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Your city's future hangs by a steel thread

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Note: This Mockatorial was previously published in issue Vacancy is alive - NOTES. The quotes are genuine.

Does your town suffer from vacancy? Is the city centre poorly accessible? Are you looking for a tourist attraction or a unique logo? A cable car solves all your problems. Your municipality can still benefit despite the great interest from all over the Netherlands in this new means of transport.

But above all, don't listen to me, but to everyone before me.

Clean and sustainable alternative

In Groningen, some enthusiasts have been at it for years. A cable car 'opens up the inner city, is more environmentally friendly and quieter than any other transport system, has a large transport capacity and a high attraction value'. Three different routes have already been studied in this city. Liveable Delft also sees a cable car as a solution for the 248,000 tourists who visit the city by bus every year. A cable car 'does not cause a nuisance. Maybe a little buzzing'. Extending this cable car to the Ikea is additionally 'A win-win situation for Delft and Ikea. The Ikea has 2.2 million visitors a year. If 20% also takes the cable car from that, that's 440,000 extra visitors for Delft city centre'. And that in a sustainable and clean way!

New supplementary transport

For Den Bosch, Groningen and Doetinchem local promoters see the cable car as an alternative to the expensive tram or light rail. And in Amsterdam is considering cable cars as an additional ov network to make missing connections. In addition, it can reduce congestion on streets and ferries. But cable cars can also offer a fully-fledged alternative to other forms of transport on longer distances. In Limburg proposes connecting the planned cable cars in Roermond and Venlo. This will create a beautiful regional route along the Meuse.

Ideal connection

Also in medium-sized towns like Nijmegen, Arnhem and Assen there are plans. A cable car is perfect for connecting inner cities to attractions outside the city, such as an Ikea ( Delft, Zaandam, Groningen) or zoo (Emmen). With a cable car, the many visitors will also come back to the city centre. In Roermond, Green Left politician Cees Moison puts it this way: Assuming over five million people visit the outlet centre every year, there is enough custom for such a cable car. Roermond will have to remain distinctive. A cable car is ideally suited for making connections where there are none on the ground, as in Enschede. VVD leader Enklaar also wants a cable car between suburb and city centre: 'We need unorthodox ways to get people out of their cars. You then utilise a space that is currently unused: The air'.

Tourist highlight

Cable cars are tourist attractions. According to the Rotterdam-based - now former alderman- Schrijer connection between the SS Rotterdam on Katendrecht and the Euromast is delivering thousands of extra visitors; just as the London Eye revitalised the south bank of the Thames. Entrepreneur Wim Bijsterbosch is looking for a similar effect in the village of Welsum. 'When you see that the Kozakkenveer between Fortmond and Veessen, just down the road, has 20,000 passers-by in the summer season, there will also be enough interest for a cable car.' It is still awaiting subsidies to actually build the cable car across the IJssel. The Gondola Group is also still waiting for permission to build the unusual cable car between Lelystad and the Forestry Commission's visitor centre at Oostvaardersplassen. This route offers a unique perspective of the area's wildlife. You view the big game undisturbed from above.

 A cable car is especially fun

What all these plans have in common is the understanding that a cable car offers fun. Every day. Whether you're gliding across the city for work or in a shark gondola enters Emmen Zoo. It is a step away from everyday reality for a while.

Good to know
Note: This Mockatorial was previously published in the issue Empty Lives - NB. The quotes are genuine. Click here for overview of all cableway initiatives in the Netherlands

 

 

Tim De Boer

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