Paris, France—which has one of the best transportation systems in the entire world—seems to be aiming to add a completely new transportation mode to the mix by 2025: the aerial cable car. This...
Paris, France—which has one of the best transportation systems in the entire world—seems to be aiming to add a completely new transportation mode to the mix by 2025: the aerial cable car. This announcement is about a year old, but I thought I would highlight it because construction work recently began. I'm also going to be making an effort to share interesting transit developments outside the US and UK, in the spirit of Alon Levy's commentary on the importance of learning from other countries.
Yes, that's right. A cable car. Like on a ski lift, not San Francisco's land-based "cable cars" (which are trams). And it's not just being used for tourists to get up the hill to Sacré-Cœur: it's an actual method of transportation, just as important as taking a bus!
The Câble 1 (C1) line will link the southeastern suburbs of Créteil and Villeneuve-Saint-Georges with the subway lines of the Paris Métro, making the 4.5 km journey in 17 minutes - less than half the time the same journey takes by bus today.
Paris's C1 cable car wouldn't be the first urban aerial tramway in France. In 2016, the city of Brest opened a 460-metre-long cable car route linking neighbourhoods across a river.
Fascinating. I'm amused by the phrase "aerial tramway." Honestly, I've never even heard of this being deployed outside highly specialized uses mostly meant for travelers and not residents. But Paris' plan seems to be completely legit. I was curious about... why, though. Surely another metro line would be better? More buses? Offhand, cable cars don't seem like they could be that efficient... right?
Paris' city planners considered three other possibilities: adding more buses in the area, building a new bridge to link to the Créteil Pointe du Lac Métro station directly, and improving transport connections to another nearby station.
While Paris is nowhere near as mountainous as most other cities that rely on cable cars, such as La Paz in Bolivia, Créteil's difficult geography helped decide in the cable car's favour.
A motorway, a high speed train line and a railway yard all cut through the area, making typical overground options like tram lines difficult to put in place. By skipping over the top of the obstacles, the cable car could offer a cheaper solution with an estimated price tag of €132 million.
Well, heck! €132 million to reduce travel time by half? Let's do it. The cable cars would run at a speed around 15km/h, which isn't high, but the difference seems to be that it's consistent: that is, the cable cars don't stop in traffic (ever) and boarding is presumably relatively fast. Hence in this particular case, the overall travel time is lower than that of land modes. Paris is a huge city and this line would absolutely see use. And if it can work as a mode of transport, I'm all for it.
The article notes that a few other cities have public transit cable car systems like this too, including La Paz, Bolovia; Medellin, Colombia; and Bolzano, Italy. In the past, I've never even considered this as a legitimate form of transit, but now I'm having some interesting ideas. I would love to see more developments like this in many of our slightly hilly cities in the US. I see there are a couple niche uses—I'm wondering how I never realized the Roosevelt Island Tramway in NYC was aerial (I suppose I never spent much time on the Upper East Side), though it does serve only 11,000 people; and I'd not known of Portland's aerial tram, having never visited. Those do seem to be the only examples here, but I bet there could be a lot more!
Just for clarification: the cable car won't fly above Paris (which isn't that huge, it's more dense than huge; and we suffocate in it, that's great they didn't add buses), it will just allow...
Paris is a huge city and this line would absolutely see use. And if it can work as a mode of transport, I'm all for it.
Just for clarification: the cable car won't fly above Paris (which isn't that huge, it's more dense than huge; and we suffocate in it, that's great they didn't add buses), it will just allow people to go from one distant suburb city to another suburb city which is a hub to depart from, in order to then reach the noisy city of lights.
The idea of cable cars is pretty and somewhat solarpunkish, I admit it, and the idea of people taking them looks marvelous when daydreaming on concept pictures... but the distance and the gain of time is not worth it from where I stand (42 years I live around, and nearly 10 within Paris). Some residents may want to see their taxes used in a better way.
Furthermore, I haven't travelled the world, but the transports system isn't quite satisfying from the inside, technically speaking. More active residents would say there's "not one day without issues". Personally, I'd rather see less motorways to be able to build tram and bicycle lanes.
It surprised me when I found out, but cable car is actually much much cheaper than most other form of public transport. As in 4 times cheaper than metro (per kilometer). And about the same price...
It surprised me when I found out, but cable car is actually much much cheaper than most other form of public transport.
As in 4 times cheaper than metro (per kilometer).
And about the same price than a tram line, which can be impacted by traffic.
It's safe, ecological, cheap, reliable (paris hasn't got much strong wind). And there is the cool factor. What's not to like?
So if efficiency of your taxe is the main consideration, cable car is actually a solid choice.
Also, any expansion of public transport will lower reliance on car making it easier to push for more bike lane and green spaces later instead of car infrastructure.
Taipei metro has a cable car route at the end of the brown line that starts at the zoo and goes up the mountain to Maokong. Maokong is a little village on a mountain known for its tea (they grow...
Taipei metro has a cable car route at the end of the brown line that starts at the zoo and goes up the mountain to Maokong. Maokong is a little village on a mountain known for its tea (they grow it up there), its cats (they're everywhere), and the walks and views. Being on a mountain it's also a little cooler than Taipei which is great for if you're planning to do a walk. It's a little bit touristy/gimmicky, and there is a bus that takes you up and down if you prefer, but it also is a valid way of traveling up the mountain to a genuinely pleasant place to spend the day, whether you're a tourist or a local. Interestingly, the price is subsidised a little if you're a Taipei resident, showing that it's more than just a tourist thing, it's also a way to integrate a mountain town into the city.
