Experiences with aerial ropeway transportation systems in the urban environment

The main purpose of conventional transit systems is to serve concentrated travel patterns in urban areas, where they usually have high levels of success. Unconventional transit modes have also found success in specific conditions, fuelled by the need for transit modes that handle different demand levels, urban environment patterns, and even natural constraints and barriers. In many urban contexts, geographical and topographical barriers such as mountains, valleys, and bodies of water, and the very large infrastructure costs associated with overcoming these barriers, may not permit the implementation of conventional public transportation systems. In such cases, transit agencies may look to unconventional modes of travel to serve the needs of the residents of these areas. Aerial ropeway transit (ART), a type of aerial transportation in which passengers are transported in cabins that are suspended and pulled by cables, is one of the solutions that has shown its implementation rise in the past decade. This paper attempts to shed some light on ART technology by presenting experiences with this technology from both the United States as well as other parts of the world including the reasons for building these systems and their service and operational characteristics as well as other case-specific information. The paper concludes with an assessment of experiences with these systems including their benefits and limitations as well as a discussion of the advancements needed for ART technologies to be a fully recognized transit mode. © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.