Gondolas Proposed for Boston's Seaport District

Gondola proposals have been floated in a number of cities recently, including Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. Here's one more. To ease the booming district's traffic, Jon Chesto writes, "Millennium Partners and Cargo Ventures envision a 1-mile gondola system running above Summer Street to provide transportation between South Station and 12 acres they plan to develop in the city's marine industrial park."

Democratic Representative Stephen Lynch, who has promoted the project, stated that "This gondola system would carry the equivalent of 40 buses per hour, while reducing vehicular traffic and eliminating carbon emissions."

While Millennium Partners is willing to pay the requisite $100 million, "neither the city of Boston nor the Massachusetts Port Authority, a major landowner in the neighborhood, have expressed support for [the project]." 

"Among the city officials' concerns are the gondola system's aesthetics as well as potential conflicts with other transportation options under consideration, such as dedicated bus lanes along Summer Street," writes Chesto. And then there's the larger question: are gondolas just an eye-catching distraction?