
Latin America is seeing a cable-car boom - edward
https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21730743-they-appeal-both-politicians-and-commuters-why-latin-america-seeing-cable-car-boom
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pjc50
Surely the throughput of these is a bit low?

I encountered Latin American cable cars in La Paz, where they were necessary
as the only viable mass transit option - the main suburb El Alto is up a very
steep hill, ruling out trains or subways, and the single road is already a
traffic jam of small buses.

Conversely the "Emirates air line" in London is a boondoggle, not linking
useful places and surrounded by tube and bus lines.

~~~
notauser
It's about ten or twenty years too early to establish the success of the
Emirates Air Line. In London it's necessary to build infrastructure well
before the demand appears because otherwise it's too late to thread it through
high density development.

At the south end, there's an enormous new housing development being built next
to the cable car stop. The southern station is also next to the terminus for
the increasingly-popular river boat service. The boat service has taken at
least 20 years (and several operator bankruptcies) to get (re)established and
what was once a tourist-only route is now picking up more commuters as the
frequency improves.

At the northern end, the stop is close to the Excel and Custom House station,
where there will be a link to Crossrail.

As you mention there are existing tube and rail stations in the area but they
are heavily overloaded. The DLR is packed when there's a show at the Excel,
and the Jubilee line is so full at rush hour you often have to wait for
several trains.

The cable car also adds a little bit more resilience to the network, allowing
options when one of few eastern rail river crossings is running badly. I've
taken the cable car plus the boat to get back to Westminster from the Excel
when the DLR was closed by an accident.

Once the sponsorship runs out (more than half the cost was paid for by
Emirates) and it becomes fully in TfL's control - we might see if it becomes a
useful, practical, transport link rather than just an occasionally useful
tourist attraction.

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curtis
This reminded me of the tramways [1] in Chiatura, Georgia (the country, not
the state).

[1] [https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2013/08/stalins-rope-
roads...](https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2013/08/stalins-rope-
roads/100577/)

------
melling
In China they’re going to move 160,000/day by maglev trains at 60 mph within
Beijing.

[http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-10/16/c_136684196.htm](http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-10/16/c_136684196.htm)

I believe most NYC subways go between 15-30mph:
[http://gothamist.com/2017/05/17/subway_rollercoaster.php](http://gothamist.com/2017/05/17/subway_rollercoaster.php)

Many people will stop commuting by cars once it’s actually faster by mass
transit.

~~~
ceejayoz
I would suspect cars in NYC average a lot lower than 15-30 mph.

edit: [http://www.wnyc.org/story/traffic-speeds-slow-nyc-wants-
curb...](http://www.wnyc.org/story/traffic-speeds-slow-nyc-wants-curb-car-
service-growth/) says average speed was 8.5mph in 2014, and worsening. So the
subway is still 2-4x as fast.

~~~
melling
Sorry, I only provided subway speed as a comparison of speed. Getting people
out of their cars and onto mass transit isn’t as much of problem in Manhattan.

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Johnny555
_Mexicable charges seven pesos (37 cents), less than half of its break-even
price

...

The jury is out on whether cable cars are worth the cost._

I'd be surprised if they can run a bus line or any other transit for less than
74 cents/trip.

~~~
ch4s3
They probably can't, but you can maintain roads for what most non EU nations
charge in gas taxes either so I guess it's a matter of priorities.

~~~
sliverstorm
That's the joke to me, people complain about how we are subsidizing buses and
train service- _" The buses STILL don't make a profit!"_\- but when have roads
for cars ever turned a profit?

~~~
walshemj
In the UK Road Tax Fuel duty and VED exceed that spent on roads by 20+ Billion
Pounds 15/16 FY

~~~
sliverstorm
I guess I don't usually consider taxes to be profits, considering buses etc
that do not generate enough in fares are also paid for with taxes.

~~~
walshemj
we where talking about roads and most of the road traffic is cars, vans and
lorries

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billiob
HowWeGetToNext had a great (and lengthy) article on that topic:
[https://howwegettonext.com/cable-cars-are-changing-the-
world...](https://howwegettonext.com/cable-cars-are-changing-the-
world-61f2b803c129#.a6j77j6er)

------
nathancahill
Here's some schematics of Bogotá's mentioned cable car.[0] Bogotá desperately
needs solutions to the cities car crowding. They've tried a lot of innovative
things: closing major roads on Sunday only allow bikes and pedestrians,
limiting cars in the city by license plate number. The traffic is still
terrible.

Also of note, taxi associations in Bogotá have been facing off against Uber,
sometimes violently.

[0] [http://gondolaproject.com/2014/10/01/bogotas-cable-cars-
lear...](http://gondolaproject.com/2014/10/01/bogotas-cable-cars-learning-but-
not-duplicating/)

~~~
personlurking
Those innovations sound like you could be talking about São Paulo as well
(they've done all those things). One of the proposals I once heard from a São
Paulo city planner was for more people to telecommute. If more companies allow
for remote work, the streets don't need to be (as) congested. But I'm
skeptical about the long-term success of such a move.

What would work a lot better, with the current set-up, is a massive carpooling
scheme, since SP transit stats show most automobile trips are single-occupant
(IIRC). What would work even better than that is another city-planning 'trick'
\- making as many neighborhoods as self-sufficient as possible
(work/shop/commune near where you already live).

------
chiph
A cable car transit system has been proposed in Austin to help with our
traffic woes:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wXRMq6laF8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wXRMq6laF8)

