Most of our kababayans consider traffic jams as part of their everyday lives already. Whether one goes to school, work or some other location, being stuck in traffic cannot be avoided most especially in congested cities such as Metro Manila. A recent survey conducted by location technology specialist TomTom points out that Manila has the second worst traffic congestion in the world. This is after the organization surveyed 416 cities around the globe, with India’s Bengaluru City at the top spot. TomTom’s report further showed that Filipino drivers spend 71 percent of extra travel time on the road because of heavy traffic situations. The report concluded by stating that Filipino motorists lost a total of 10 days and 17 hours while driving during rush hour in the year 2019 alone.
The country’s capital also ranked first in the Asian Development Bank’s 2018 study on the “most congested city in developing Asia.” Meanwhile, a survey from the traffic navigation app Waze added to this “recognition” by identifying the Philippines as the “world’s worst city for drivers” just last year.
With all these said, working and serving in the transport sector, while studying Transport Planning made me think about ways to improve the traffic situation here in the Philippines. I must say, it’s impossible to look for a single solution to this problem but one of the technologies that caught my attention is the use of cable cars. Contrary to what many of us would think, cable cars aren’t only used when we perform recreational activities such as sight-seeing and skiing. These Cable Propelled Transits or CPTs can also help address traffic concerns in a place like the Philippines, specifically in the urban areas. As a matter of fact, several countries around the world like the United States of America and the United Kingdom already enjoy the benefits of having CPTs as part of their nation’s mobility solution.
The history of cable use for transportation purposes goes back as early as 250 BC. Chinese people back then used ropeways to transport goods in areas with challenging topographies. They keep the ropes intact at two high points while tying themselves to it so that they can travel across the place. Afterwards, the invention of steel cables in Germany during the 1800s paved way for the production of modern cable transit systems such as the San Francisco cable car. In 1900s, however, cable cars were more commonly used for recreational purposes when advancements in technology enabled the invention of steelcars. By 1970s and up until now, engineers continuously studied cable cars and they figured out ways to maximize its use as an alternative mode of transportation, most especially since CPT systems can be built at low costs.
Today in the modern era, we have seen its wide success in Latin America wherein cable systems have been integrated with other forms of existing mass transits particularly in areas that are difficult to reach due to population density and topography. A good example of this is in Medellin, Colombia – – so successful that the system has been made a model for cable systems and copied in other cities such as Rio De Janeiro in Brazil, La Paz in Bolivia and in Caracas, Venezuela. Imagine a cable system in similar, high density population and mountainous population such as Baguio City.
So why are CPTs on the rise and are slowly being accepted as a viable alternative transport solution worldwide?
An important thing to note is how cable car technology can contribute to an efficient transport network. First, it is an environmentally friendly option since cable cars use up low amounts of energy due to its less rolling resistance than other modes of transportation. Second, CPTs traverse along their own exclusive right of way which enables them to operate at average speeds closer to their maximum operating speeds. Adding to this, cables cars are not affected by ground traffic, this lets a commuter experience consistent travel times.
It’s interesting to know that wiki defined “cable car” as a top propelled transport/suspended railway. … “A cable car is a type of cable railway used for mass transit in which rail cars are hauled by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed (top propelled); and”A suspension railway is a form of elevated monorail in which the vehicle is suspended from a fixed track”. So it’s clear that a cable car is an inverted train. More next week in Part 2.
Paul Chua PhD was a scholar in “Transport Planning” at the Galilee International Management Institute in Israel, “Smart Cities looks like” at Gran Sasso Science Institute in Italy and finished his Executive Education program on “Strategic Management of Regulatory and Enforcement Agencies” at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is the Deputy Administrator for Operations and Engineering at the Light Rail Transit Authority.
Originally published by The Manila Times on August 13, 2020.
View the original publication at The Manila Times ↗