Disneyworld put in a system like this a few years ago as a way to move people even though they have busses and some boats along the same routes. I have to say I was not really into it when it was...
Disneyworld put in a system like this a few years ago as a way to move people even though they have busses and some boats along the same routes. I have to say I was not really into it when it was proposed but the final product is so nice. Gentle and soothing way to move with low wait times. Floating above the streets in Pars would be a great way to shave some time off a longer walk!
In Vancouver, British Columbia (more specifically Burnaby), they are planning to build a gondola (the more technically correct term I think) that branches from one of the SkyTrain stations (yet...
In Vancouver, British Columbia (more specifically Burnaby), they are planning to build a gondola (the more technically correct term I think) that branches from one of the SkyTrain stations (yet another example of above-ground transportation) to go straight up to Simon Fraser University (which is there 2nd largest university in the area).
Planning has already passed the major stages and basically is looking for funding commitments.
Paris, France—which has one of the best transportation systems in the entire world—seems to be aiming to add a completely new transportation mode to the mix by 2025: the aerial cable car. This announcement is about a year old, but I thought I would highlight it because construction work recently began. I'm also going to be making an effort to share interesting transit developments outside the US and UK, in the spirit of Alon Levy's commentary on the importance of learning from other countries.
Yes, that's right. A cable car. Like on a ski lift, not San Francisco's land-based "cable cars" (which are trams). And it's not just being used for tourists to get up the hill to Sacré-Cœur: it's an actual method of transportation, just as important as taking a bus!
Fascinating. I'm amused by the phrase "aerial tramway." Honestly, I've never even heard of this being deployed outside highly specialized uses mostly meant for travelers and not residents. But Paris' plan seems to be completely legit. I was curious about... why, though. Surely another metro line would be better? More buses? Offhand, cable cars don't seem like they could be that efficient... right?
Well, heck! €132 million to reduce travel time by half? Let's do it. The cable cars would run at a speed around 15km/h, which isn't high, but the difference seems to be that it's consistent: that is, the cable cars don't stop in traffic (ever) and boarding is presumably relatively fast. Hence in this particular case, the overall travel time is lower than that of land modes. Paris is a huge city and this line would absolutely see use. And if it can work as a mode of transport, I'm all for it.
The article notes that a few other cities have public transit cable car systems like this too, including La Paz, Bolovia; Medellin, Colombia; and Bolzano, Italy. In the past, I've never even considered this as a legitimate form of transit, but now I'm having some interesting ideas. I would love to see more developments like this in many of our slightly hilly cities in the US. I see there are a couple niche uses—I'm wondering how I never realized the Roosevelt Island Tramway in NYC was aerial (I suppose I never spent much time on the Upper East Side), though it does serve only 11,000 people; and I'd not known of Portland's aerial tram, having never visited. Those do seem to be the only examples here, but I bet there could be a lot more!
Just for clarification: the cable car won't fly above Paris (which isn't that huge, it's more dense than huge; and we suffocate in it, that's great they didn't add buses), it will just allow people to go from one distant suburb city to another suburb city which is a hub to depart from, in order to then reach the noisy city of lights.
The idea of cable cars is pretty and somewhat solarpunkish, I admit it, and the idea of people taking them looks marvelous when daydreaming on concept pictures... but the distance and the gain of time is not worth it from where I stand (42 years I live around, and nearly 10 within Paris). Some residents may want to see their taxes used in a better way.
Furthermore, I haven't travelled the world, but the transports system isn't quite satisfying from the inside, technically speaking. More active residents would say there's "not one day without issues". Personally, I'd rather see less motorways to be able to build tram and bicycle lanes.
My 2 tildecents.
It surprised me when I found out, but cable car is actually much much cheaper than most other form of public transport.
As in 4 times cheaper than metro (per kilometer).
And about the same price than a tram line, which can be impacted by traffic.
It's safe, ecological, cheap, reliable (paris hasn't got much strong wind). And there is the cool factor. What's not to like?
So if efficiency of your taxe is the main consideration, cable car is actually a solid choice.
Also, any expansion of public transport will lower reliance on car making it easier to push for more bike lane and green spaces later instead of car infrastructure.
Taipei metro has a cable car route at the end of the brown line that starts at the zoo and goes up the mountain to Maokong. Maokong is a little village on a mountain known for its tea (they grow it up there), its cats (they're everywhere), and the walks and views. Being on a mountain it's also a little cooler than Taipei which is great for if you're planning to do a walk. It's a little bit touristy/gimmicky, and there is a bus that takes you up and down if you prefer, but it also is a valid way of traveling up the mountain to a genuinely pleasant place to spend the day, whether you're a tourist or a local. Interestingly, the price is subsidised a little if you're a Taipei resident, showing that it's more than just a tourist thing, it's also a way to integrate a mountain town into the city.
Disneyworld put in a system like this a few years ago as a way to move people even though they have busses and some boats along the same routes. I have to say I was not really into it when it was proposed but the final product is so nice. Gentle and soothing way to move with low wait times. Floating above the streets in Pars would be a great way to shave some time off a longer walk!
In Vancouver, British Columbia (more specifically Burnaby), they are planning to build a gondola (the more technically correct term I think) that branches from one of the SkyTrain stations (yet another example of above-ground transportation) to go straight up to Simon Fraser University (which is there 2nd largest university in the area).
Planning has already passed the major stages and basically is looking for funding commitments.
I've taken the one in Brest a few times. Fun experience, didn't feel particularly fast, but worked well. Short wait, too.