In London, a cable car system that transports people over the London river has been commissioned.
Emirates Air Lines sponsored the project, which was designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects. The cable car system provides spectacular views of the London skyline at 90 meters in the air as it efficiently connects visitors traveling from the city’s Olympic venues to existing public transit lines.
London’s first air tram.
This project was conveniently completed just one month before the Olympics, and can help alleviate congestion due to it’s efficiency (speed, in this case).
Tickets to take this cable car are £4.30 for adults and £3.20 for those who use Oyster pay. This tram’s operating hours are 9 AM to 9 PM on Sundays, 8 AM to 9 PM on Saturdays, and 7 AM to 9PM on weekdays.
This project took 2 years to complete. Plans started in 2010. Cyclists can also carry their bicycles onto the cable cars to shorten their trips, or if they just want to relax.
It takes 5 minutes to cross the river in a cable car and, because of it’s height, you will be able to see views of London that you could not normally see in a bus or car. It has the throughput of 50 buses.
I don’t know how economical this is compared to conventional modes of transportation, but infrastructural projects do often provide the benefit of job creation, because they are labour intensive (people have to actually build infrastructure, it isn’t automated).
This tram is one of many ways to transport people across a river. One benefit of using vehicles such as trains and trams that utilize one car per track, for example, is that they can be built lightweight and very cheaply. They mainly just need to sustain the weight of the people, which is nothing compared to the weight of even a small road car, and protect them from rain. And, of course, they don’t get into collisions like road cars do, so they don’t need to be prepared for that.
Source: Inhabitat
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