Cable cars in GR?

[localtalent]

A little birdie tells me this is actively being studied. 

Anyone know more?

And no, not streetcars....

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirates_Air_Line_(cable_car)

Edited May 18, 2018 by localtalent

[whitemice]

Define "actively".  But no, its not.

[gvsusean]

21 minutes ago, localtalent said:

A little birdie tells me this is actively being studied. 

Anyone know more?

And no, not streetcars....

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirates_Air_Line_(cable_car)

from where to where?...

[whitemice]

10 hours ago, gvsusean said:

from where to where?...

I read once of a cable car across the river.  It goes in the bucket of crazy ideas that somehow occasionally get traction on MLIVE.  

It would be nice if some journalists attended actual mobility and transit meetings.  Probably little hope of that happening.

[localtalent]

I’ll just say that this birdie is reliable and I believe something is percolating here at some level.

There was way too much detail around it, including preliminary budget, potential funding sources, etc to have just been made up out of nowhere.

Time will tell.

Edited May 18, 2018 by localtalent

[GrSportsGuy]

What on earth would be the purpose? Talk about a waste of money. 

[Pattmost20]

Rick DeVos was tweeting about it a couple years ago. Wouldn't surprise me that if he thought it was a neat idea, he would throw some money at it to make it happen. A few cities have pulled it off with great success, the example in London on the other hand... Not so much. I would be curious to see what they are actually proposing. If someone in the private sector wants to fund it, I say go for it.

[GRDadof3]

1 hour ago, GrSportsGuy said:

What on earth would be the purpose? Talk about a waste of money. 

Thank you. I mean really, WTF.  Is the river restoration project going to now include mini Niagara Falls that people will want to soar over? 

[whitemice]

1 hour ago, GrSportsGuy said:

What on earth would be the purpose? Talk about a waste of money. 

Vanity transit to accompany GRForward's development of the river front. 

I can see that happening - IF someone can find an operating sponsor (as no way in a thousand hells it will be self-sustaining). 

If the city tries to allocate operating money for a vanity transit project there will be a frucus.  And I will be in the front of that frucus line.

[GRDadof3]

Just now, whitemice said:

Vanity transit to accompany GRForward's development of the river front. 

I can see that happening - IF someone can find an operating sponsor (as no way in a thousand hells it will be self-sustaining). 

If the city tries to allocate operating money for a vanity transit project there will be a frucus.  And I will be in the front of that frucus line.

Definitely. 

Maybe instead of over the river, they want to run it right down through the city, ala the Chicago Skyline project.  

 

[GRLaker]

The only way I would see this being worth the investment is if it's used as a form of mass transit that runs along the highways into the city. Even then, I'd rather see a maglev line doing that over a cable car system.

[RegalTDP]

So I guess cable cars are the new trendy thing to propose in cities nowadays.  This was just in the news in LA not long ago: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-dodger-stadium-gondola-20180426-story.html

Not sure how realistic the LA proposal is, but at least it's being offered as a solution to a problem: The need for more options going to Dodger Stadium on game day.  The Dodger Stadium Express, a direct bus from Union Station to the stadium, is the best way to go right now, and it sucks.

This could work in GR if it's fixing a similar problem.  Like, perhaps the cable car could run from somewhere around Bridge & Summer over to DeVos Place with a terminus that links to the skywalk.  That way you can connect  the food and drink establishments on Bridge Street to the rest of downtown.  Saves the trouble of having to walk under the highway underpass and across the river, getting attacked by birds on the way.  Is this more convenient than just Ubering?  I don't know.  Still an outlandish idea to me, but just a thought.  The point is, I hope whatever proposal they're cooking up is intended to address a problem, not just be something cool to have.

 

Edited May 18, 2018 by RegalTDP

[GR_Urbanist]

From what I understand is that this is going to be the first project powered by the Duane Faust Hydrogen Power Facility on Wealthy.

Edited May 18, 2018 by GR_Urbanist

[Pattmost20]

1 hour ago, RegalTDP said:

So I guess cable cars are the new trendy thing to propose in cities nowadays.  This was just in the news in LA not long ago: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-dodger-stadium-gondola-20180426-story.html

Not sure how realistic the LA proposal is, but at least it's being offered as a solution to a problem: The need for more options going to Dodger Stadium on game day.  The Dodger Stadium Express, a direct bus from Union Station to the stadium, is the best way to go right now, and it sucks.

