City Cable Car Graz

Passenger and Freight Transport Ropeway | Research

Customer
Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)

Country
Austria

Duration
2017 – 2019

Technology
Tri-cable Gondola Detachable (TGD)

Passenger and Freight Transport RopewayPassenger and Freight Transport Ropeway

Project description

The project objective of the research study is to determine the potential of a combined passenger and freight ropeway as part of an overall urban transport system. The bundling of freight traffic flows for the route portion into the city center to a cable car, combined with environmentally friendly means of transport for fine distribution in the city center (cargo bike, e-delivery truck, etc.), provides a significant contribution to the reduction of conventional road freight traffic in the city.

The basics of an additional innovative use of the ropeway infrastructure with modular transport systems will be developed. A combination of passenger and freight transport with Tri-cable Gondola Detachable (TGD) technology represents an innovation leap in city logistics.

It is the first time that a research project identifies potentials for a fully integrated urban freight ropeway as part of the “last mile” in parcel, delivery, and freight logistics. This is done by considering a simultaneous use of the ropeway system as a fully integrated transport system in the public transportation network. The innovative system solution offers the opportunity to bundle goods for the “last mile” already at the city outskirts, to relieve highly frequented traffic areas, to reduce harmful environmental impacts and to generate and use further synergies and effects in the overall system of goods and passenger mobility. The aim is to evaluate displaceable good flows and to define system requirements such as transport vehicle sizes, cooling options and degrees of automation. As a basis for the determination of the potentials and their effects on the overall system, hubs are designed at the city outskirts, transfer stations for goods of daily use and modular transport vehicles are described and designed by their capacitive characteristics and transport speeds. Finally, simulation models are used to determine the freight and modified passenger potentials.

Service description

The following work was part of the funded research project and was partially provided by zatran:

  • Freight mobility analyzes – requirements for a modular freight transport system for an urban ropeway as an integral part of the “last mile”
  • Legal aspects – establish legal basis and derive any need for action
  • Conception of transport system – conception of a modular transport system and definition of descriptive parameters
  • Determination of freight potential – alignment planning considering a freight ropeway, determination of maximum transport capacities in accordance with passenger demand potential
  • Operation and financing model – cost calculation including economic efficiency
  • Overall system effects – impacts on the environment and society

Legal notice: The renderings above were created by Strohecker Architekten. The renderings are protected by copyright: © Holding Graz / Strohecker Architekten (all rights reserved).

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