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Gondolas are good enough for London, so how about Seattle? (AP Photo/File)

Gondolas wouldn't solve transportation problem, but they'd be neat

BY Alyssa Kleven  on February 19, 2013 @ 12:00 pm (Updated: 2:22 pm - 2/19/13 )

Luke Burbank wouldn't hop on a gondola to get to work, but he said he'd ride it for the "gee whiz" factor.

Gondolas are the latest the imagination can provide to aid a traffic ailing Seattle.

The main complaint as laid out in The Seattle Times is the east to west traffic congestion in the city. The number 8 bus, it says, is often stuck in the stop-and-go traffic along Denny. Riders may have to wait as much as 30 minutes between buses.

But if a gondola were an option, as proposed by Matt Roewe, of VIA Architecture, and Matt "the Engineer" Gangemi, would commuters hop on to get to their destination just in time for their meeting?

KIRO Radio host Luke Burbank doesn't think so, but he's not opposed to it either.

"It seems fanciful and fantastical," says co-host Tom Tangney. The proposed gondola would take riders from the Capitol Hill light rail station to the Olympic Sculpture Garden, just spitting distance away from the Seattle Center area.

The hosts agree visually, the gondola would be a positive for Seattle. Much like the monorail serves no practical purpose, other than being a cool thing for tourists to ride, so would the gondolas.

While the proposal from Capitol Hill to the sculpture garden has hipsters wistfully thinking of cross-town transit, another gondola proposal might catch more traction.

Hal Griffith, the owner of Seattle's Great Wheel, which opened on the waterfront this summer, is researching a plan that would take gondola riders from the Washington State Convention Center to the waterfront.

Gondolas may seem like a pipe dream for a futuristic Seattle but Burbank and Tangney point out that some cities actively use gondolas as a part of their transportation systems.

"They do have them in Canada," says Luke, "which is probably an argument against doing it here."

Alyssa Kleven, MyNorthwest.com Editor
Alyssa Kleven is an editor and content producer at MyNorthwest.com. She enjoys doting over her adorable dachshund Winnie - named for Arcade Fire front-man Win Butler.
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Comments (30)


  • Add A Comment

  • GoldFish wrote...
    What?
    February 19, 2013 2:49 pm
    Whoever came up with this Idea is essentially an Oxygen thief, we are all dumber for having heard this. Thank you.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rangerhawk wrote...
    Metro Catapaults would be more sensible
    February 19, 2013 3:32 pm
    And you could still charge round trip!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    Can we have hot air ballons and rollercoasters too?
    February 19, 2013 3:45 pm
    Of course! And when you get off, you'll be greeted by unicorns and pink elephants...just ask any liberal.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • mnpat wrote...
    I'm really embarrassed for the person that even threw this out on the table,
    February 19, 2013 3:52 pm
    unless it is a private venture for an E-ticket ride to looney tune land.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Wild Bill wrote...
    a Metro or City or State
    February 19, 2013 4:21 pm
    gondola, heck no; they'd blow it. BUT, a gondola from the Convention Center to the Wheel paid for by PRIVATE money is cool. For decades, Hal Griffith and his son had dreamed of building their Ferris Wheel on the waterfront next to their wonderful, touristy restaurant The Crab Pot. Most folks said no way, it will never happen, etc etc. Well, look at what we have now. So, these PRIVATE CITIZENS want to spend thier dough to build a gondola that would only serve to add dollars to our tourist business, and the same negative, misinformed screeching starts. This is called CAPITALISM; private spending that serves their purposes, but in this case also adds to the community. You know, sort of like Howard S. Wright and the privately built Space Needle, or the adjacent glass blob showcase that collects 350,000 grand in rent. All this knee jerk "government is bad, Seattle is liberal stupid heads" is baseless in this case. Let business be business and get er done.
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  • shark75 wrote...
    Yes Wild Bill, fund it like "the needle".............(sorry to pick on you dude)
    February 19, 2013 5:18 pm
    Fund it like the needle. Lets think about that one for a sec....
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  • Overcast wrote...
    problem is...
    February 19, 2013 5:24 pm
    They'd probably be shut down in high winds. In the winter, they'd probably be closed as much as the northern sounder tracks. Interesting idea, but not very practical.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Cameron wrote...
    So are we to assume that there will police at either end of the Gondola rides?
    February 19, 2013 5:37 pm
    Imagine there will be Homeless and thugs given "free rides" on the gondola's and you could be locked up in with a couple of seattles finest, a couple hundred feet in the air with no way out. What a great experience.
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  • Wild Bill wrote...
    shark75
    February 19, 2013 5:42 pm
    (no offense taken,,,discourse good and Mongo likes candy) Space Needle (from the Wik) "It was privately built and financed by the "Pentagram Corporation" which consisted of Bagley Wright, contractor Howard S. Wright, architect John Graham, Ned Skinner, and Norton Clapp. In 1977 Bagley, Skinner and Clapp sold their interest to Howard Wright who now controls it under the name of Space Needle Corporation."................................"The proposed Space Needle had no land on which to be built. Since it was not financed by the city, land had to be purchased that was within the fairgrounds. The investors thought that there would be no land available to build a tower and the search for a site was nearly dead when, in 1961, they discovered a plot, 120 by 120 feet (37 by 37 m), containing switching equipment for the fire and police alarm systems. The land sold for $75,000. At this point, only one year remained before the World's Fair would begin"........From the needle site:.........."Built in 1962, the Space Needle served as the symbol of that year's World's Fair. It has since become the symbol of Seattle, and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The privately owned Space Needle is managed by Space Needle LLC." A great example of PRIVATE investment that, arguably, defines a city. The needle is a private corporation; they pay rent. HOWEVER, the wind things is a good point.
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  • rational wrote...
    Giant Gerbil balls
    February 19, 2013 5:57 pm
    Put each commuter in a giant gerbil ball and use a cannon to shoot them closer to their destination...and then they call roll the rest of the way to work. It'd be great fun and good exercise too!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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