There are two seperate issues regarding Gondolas in Ogden and it becomes cloudy when you mix the two proposals.
The first is the idea of a gondola from the trans hub at 23rd and Wall to the WSU campus. The second is the long dreamed of cable conveyance up the mountain to Snow Basin. Both have much to say for themselves but should not be spoken of together because they are not intended for the same purpose. Let's talk about the first one first.
It has always been part of the longterm transportation plan to develop a mass transit conveyance from the hub downtown to WSU. This is completely unrelated to the if or when of a gondola connection to Snow Basin. The only question has been what type of transit system should be used.
To this end, the recent study and resulting meeting where the study results were discussed compared 5 different types of conveyances and the pros and cons for each. The study considered two different forms of bus transit including dedicated travel lanes and "trax" like bus stops. Although less expensive to develop both of these proposals failed, according to the study, because they would be unlikely to attract new riders (we are smart enough to know that a bus with a nosecone attached is still just a bus). On the other side of the financial spectrum is a light rail system like in SLC. It would generate new riders but at a cost of $200 million it is way too expensive for this population base.
The other 2 options were considered feasible but the study chose the streetcar over the gondola for the following reason. The study gave the streetcar the same number for predicted new riders as light rail and then concluded that the gondola system, though half the cost of the streetcar, could not be counted on for new ridership because it had never been tried. The experts presenting the study did not believe there were any practical difficulties with using a gondola for mass transit and that it could include all the stops that any other system could. The study failed to consider: The value of not reducing travel and turning lanes or interfering with parking; The value of not running over people or crashing into clueless drivers; The potential for increased ridership just for the fun of being lifted through the city on a unique experience; The value of almost eerie silence from the gondola as opposed to the very noisy alternatives.
Finally, as the Mayor pointed out, the city's share of the $100 million streetcar would pay for the gondola in full.
The gondola requires people to monitor the stops but a streetcar needs an operator in every car. Streetcars are faster but they come by every 12 minutes or so, a gondola is every 30 seconds and only a few minutes slower in transit, so on average it would be a faster conveyance.
The gondola is just as safe for riders because anyone attempting mischief has to get out at a monitored station and is essentially captive until arriving at the station where an arrest would be inevitable. If you don't like the company, wait for the next car. You might find that you actually talk to people in a gondola, it is one of the funnest things about gondolas on the slopes.
The gondola can do everything as far as transit that any other conveyance can, but the thing that makes it so interesting is the uniqueness and the feeling of being at a ski town with a resort atmosphere. This leads us to gondola proposal #2 aka, the gondola to the stars. As others have said, this idea has been kicked around since the early 60's, but only now have the stars aligned in a way that makes it not only feasible but fabulous.
Thanks to Earl Holding we now have in our world class mountains a true world class ski resort. Thanks to some unusual foresight by our elected officials, we will soon be connected to all of the other communities along the Wasatch Front by commuter rail. Unbeknownst to many we have always had an amazing little city between the two. This mountain gondola will be unique in all the world in that only here in Ogden is there a metropolitan area of this size and resource that is located directly below a resort of this magnitude. All other Utah and Colorado resorts are way up at the end of long winding canyons that do not back up on the very mountain upon which rests a beautiful city like Ogden. Only to Ogden will people across the state be able to get on a commuter train and get to a gondola system that will wisk them to the best skiing in the state. Only to Ogden will people around the country and the world be able to send their kids to college where after class they can jump a gondola to the slopes for skiing,biking, hiking, dating, eating, communing, meditating, studying, working and learning.
This gondola will be privately funded, beautifully engineered, environmentally designed, maticulously maintained, vigorously marketed, continuously astounded (by people riding up it) and fervently appreciated. Someone snickered that the Mayor thought it may be as important to Ogden as the railroad once was. This analogy is not at all out of the question. Would you bring your convention to Ogden's center now? Would you if you could step from the presentation to a gondola that would open up all the recreation opportunities I just mentioned? What if you could also run a kayak down a world class kayak course on the Ogden or Weber river. What if you could experience sky diving in the extreme rec center located on the mall site or send your kids to the Treehouse children's museum or practice kayaking skills in the rec center or climb a three story climbing wall in the rec center in preparation for actual mountain climbing in Malan's basin which will also be accessible by gondola. Only in Ogden will you be able to live downtown and go to school at WSU by gondola and have access to all the mountain activities discussed previously and then ride the gondola back to work downtown.
Who wouldn't want to live downtown where you can walk a block to some of the greatest restaurants in Utah and to the Commuter rail to Jazz games and broadway plays at the Capitol Theatre or walk to an amazing production at the fabulous Egyptian Theatre or walk to an event at the amphitheater or... Are you getting the idea! O-town can become the place to be, not to be from. I am sick to death of the plethora of souls who want only to whine and complain about this city I live in and love. It has been said that Ogden is wasted on people who live here.
Come downtown to Mountain Perk and smell the coffee (a shameless plug). See what has already been done here and be ready to catch your breath at what is about to be done.
