[sustran] Re: monorails and other low capacity systems

[Ramon Munoz-Raskin]

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&start=10&sa=N&fp=c5b9ba6cbe6cba1e
> --
> Sujit
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 6:24 AM, <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 <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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>> >
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>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------------
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>>
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>>
>
>
>
> --
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>
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> Munich 1970
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> Sujit Patwardhan
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> sujitjp at gmail.com
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-- 
Ramon Munoz-Raskin, MS, MEng
Phone: +1-202-316-8701 ramon.cmr at gmail.com