SI Urban 1/2023

Since opening in May 2021, the Namur citadel cable car immediately won over tourists. Thanks to its privilieged location in the heart of the Walloon capital, this new, orginal mode of transport offers a practical and spectacular route to the top of the citadel. Despite difficulties associated with health restrictions for the pandemic, which reduced the capacity from six passengers to two, the success was immediate.

Which requirements and solution approaches exist for urban mobility in the global context? This is the question being examined by Matthias Nüßgen from the European Institute for Sustainable Transport (EURIST). Together with consulting company Cable Car Solutions, his team has developed a concept for an urban cable car network in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.

TRANSDEV is a large, international operator of public transport. The company also maintains urban cable cars – and is familiar with the opportunities and challenges of multimodal mobility.

In 2018 POMA installed a tourist cable car to connect the new town of Galala to the tourist coast of Ain Sokhna. This cable car is a part of the largest construction project of Galala city. Since completion of the cable car construction, POMA has invested a great deal. A team of engineers and technicians has been recruited and trained on the operation and maintenance of cable car.

Cities are constantly changing, not least in the area of transport. With the increasing advent of the cable car in urban areas come far-reaching effects. The major South American cities of Bogotá, Mexico City and La Paz rely on urban cable cars and are exhibiting corresponding changes to the cityscape as a result of these systems. Students at Vienna University of Technology have examined the developments.

Ecological, social and financial effects of urban cable cars: An urban cable car opens up new ways to move around a city and thus also new meeting zones and hubs for the population. Seeing the city from above opens up new perspectives, which can also be exploited financially. Moreover, the urban cable car scores points in a 30-year comparison with other modes of public transport such as tram and bus, with high social and ecological sustainability in ongoing operation.