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Old 06-24-2016, 10:57 AM
 
515 posts, read 557,906 times
Reputation: 745

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Elevated transportation system proposed for Austin | KXAN.com

Good idea? I've never seen one in action but it could work well. What do you guys think?
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Old 06-24-2016, 11:11 AM
 
2,602 posts, read 2,979,381 times
Reputation: 997
Quote:
Originally Posted by hornraider View Post
Elevated transportation system proposed for Austin | KXAN.com

Good idea? I've never seen one in action but it could work well. What do you guys think?
It's a stupid, stupid idea.


The Portland Tram cost $57 for less than a mile.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Aerial_Tram


The supports for it are like this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portla...lTramTower.jpg

And the terminals are like this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portla...erial_Tram.jpg


Where the hell are you going to fit those in here:

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2467...7i13312!8i6656


As they've promised to not take any lanes. That's one of their claimed advantages over buses.
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Old 06-24-2016, 12:40 PM
 
515 posts, read 557,906 times
Reputation: 745
Quote:
Originally Posted by Novacek View Post
It's a stupid, stupid idea.


The Portland Tram cost $57 for less than a mile.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Aerial_Tram


The supports for it are like this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portla...lTramTower.jpg

And the terminals are like this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portla...erial_Tram.jpg


Where the hell are you going to fit those in here:

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2467...7i13312!8i6656


As they've promised to not take any lanes. That's one of their claimed advantages over buses.
Thanks for the examples Novacek. I guess it sounds good in theory but in reality, not so much. Looks pretty ineffecient and inpractical based on Portland's system. All those towers and cabling makes it more like a huge ski lift.
I just read about it taking 18 minutes to get from Ben White to Cesar Chavez...no advantage there at all, especially at $57/mile!
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Old 06-24-2016, 01:07 PM
 
2,602 posts, read 2,979,381 times
Reputation: 997
Quote:
Originally Posted by hornraider View Post
I just read about it taking 18 minutes to get from Ben White to Cesar Chavez...no advantage there at all, especially at $57/mile!
In rush hour, 18 minutes is certainly faster than the existing buses.

But personally I just don't see how you can put in that much infrastructure without taking lanes or massive property taking alongside south 1st (The drawings on their facebook page are almost farcical, showing support structures the size of lampposts)

And if you're going to do that, just put in a bus exclusive lane.


I also disagree with their proposal to start with South 1st. South first isn't one of the primary corridors of the city. They make some kind of weird argument that it's a major festival corridor, so because of those 3-4 weekends a year we should put our major investment there.
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Old 06-27-2016, 07:29 AM
 
Location: Austin
455 posts, read 463,547 times
Reputation: 625
You know how windy it is in Austin? Thinking I wouldn't want to be dependent on those on days when the wind is blowin'.
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Old 06-27-2016, 07:49 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX
15,268 posts, read 35,624,789 times
Reputation: 8617
Quote:
Originally Posted by Glenn Ross View Post
You know how windy it is in Austin? Thinking I wouldn't want to be dependent on those on days when the wind is blowin'.
or it isn't a lightning storm. Would the tram cars be air conditioned?
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Old 06-30-2016, 03:02 PM
 
593 posts, read 1,377,976 times
Reputation: 395
Austin used to have some of these in the early 1900s. Guess they didnt work too good then?
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Old 07-03-2016, 02:02 PM
 
1,044 posts, read 2,374,674 times
Reputation: 719
Quote:
Originally Posted by hornraider View Post
Elevated transportation system proposed for Austin | KXAN.com

Good idea? I've never seen one in action but it could work well. What do you guys think?
TERRIBLE idea.

What they should do, is build Elevated Lines the way Chicago built them. It WORKS.

And by the way, the elevated lines don't have to actually be trains; they can actually be elevated bus lines...its cheaper that way.
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Old 07-03-2016, 06:01 PM
 
894 posts, read 1,546,329 times
Reputation: 1190
I'm thinking these aerial gondolas wouldn't have any air conditioning. That would be pretty much a show stopper during most of the summer in Austin.
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Old 07-04-2016, 03:40 PM
 
Location: Avery Ranch, Austin, TX
8,977 posts, read 17,545,822 times
Reputation: 4001
Bring back the 'Dillos !!!
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