increasing sense. London is building one to cross the Thames for the Olympics too.

Imagine a system with 4 segments:

Convention Center to South Station
South Station to Aquarium
Aquarium to North Station
North Station to Charlestown Navy Yard
Click to expand...

I like the cross-river possibilities:

How 'bout Longwood to Harvard Square?

Or Kenmore Square to Central Square?

( edit: Dammit, Jass, you must've beat me by 20 seconds!)
 
How much does it cost per mile of pylons (or whatever you call them for gondolas) and cable? How much does it cost per detachable gondola? What is it's passenger capacity? What is its top speed?


EDIT: Just found a new gondola lift on a Colorado mountain can move 2800 people per hour. (not sure if that's just one way or includes both directions)

EDIT #2: "The price is estimated at 5 to 10 million dollars per kilometer." For an over water gondola from Colwood to Victoria (BC, Canada)
 
It'll never happen. Teh SHADOWZZZZZZZZZZZ from the gondaliers will be too much of a burden on the Historicality of Boston.
 
I think zigzagging the Charles might be useful... something like:

Chelsea -> Eastie -> Navy Yard -> City Square -> North Station -> Charles MGH -> Kendall -> Mass Ave / Memorial -> Kenmore -> BU West -> Harvard Allston Campus -> Harvard
 
cozzyd said:
I think zigzagging the Charles might be useful... something like:

Chelsea -> Eastie -> Navy Yard -> City Square -> North Station -> Charles MGH -> Kendall -> Mass Ave / Memorial -> Kenmore -> BU West -> Harvard Allston Campus -> Harvard
Click to expand...

I saw the future yesterday -- flying cars! -- Terrafugial!


road-mid.jpg


http://www.terrafugia.com/

the Award for New England Engineer of 2012 went to Anna Mracek Dietrich, COO and a co-founder

I was at the New England Luncheon for National Engineers Week yesterday -- held at the Radison on Stuart St -- took some photos from the garage of the Liberty Mutual

PS: Terrafugia is a good example of an only in Boston start-up -- here's a capsule of the core team from their website:


Carl Dietrich
Terrafugia’s CEO/CTO, Co-Founder, BS, MS and Ph.D. from the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, selected as the 2006 winner of the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for Innovation, recognized by the Aero/Astro Department at MIT as one of sixteen exceptional graduates under the age of 35.... He has been a private pilot since the age of seventeen.

Anna Mracek Dietrich
Terrafugia’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Co-Founder, B.S, MS from MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, experience at both GE Aviation and Boeing Phantom works, also a private pilot.

Samuel Schweighart
A Terrafugia Technical Fellow and Co-Founder, BS from the University of Illinois.MS and Ph.D. from the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, left Charles Stark Draper Laboratories to pursue Terrafugia. He is a private pilot and active hang glider pilot.

Col. Phil Meteer, USAFR (Ret.)
Flight Test Coordinator, Test Pilot, has over 3,000 hours of flight and instruction experience in the Air Force, including the F-4, F-16 and A-10. Phil has also acted as test engineer, lead test pilot and airborne mission commander for a new infrared countermeasure system. Phil is currently working onsite at Hanscom AFB and looking forward to production and certification flight testing.

Richard Gersh
VP of Business Development, joined Terrafugia with over 25 years of executive-level experience in all phases of financial service company operations and risk management. Dick has his MBA from the University of Massachusetts and a M.Ed. from Suffolk University. He is pursuing a private pilot license.

Cliff Allen
VP of Sales, a life-long self described "aviation nut" with a depth of experience in consumer products, Private Pilot's Certificate in 1980, using GA as a business tool during his work at both PepsiCo in Utah and Crane & Co. as well as developing and providing transition training for the New England dealers for Aviat Husky and Jabiru Light Sport Aircraft. He holds an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate

Andrew Heafitz
VP of Engineering, is another graduate of MIT with his BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering and recipient of the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize in 2002. He brings eighteen years’ experience in composite automotive construction and testing to the Terrafugia team. Andrew has designed, built, and raced light-weight composite solar cars across the Australian outback.
 
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