Why are cities investing in cable cars for urban transport?

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Don’t forget to turn on subtitles!
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Have you ever wondered about the potential of cable cars for urban mobility? Join UMX as we journey to Brest and Toulouse to explore two successful examples! 🌍🚡 In this video, we delve into the numerous advantages of cable car systems, examining both their investment and operating costs as well as the quality of service they provide. We also compare cable cars with other urban transport modes such as metro or bus to fully understand their benefits and challenges. Discover the specific environments where cable cars fit, the type of passenger flows they can manage, and how they not only enhance sustainable mobility but also save time and increase accessibility while offering relaxing and enjoyable rides.
#CableCars #Brest #Toulouse #UMX
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This video was shot in October 2023.
Many thanks to Victor Antonio and Jean-Michel Lattes for kindly participating in this video.
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Writing: Wilfrid Duval
Video: Wilfrid Duval
Editing: Wilfrid Duval
Production: Malaurie Chokoualé and Jana Cotillas
Executive Production: Martin Vendel and Gautam Rao
Subtitles: Alanah Reynor
Graphic and thumbnail design: FAVO Studio
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Urban Mobility Explained is powered by EIT Urban Mobility, a European initiative to create liveable urban spaces! This project is co-funded by the European Union. Learn more about EIT Urban Mobility: https://www.eiturbanmobility.eu/

This project dates back a while. Following the explosion at the AZF factory in Toulouse, we built a major health cluster, including a cancer centre, around the site with a huge number of health-related initiatives. The mayor of Toulouse at the time, Philippe Douste-Blazy, said "Maybe we can link Rangueil Hospital, Paul Sabatier University and the new health site on the former AZF site." It’s challenging geographically because there’s the ‘Pech David’ hill and the Garonne river running behind it. The natural obstacles are considerable. There are two possible options. One option, that’s more typical of the 50s one could say, was a large underground tunnel for cars to pass through. The more modern option, for 2020, consists of going overhead with a system that is much lighter and more environmentally friendly. That’s the cable car system. The Brest cable car came about as a need to build a link between the left bank and a new eco-neighbourhood: the Capucins neighbourhood, on a former military industrial wasteland. The first idea to connect this district to the left bank was, of course, a road bridge. It’s the first thing you think of. However this road bridge didn’t meet our mobility expectations at all. Instead, we wanted to promote active mobility like walking and cycling. I work at Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse. Once a week, I cross the Garonne river to teach a meteorology course at Météo France, which is located on the other side in Basso Cambo. It’s much more direct. Before the cable car, I had to go toward the city centre to cross the Garonne by bike. There is no direct bridge here. Now there’s a connection from the university to the other side. It’s shorter. We now have 15 cabins running in a carousel. We can set the pace, so we can have up to one cabin every minute and a half. During rush hour, cable car cabins come every five minutes. That’s a level of service equivalent to an excellent, high-level bus line. We have an ambitious target of 7,000 to 8,000 people a day. Now, we have 6,000 people per day during the week and 4,500 over the weekend. I take the cable car to the hospital every month. It’s much easier to take the cable car than the bus. The bus was far too long, because I had to change lines and then take the metro back. With the cable car, all I have to do is take a bus and the cable car and I’ve reached my stop in around ten minutes. The major issue for us is not so much the flow, but the connection. The Toulouse system was like a star. It had two efficient metro lines that converged on the city centre. That’s why we created what we call the South Belt, a large tangent in the middle of which is the cable car. Without the cable car, we’d never have been able to do it. It’s connected to efficient bus networks on both ends of the system. From the start, we wanted the cable car to be a bus like any other. There is no special ticket for the cable car. All you need is a bus ticket. When you build an object of this type that dominates the landscape, you have to look at the background. The background in Brest is obviously urban, but it’s also a maritime, industrial and military environment. There are also cranes all over the Brest landscape. The architectural design of these cranes is metal latticework. That’s why we used this kind of feature to design the pylons. It’s the first time I’ve taken the cable car. In general, we don’t need to take this line. It’s new for me. I came today because I was curious to see what it looks like. It’s quite impressive because you can see the city in a different way. It’s beautiful. We thought we’d get some tourism out of it, but the impact on the city’s image has been considerable. Many photos and videos of the system have been shared on social media. It has had a significant positive effect on the city of Toulouse’s image. When you start looking at cable solutions, if there’s a geographical obstacle, cable cars are not an expensive investment. It is the safest land transport system in the world. It can carry as many people as a high-frequency bus line. When we started to look into it, it ticked all the boxes. Why hadn’t we done it before? A political consensus gradually formed around this project. There was some uncertainty as to the price tag: close to €90 million. It should be noted that one of the new main bus routes we created nearby is estimated at €40 million. As you can see, this price tag is feasible and reasonable. From the outset, we asked ourselves why there aren’t more cable cars in towns. Why isn’t this a more widespread solution? I think it’s because they’re among the first to get going. It can be hard to take it seriously when you compare it with systems that are much more expensive. We looked into a few options as alternative solutions to the cable car to connect the Capucins neighbourhood with the Left Bank. A lift or swing footbridge could have been built here but that was a minimum of €40 or €50 million. The cable car cost €19.1 million. That’s less than half the investment. The question that arises is whether the cable car’s deficit is acceptable. First of all, all public transport services operate at a deficit. When you take the bus, you pay a third of the actual fare. The cable car has the same deficit. It’s not intended to be an "economically profitable" system, but its use more than makes up for this financial difficulty. Although the investment is high, the running costs are not so high. The system is automated and it runs on electricity. Today we are almost breaking even to cover running and maintenance costs. It is possible that in a few years, we will be able to generate the cash flow needed to cover a share of the investment put into Brest’s cable car. I don’t know if it saves me a lot of time but it saves me energy. Otherwise, I’d be cycling. This is very pleasant. This way, I’m able to relax a bit before I go and give my lesson. In the evening, when I come home, it’s the same thing, it helps me relax. It contributes to the quality of life in a city. In cities, some things are nice, some things aren’t so nice. Taking the cable car to work or to the library is great fun. If we can make the most of it, so much the better. It’s an added benefit in terms of quality of life. That’s really important. The cable car is the only form of public transport where I see people taking selfies on the way to work or the library.