Jarrett Walker rides on the Wellington Cable Car, giving him the opportunity to explain the four conditions for when a funicular is a sensible transit solution.
The Wellington Cable Car meets Walker's 4 requirements:
"...it's a straight line, running at high frequency, through high density, where competitors are at a disadvantage."
So what is a funicular, anyway? Walker explains:
""Cable car" generally means any vehicle attached to a cable that provides the locomotion. The car has no engine, but an engine of some kind is moving the cable. The cable can be aerial (gondolas, aerial trams) or underground (San Francisco cable cars) or it can just lie on the surface in a special guideway, as in most funiculars."
Read Human Transit for more on this cable car and when they're effective.
Read the full story: wellington: a sensible tourist on the cable car
New Zealand's Hillside Sign Idea Irks Hollywood
The city of Wellington, an emerging center for filmmaking in New Zealand, is considering a plans to build a hillside sign with the word "Wellywood" -- an homage to the famous "Hollywood" sign. Hollywood is not flattered.
REVIEW: My Kind of Transit: Rethinking Public Transportation in America
Far from a boring treatise on the need for public transit, My Kind of Transit is an appeal on behalf of the emotional factors that make most transit repulsive and a select few forms enjoyable and uplifting.
Mexico City Cable Cars Soar Above Gridlock
The Cablebús system transports more than 100,000 people each day and dramatically reduces commute times in the Mexican capital.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
Philadelphia to invest $2 billion into upgrading city airports as PHL places last in customer satisfaction
Modernizations to Philadelphia's airports will include baggage system upgrades and a new automated parking garage guidance system.
The LA housing policies making developers turn away from the city
Despite LA’s housing shortage, developers say the city’s "mansion-tax" and pandemic-era policies make it an unappealing place to build housing.
New density bill would require 7 California cities to establish regional transit hubs
The bill would also require major cities in California to permit high-rise residential buildings.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello