A Cable Car Comeback

Sophie Landrin looks at the global rise in the use of cable cars - the kind you find on a ski lift and not on the streets of San Francisco - as a transportation alternative. Several French cities are developing plans to become "wired".

2 minute read

November 9, 2012, 11:00 AM PST

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


It turns out that cable cars, also known as gondola lifts, aren't just for floating serenely over a snow covered mountain. In projects developed over the last decade in Medellin,
Colombia, and Caracas, Venezuela cable cars were successfully rethought as a means of
mass transportation serving some of those cities' poorest neighbourhoods.

"Cable transport is cost-effective, environmentally friendly, safe and
requires little infrastructure," writes Landrin. "It is particularly suitable for crossing
natural obstacles such as rivers or scaling hills, there being no need
for expensive engineering work. Over an equivalent distance a cable link
costs half as much as a tram line, and though no rival for underground
railways in terms of capacity, some models can carry up to 8,000
passengers an hour."

Now France, one of the first countries to test the use of urban cable cars, is once again hopping on board. Brest and Toulouse are due to complete lines in the next five years. The Parisian suburbs and Grenoble, where a cable car system "connecting the city centre to a hilltop fort across the river Isère" was completed in 1934, are developing cable car plans.

"'This is neither a gadget nor a tourist attraction; it is all about
transport,' says Joël Carreiras, a member of Toulouse town council and
vice-president of the metropolitan council tasked with transport. 'We
either had to dig a tunnel, or go over the top, and we didn't have the
necessary finance.' The cable-car system, including three stops, is
slated to cost €45m ($58m)."

Tuesday, November 6, 2012 in The Guardian

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Wastewater pouring out from a pipe.

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage

Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

April 13, 2025 - Inside Climate News

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

April 23, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Black and white photos of camp made up of small 'earthquake shacks' in Dolores Park in 1906 after the San Francisco earthquake.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees

More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

April 15, 2025 - Charles F. Bloszies

Looking out at trees on 4th Street in downtown Los Angeles, California.

LA’s Tree Emergency Goes Beyond Vandalism

After a vandal destroyed dozens of downtown LA trees, Mayor Karen Bass vowed to replace them. Days later, she slashed the city’s tree budget.

April 23 - Torched

White and blue Sacramento regional transit bus with one bike on front bike rack.

Sacramento Leads Nation With Bus-Mounted Bike Lane Enforcement Cameras

The city is the first to use its bus-mounted traffic enforcement system to cite drivers who park or drive in bike lanes.

April 23 - Streetsblog California

View of downtown Seattle with Space Needle and mountains in background

Seattle Voters Approve Social Housing Referendum

Voters approved a corporate tax to fund the city’s housing authority despite an opposition campaign funded by Amazon and Microsoft.

April 23 - Next City