A Preliminary Proposal from Eco-Transit:
Eco-Transit(ECO) provides specialized planning, engineering and feasibility study services to clients for Aerial Cableway Transit (ACT) gondola and tramway projects. Eco-Transit 7830 W Alameda Ave Suite 103, Denver, CO 80226
Aerial cableway people movers work well in urban settings as the vehicles operate in an exclusive aerial right of way separated from roadways, traffic congestion, sidewalks and pedestrians; this feature makes these urban gondolas one of the safest forms of public transit. Cableways also offer continuous passenger boarding with vehicle headways under 30 seconds; this provides a “walk up and board” transit service. Cabins are ADA friendly and are designed to easily transport wheelchairs, walkers, strollers and bicycles.
The gondolas hold 10 people and can transport 1,500 people per hour. The cost estimate for this single path is between $17 – $25 million. The most expensive parts are the stations particularly if there are amenities included in the stations. Next is the cost of turns greater than 10 degrees. It is efficient to combine turns with stations. Staying over public right of way greatly facilitates the permitting. During low use times only one person is needed at a station and one of them should be an engineer. During heavy use there needs to be two workers at each station plus an engineer at one of the stations.
Considerations
This estimate is for a single route with two stations and a turn. The route could expand to include the Farmer’s Market and Centennial Campus. There could also be a line between Union Station and Moore Square.
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RALEIGH AERIAL CABLEWAY – Dorothea Dix Park | |
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PRELIMINARY SPECIFICATIONS |
DAWSON STREET ROUTE |
| Lift Type | Mono-cable Gondola |
| Cabin Size | 10 passenger |
| Route Length | 6000 ft (1.2 mi) |
| System Speed | 1,000 fpm (11.5 mph) |
| Travel Time – one way | 7 min |
| System Capacity – per direction | 1,500 pph |
| Cabins | 35 – 40 |
| Cabin Spacing | 400 ft |
| Cabin Interval | 24 sec |
| Cable Size | 45 mm (1.75 in) |
| Line Towers | 15 – 20 |
| Line Angles | 1 |
| Drive Terminal Location | Dix Park |
| Return Terminal Location | Downtown |
| Cabin Storage Location | Dix Park |
| Primary Drive – AC Electric Motor | 400 hp |
| Backup Drive – Diesel Engine | 400 hp |
| Evacuation Drive – Hydrostatic | 150 hp |
| RALEIGH AERIAL CABLEWAY – Dorothea Dix Park | ||
| CAPITAL COST ESTIMATES | ||
| Gondola Route | Dawson Street Route | |
| Gondola Type | Mono-Cable Gondola | |
| Cabin Size | 10 passenger | |
| Line Length | 6,000 ft (1.2 mi) | |
| Capacity (per direction) | 1,500 pph | |
| CostEstimateRange | ||
| Gondola Engineering | 500,000 | 700,000 |
| Gondola Equipment | 9,000,000 | 12,000,000 |
| Gondola Storage | 200,000 | 300,000 |
| Gondola Installation | 2,000,000 | 3,000,000 |
| GondolaEstimate | 11,700,000 | 16,000,000 |
| Municipal Infrastructure @ 50% | 5,850,000 | 8,000,000 |
| Gondola+InfrastructureEstimate | 17,550,000 | 24,000,000 |