Tram talk: Could an urban gondola actually work in Edmonton?

As blue-sky thinking goes, the prospect of a gondola sweeping across the river valley or stretching down Whyte Avenue is way out there.

But thanks to a vote of support from the Edmonton Project and a nibble of interest from a city councillor, it's an idea that is starting to get serious consideration as an alternative to bus and train transit.

Brian Mason, Alberta's transportation minister, hasn't looked at the gondola concept too closely — at least not yet. On Wednesday, he told reporters, "If a municipality wishes to make a case for including that, or any other kind of innovative transportation system, in criteria going forward, I'm happy to listen."

But other cities in the U.S. have operated similar trams for years — and in some cases, decades. We took at look at two cities where their trams have been a remarkable success.

Towering success in Portland

In 2007, the city of Portland was in a difficult spot: they needed transportation to the Oregon Health and Science University, the biggest employer in Portland, but had limited space to do it.

The city explored all its options, including light rail transit, parking and additional buses. All of those included roads, which was the reason the city was exploring alternative transportation methods in the first place.

"You can literally go half a mile as a crow flies, but it would take you 20 or 30 minutes to travel that half-mile [on roads]," said Dylan Rivera, spokesperson for the City of Portland's transportation department.

Keen to get away from transportation challenges on the ground, they looked up. "And we found Portland Aerial Tram to be the perfect solution," Rivera said. "[It] bridges that divide."

The city spent $57 million to build the one-kilometre tram, which travels more than 35 km/h and takes about three minutes to go from end to end. There are two tram cars, which move about 9,000 people per day. 

In the first 10 years, it moved more than 16 million people.

Rivera said it costs about $2.1 million per year to operate. Maintenance is minimal — mainly just changing the ropes every few years — and it holds up well in extreme weather conditions.

The operating and maintenance costs are wholly covered by revenue from fares. Tickets cost $4 and are also integrated with the city's transit passes.

He said the city estimates the tram helped bring $1 billion and thousands of jobs into the area, many associated with the university it stops at.

There was initial concern from residents underneath the tram's path but "It's really part of the neighbourhood now," Rivera  said. "It's a beloved tourist attraction.

"It's become a bit of an Eiffel Tower, if you will, for Portland — a symbol of our forward-thinking urban planning."

It's become a bit of an Eiffel Tower, if you will, for Portland — a symbol of our forward-thinking urban planning.- Dylan Rivera

Rivera said more cities in the U.S. are looking at urban trams and gondolas — and he thinks it's about time.

"Aerial trams and gondola transportation are becoming more and more financially feasible as we have growing downtowns in constrained urban environments," he said.

"This should be something that should be more common."

Trip across the river in NYC

The city of New York, impatiently waiting for its subway to open, built the first commuter tramway in America in 1976.

It was meant to be a temporary solution for transport between Roosevelt Island and Manhattan. But even after the subway opened in 1989, the tram continued to run — and it still runs today.

The one-kilometre tram carries up to 7,000 people on an average day, most of them commuters but also some tourists too. It can run in almost any weather situation, save for electrical storms and extremely high winds.

It cost $5 million to build in 1976, which by the city's estimates, would be around $20 million today. The city spent $25 million renovating the tram in 2010.

The tram costs commuters $2.75 each way and is integrated in the city's Metro transit system.

"It's a beautiful panoramic view of the city — you can see the entire skyline on a clear day," Judy Berdy, president of the Historical Society for Roosevelt Island, told CBC's Edmonton AM.

But is it a good investment?

"If you have a pedestrian-minded community, like New York City, then definitely," Berdy said. "It's non-polluting, it's clean [and] it's always visible."

Could it work in Edmonton?

Both Portland and New York City's trams are different than what has been proposed in Edmonton — the ones proposed in Edmonton are five times longer than the two mentioned above.

But as shown in both U.S. cities, gondolas and trams can be an interesting option to get transit off the ground. In an area like Whyte Avenue, with lots of foot and vehicle traffic, the gondola could be an alternative to knocking out a lane of traffic.

And although the costs of the two trams mean a much-longer gondola would cost much more than the very-rough estimate of $60 million provided by Coun. Tim Cartmell, it could still be cheaper than building LRT tracks at the cost of $138 million per kilometre.

As it stands right now, however, there isn't a gondola in the cards for Edmonton — or any of Alberta, for that matter.

Mason said there is no money for gondolas. And, he added with a laugh, "I don't like heights."