[sustran] Re: monorails and other low capacity systems

[Lee Schipper]

>From Ramon..

________________________________

From: Ramon Munoz-Raskin [mailto:ramon.cmr at gmail.com] 
Sent: Monday, February 01, 2010 4:31 AM
To: Lee Schipper
Cc: Sujit Patwardhan; bruun at seas.upenn.edu;
sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org
Subject: Re: [sustran] Re: monorails and other low capacity systems

 

Briefly: The Medellin aerial cable car is part of an integrated
transportation system approach. The system was created to provide
accessibility enhancements to deprived communities that had informally
developed in geographically constrainted locations (e.g. sides of a
steep valley) where higher capacity systems such as large, ferquent
pattern bus services would either not fit (narrow curvy streets) or
would not be able to climb up there (to steep slopes), among other
reasons. In my several visits to Medellin during the last few years I
have understood well how this system is succesful there for daily
regular commuting of these low-income communities. Capacities are
competitive with bus services. Something worth mentioning as well is the
"democratization" and urban renovation that is associated with an aerial
cable car stop- these areas flourish. Tourism is marginal, but the city
is very proud about it and, therefore, it is definitely promoted as a
tourist attraction.

 

Ramon Munoz-Raskin   

On Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 11:03 PM, Lee Schipper <schipper at wri.org> wrote:

Let me ask someone who really knows Colombia: Ramon?


Lee Schipper 

Global Met Studies  UC Berkeley

Precourt En Eff Center Stanford

 

 


On Jan 31, 2010, at 20:01, "Sujit Patwardhan"
<patwardhan.sujit at gmail.com> wrote:

	
	
	Eric,
	From what I can see the Metro Cable in Medellin, Columbia is
more suited to tourists than regular commuters. For latter, wouldn't
space for stations, connectivity with the street below and other
associated problems need to be addressed? 
	Google search gave this:
	
<http://www.google.co.in/#hl=en&q=Metro+Cable+in+Medellin,+Columbia&star
t=10&sa=N&fp=c5b9ba6cbe6cba1e>
http://www.google.co.in/#hl=en&q=Metro+Cable+in+Medellin,+Columbia&start
=10&sa=N&fp=c5b9ba6cbe6cba1e
	--
	Sujit
	
	
	
	
	

	On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 6:24 AM, < <mailto:bruun at seas.upenn.edu>
bruun at seas.upenn.edu> wrote:

	
	
	I want to add that some of the aerial systems have substantial
capacity.
	Metro Cable in Medellin, Columbia is equal to a heavy bus route
	or moderate LRT route in the US. Eric Bruun

	Quoting Lee Schipper < <mailto:schipper at wri.org>
schipper at wri.org>:
	
	> Let me weigh in on Eric Britton's side here. There are all
kinds of
	> high-flying ideas, called Pods or personal taxis or rail taxis
or
	> personal rapid transit or what-you-have. They are all
interesting, but
	> as Eric says their scale is tiny compared to the access needs
of two
	> billion people in cities around the world.  I remember taking
the
	> Monorail from the Disneyland Hotel into Disneyland in S.
California in
	> the 1950s.  I rode the Schwebebahn in Wuppertal in 1999 and
recently
	> rode the experimental, low-speed Maglev in Nagoya near the
site of Expo
	> 2005. There are serious studies underway in Sweden and
elsewhere because
	> these things have some merit. But so far that's as far as it
goes.
	>
	>
	>
	> They are fine for those who want to build them and don't care
who rides
	> them, particularly if they are built to shuttle small numbers
of people
	> around fairgrounds, parking lots, etc.  But please let's not
waste even
	> precious OPM (Other peoples' money, i.e., bilateral or
multilateral
	> assistance  funds) or our own funds when a huge need for
access for
	> ordinary folks goes unmet.  For Asian and Latin America
cities, we are
	> looking at corridors requiring over 1 million trips per day
and cities
	> with 20-30 million trips/day at the beginning of development,
i.e., less
	> than 2 trips/day/person.  How will Shanghai provide 50 million
trips/day
	> in 2020? I don't see any evidence that these small systems can
provide
	> much relief except where an aerial tramway or other small
system has to
	> climb a hill for a few hundred people/hour.  The "nostalgic,
	> semi-underground cog-railway  in Istanbul is a  good example
here. But
	> we have to focus what limited funds we have on moving the
masses
	> cleanly, smoothly, reliably, equitably, and above all rapidly.
	>
	>
	>
	> Lee
	>
	>
	>
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	Sujit Patwardhan
	<mailto:patwardhan.sujit at gmail.com> patwardhan.sujit at gmail.com
	<mailto:sujitjp at gmail.com> sujitjp at gmail.com
	
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Phone: +1-202-316-8701 ramon.cmr at gmail.com