Photo by jrodmanjr.
Way out in the other Washington (Seattle, Washington) some folks are pushing for a novel approach to urban transit: gondolas.
Two separate proposals for sky gondolas have been floated for the Pacific northwest city recently. One is a pipe dream, but the other at least stands a faint chance of seeing the light of day.
GM mentions this because he recently heard a not entirely unserious argument to bring such a system to Georgetown. It’s a crazy idea, but maybe not as crazy at is seems at first.
The idea would be to better connect Rosslyn with Georgetown University. Stringing a system between those to points could potentially move a great deal of individuals. Georgetown estimates that its GU-Rosslyn GUTS bus route carries over 700,000 riders a year.
There are two possible technologies for aerial transit: trams and gondolas. The only two aerial transit systems in the U.S. use trams: Roosevelt Island, New York and Portland. These systems have just two large cars that travel back and forth between just two stations. This limits frequency since the cars can’t come any faster than the length of the whole trip. Continue reading
You must be logged in to post a comment.