This could work in GR if it's fixing a similar problem.  Like, perhaps the cable car could run from somewhere around Bridge & Summer over to DeVos Place with a terminus that links to the skywalk.  That way you can connect  the food and drink establishments on Bridge Street to the rest of downtown.  Saves the trouble of having to walk under the highway underpass and across the river, getting attacked by birds on the way.  Is this more convenient than just Ubering?  I don't know.  Still an outlandish idea to me, but just a thought.  The point is, I hope whatever proposal they're cooking up is intended to address a problem, not just be something cool to have.

 

"Running subway lines under a city can cost about $400 million per mile. Light rails systems run about $36 million per mile. But the aerial ropeways required to run gondolas cost just $3 million to $12 million to install per mile."

It is still a lot of money for a city our size, but if the city is seriously looking into streetcars, this is no more outlandish than that. But I agree it would make far more sense for them to actually address a problem (like in Medellin), than to be a tourist trap (like in London).

[GRDadof3]

7 hours ago, Pattmost20 said:

"Running subway lines under a city can cost about $400 million per mile. Light rails systems run about $36 million per mile. But the aerial ropeways required to run gondolas cost just $3 million to $12 million to install per mile."

It is still a lot of money for a city our size, but if the city is seriously looking into streetcars, this is no more outlandish than that. But I agree it would make far more sense for them to actually address a problem (like in Medellin), than to be a tourist trap (like in London).

Why in the world would anyone compare a cable car to an actual subway system? That's like comparing the Soo Locks Boat tours to a major cargo ship. 

[The ATX]

These gondola plans have been popping up in various cities across the country during the past few years.  They are the new monorail, and the plans always fade away when a study determines they are not feasible.  Duh.  Duh again.  The city of Austin wasted a lot of money on a study a couple years ago to conclude that they were not useful. Duh.

[localtalent]

Welp, the experts have spoken.

Moving on, then...

PS Grand Rapids is a terrible place to try to pull off a public arts festival, too. It’ll never work.

[The ATX]

1 hour ago, localtalent said:

Welp, the experts have spoken.

Moving on, then...

PS Grand Rapids is a terrible place to try to pull off a public arts festival, too. It’ll never work.

What is the correlation between public arts festivals and cable cars? 

[GRDadof3]

 

11 hours ago, localtalent said:

Welp, the experts have spoken.

Moving on, then...

PS Grand Rapids is a terrible place to try to pull off a public arts festival, too. It’ll never work.

The Court of UrbanPlanet has spoken! 

Whoever's idea it is, they should still float it out there and see what the MLive crowd thinks about it. 

I am interested in seeing more as to where they're thinking of running this thing. 

[localtalent]

13 hours ago, The ATX said:

What is the correlation between public arts festivals and cable cars? 

The big idea risk taker from an iconic local family that is behind them both.

[joeDowntown]

Seems somewhat crazy at first, but when you think about it for a minute, something that starts near the convention center (near the Gillette bridge?) and crosses the 131 ending on the west side (close to the Ferris building) would probably get more traction than you’d think (moreso than the silverline has so far). It’s be an interesting attraction (views of the restored river), and connect downtown to the west side (and those frigid walks in the winter).

Joe

 

 

[whitemice]

On 5/18/2018 at 2:36 PM, Pattmost20 said:

if the city is seriously looking into streetcars,

They are not.  The streetcar is dead.

The purpose of cable cars is not to solve a transit problem - they become fabulously expensive if they have the capacity to actually be transit - they are a cool vanity project.  They are not "worth the investment", except that they provide another thing for visitors to see, an incentive to stay in the hotel next to the cable car;  but many things work that way.

12 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

(moreso than the silverline has so far)

You think a cable cable car line would end up carrying more than 60,000 passengers a month?  And peaking near 80,000/mo? That's nearly impossible.

[HavingAhoot]

I know it may be stupid but I still want my cool vanity project.. 

[Pattmost20]

4 hours ago, whitemice said:

The purpose of cable cars is not to solve a transit problem

There are a handful of cities in South America that would vehemently disagree with you. Yes, they are more densely populated to an extreme degree and their cities are built in the middle of mountains. I would suspect that whatever is being proposed for GR is probably a vanity project and tourist attraction. But none of us have seen the plans yet, so I think it is silly to write it off completely until we actually know what the people behind the idea are planning. 

[Guest]

The city is actually seriously considering this as a mass transit option.  It seems kind of hokey to me.  To me it only makes sense going up/downhill, like medical mile or Belknap to NoMo.