Seems the only commuter Gondola systems I know of are in places where road or rail are not practicable. Such as in mountainous cities to get from valley to higher up, over rivers or valleys from high point to high point. Other than special cases, as pointed out they are too slow and limited to compete with other forms of transport.
Just a note in Hong Kong they have a escalator that runs up one of the mountains from Central (a business district in HK) to residential areas, 2300ft long and rises over 440 feet. HK also has a cable driven tram car system to top of The Peak, highest point on HK island. Another city withseems some of almost every type of transit is Chongqing, has gondola systems, as well as some impressive high subway bridges (yea high subway bridges sounds strange but in mountains) and even a mono-rail system. Sadly Raleigh does not have any mountains.
But clearly, if we look at what Sound Transit did as the upper limit for what voters could be okay with to increase transit funding and make light rail a thing⌠we can do better.
Does anyone know how Seattle and King County got local property owners and their state government on board with this? More specificallyâŚ
[Sound Transit], mismanaged at first, lost some federal funding before a dynamic CEO, Joni Earl, whipped it into shape. In 2008, amid the Great Recession no less, voters approved a second sales tax increase to expand the system. By that point, the light-rail line was nearing its debut, and Amazon, the cityâs largest employer, had started building its headquarters near downtownâŚ
âŚthe Triangle sort of sounds like pre-2008 Seattle, except:
we donât have any globally disruptive mega-employers. Sure, you can say RTP and our universities/hospitals are thriving, but it doesnât seem to be happening in a meaningful way outside of their âhomeâ industries. For example, if youâre a commodities investor, why would you care about RTI expanding? Itâs not easy to understand why it matters to you, like Amazon.
we donât have a rock star regional transit CEO. Iâm sure Jeff Mann and John Tallmadge did their best, but when you have an interim project manager at a critical time and you butcher connections with lawmakers/public outreach, at best, that means you reeeeeeally suck at your job. GoTriangle doesnât sound like it can become the competent regional powerhouse that we need and deserve.
What can we do here in the Triangle? Seattleâs case is definitely inspiring (especially as one of the few metro areas whose ridership hasnât fallen, unlike the rest of the country), but it doesnât sound like there are any good take-home messages for us.
âŚwe donât have a rock star regional transit CEO.
We get Mitch Silver back down from New York to work with John Kane to help re-kick start GOTriangle and of course make sure our next mayor of Raleigh is also up to the transit taskâŚimo
[quote]Nationally, 65% of Latino commuters said they drove alone to work in 2007; in 2017 that number increased to 71%. In North Carolina, 56% said they drove alone to work in 2007, with that number dramatically increasing to 71% in 2017.
For black commuters, the numbers painted an interesting picture. In North Carolina, 78% of black commuters reported driving alone to work in 2007, while the number increased to 80% in 2017. Nationally, 71% of black commuters reported driving alone to work in 2007; in 2017 the number increased to 72%.
Meanwhile, both nationally and in North Carolina, white commutersâ preferences about driving alone to work havenât changed. In North Carolina, about 82% of white commuters reported driving alone to work in 2007 and 2017. Nationally, 79% of white commuters reported driving alone in 2007 and 2017.
[/quote]
Of course people increasingly commute to work by driving alone. There are no other viable options.
The study was authored by Randal OâToole, one of the most vocal critics of transit investment anywhere. The guy literally cheers on declining transit ridership. What else would he say?
You just said that is exactly why we need projects like the Durham-Orange Light Rail project. I beg to differ. That is exactly the kind of project we donât need. A failed project with extensive expenditures of public money is exactly what we do not need. I just hope that we can do much much better on the next go around⌠however many years that is away from this moment in time.
That should be put into the correct contextâŚthose cost are âfederally mandatedâ. You have no choice but to spend certain monies in a certain step by step to even be able to advanceâŚ
How does what is federally mandated affects what projects fail? The failure of this project will have resounding repercussions in the Triangle area for many years. And you want me to focus on your singular point of federal mandated money? I guess I am unable to understand the relevance. And by the way, I am for the light rail or commuter railâŚ
Our lease expires in May 2021. I am hoping that we move downtown or possibly North Hills area, but they would need to be preleasing something now to get us moved by May 2021. I was really hoping that the announcement for 5 floors of 301H was going to be for us (instead of Pendo), but donât think that would be enough space for a 500+ person engineering firm. lol I have a feeling that reworking the Airport Blvd/I-40 interchange will not be complete by the time we move.
When they proposed 540 it was going to provide salvation! I recall it being said that their would be limited exits so that it would not induce sprawl and provide a quick way for folks from the eastern part of the state (ie Gov Hunt) to get to the RTP & RDU. Guess it didnât work out that way.
