Mobility

Urban Gondolas: Getting Radical with Future Public Transport

It doesn't get any crazier than this idea--okay, perhaps it would if we would all begin riding around in eggs and cocoons like Lady Gaga did for her extravagant entrance at the Grammy's in 2011. At least the idea came from home this time. Michael McDaniel of Frog Design first proposed that Austin, Texas begin installing detachable gondolas connecting different neighborhoods together to form one system. Gondolas would be a flexible means of transport, since bikers and pedestrians could easily hop on and cruise over traffic. The idea is quite innovative considering that with a rise in population, especially in mega-metropolises of the 21st century, buses will be impractical and other old-fashioned methods like heavy rail will be too expensive. According to PopupCity, light rail costs $35m per mile to construct, elevated rail about $132m, and underground about $400m. The gondola idea, as calculated by Frog Design, would only cost $3m per mile. Because of the cheap cost, the company also suggests that 10,000 passengers could be carried each hour. Perhaps cities at Miami which are exploring ways to reduce congestion by adding bike lanes should also check out this revolutionary idea. I think seeing gondolas carry pedestrians back and forth between high- rises would make a magnificent addition to our downtown. In fact, Miami, if it found out that this idea actually works well, could become the next Curitiba of gondola transport. 

Ideas from Abroad: Translating the World's Best Bikeway Designs

People have fully embraced biking because it helps local economies, especially small businesses. In Utrecht, Holland’s fourth largest city, 85% of children commute by bike to school. Wouldn’t this be great for America’s public health? Alice Bravo says what really triggered her to see biking as a main form of transportation in Dutch cities was the parents who biked to their children’s schools as a family-oriented effort—mothers had children on the back and front of their bikes and parents would, in this method, school their children that this was a normal mode of commuting. Biking has become part of a child’s education, with children having to pass an exam when they are in elementary school. Another city in Holland, Nijmegen, which is experiencing much growth, but limited space, has designed a “cycle super highway” for high speed bicycling, adjacent to existing rail lines, so that homeowners can travel very quickly into the city center. After visiting the Netherlands, American infrastructure professionals came to the same realization—previously they had believed that biking was a recreational activity, but now they see it as a simple way to go to and from a place while making citizens in a place feel more connected, and find their city more livable.