The first is the idea of a gondola from the trans hub at 23rd and Wall to the WSU campus. The second is the long dreamed of cable conveyance up the mountain to Snow Basin. Both have much to say for themselves but should not be spoken of together because they are not intended for the same purpose. Let's talk about the first one first.
It has always been part of the longterm transportation plan to develop a mass transit conveyance from the hub downtown to WSU. This is completely unrelated to the if or when of a gondola connection to Snow Basin. The only question has been what type of transit system should be used.
To this end, the recent study and resulting meeting where the study results were discussed compared 5 different types of conveyances and the pros and cons for each. The study considered two different forms of bus transit including dedicated travel lanes and "trax" like bus stops. Although less expensive to develop both of these proposals failed, according to the study, because they would be unlikely to attract new riders (we are smart enough to know that a bus with a nosecone attached is still just a bus). On the other side of the financial spectrum is a light rail system like in SLC. It would generate new riders but at a cost of $200 million it is way too expensive for this population base.
The other 2 options were considered feasible but the study chose the streetcar over the gondola for the following reason. The study gave the streetcar the same number for predicted new riders as light rail and then concluded that the gondola system, though half the cost of the streetcar, could not be counted on for new ridership because it had never been tried. The experts presenting the study did not believe there were any practical difficulties with using a gondola for mass transit and that it could include all the stops that any other system could. The study failed to consider: The value of not reducing travel and turning lanes or interfering with parking; The value of not running over people or crashing into clueless drivers; The potential for increased ridership just for the fun of being lifted through the city on a unique experience; The value of almost eerie silence from the gondola as opposed to the very noisy alternatives.
Finally, as the Mayor pointed out, the city's share of the $100 million streetcar would pay for the gondola in full.
The gondola requires people to monitor the stops but a streetcar needs an operator in every car. Streetcars are faster but they come by every 12 minutes or so, a gondola is every 30 seconds and only a few minutes slower in transit, so on average it would be a faster conveyance.
The gondola is just as safe for riders because anyone attempting mischief has to get out at a monitored station and is essentially captive until arriving at the station where an arrest would be inevitable. If you don't like the company, wait for the next car. You might find that you actually talk to people in a gondola, it is one of the funnest things about gondolas on the slopes.
The gondola can do everything as far as transit that any other conveyance can, but the thing that makes it so interesting is the uniqueness and the feeling of being at a ski town with a resort atmosphere. This leads us to gondola proposal #2 aka, the gondola to the stars. As others have said, this idea has been kicked around since the early 60's, but only now have the stars aligned in a way that makes it not only feasible but fabulous.
Thanks to Earl Holding we now have in our world class mountains a true world class ski resort. Thanks to some unusual foresight by our elected officials, we will soon be connected to all of the other communities along the Wasatch Front by commuter rail. Unbeknownst to many we have always had an amazing little city between the two. This mountain gondola will be unique in all the world in that only here in Ogden is there a metropolitan area of this size and resource that is located directly below a resort of this magnitude. All other Utah and Colorado resorts are way up at the end of long winding canyons that do not back up on the very mountain upon which rests a beautiful city like Ogden. Only to Ogden will people across the state be able to get on a commuter train and get to a gondola system that will wisk them to the best skiing in the state. Only to Ogden will people around the country and the world be able to send their kids to college where after class they can jump a gondola to the slopes for skiing,biking, hiking, dating, eating, communing, meditating, studying, working and learning.
This gondola will be privately funded, beautifully engineered, environmentally designed, maticulously maintained, vigorously marketed, continuously astounded (by people riding up it) and fervently appreciated. Someone snickered that the Mayor thought it may be as important to Ogden as the railroad once was. This analogy is not at all out of the question. Would you bring your convention to Ogden's center now? Would you if you could step from the presentation to a gondola that would open up all the recreation opportunities I just mentioned? What if you could also run a kayak down a world class kayak course on the Ogden or Weber river. What if you could experience sky diving in the extreme rec center located on the mall site or send your kids to the Treehouse children's museum or practice kayaking skills in the rec center or climb a three story climbing wall in the rec center in preparation for actual mountain climbing in Malan's basin which will also be accessible by gondola. Only in Ogden will you be able to live downtown and go to school at WSU by gondola and have access to all the mountain activities discussed previously and then ride the gondola back to work downtown.
Who wouldn't want to live downtown where you can walk a block to some of the greatest restaurants in Utah and to the Commuter rail to Jazz games and broadway plays at the Capitol Theatre or walk to an amazing production at the fabulous Egyptian Theatre or walk to an event at the amphitheater or... Are you getting the idea! O-town can become the place to be, not to be from. I am sick to death of the plethora of souls who want only to whine and complain about this city I live in and love. It has been said that Ogden is wasted on people who live here.
Come downtown to Mountain Perk and smell the coffee (a shameless plug). See what has already been done here and be ready to catch your breath at what is about to be done.
posted by Bernie | 6:44 PM
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