Stories from South Tyrol | Up, up and away - Rethinking urban transport systems

Rethinking urban transport systems. #storiesfromsouthtyrol In South Tyrol, cable cars have been built for transporting materials and people for more than 100 years. The world’s first passenger ropeway went into operation in Bolzano in 1908. After the First World War an engineer from Lana named Luis Zuegg perfected ropeway engineering. Leitner Ropeways, based in Vipiteno/Sterzing, is one of the world leaders in ropeway construction. More and more frequently the Mountain Metro is being used in urban settings. In recent years, cities with huge traffic problems have discovered that South Tyrolean cableways make a good alternative to road and subway construction. Dominic Bosio, the export sales manager at LEITNER Ropeways, remembers when the first request for a urban cable car came, twelve years ago: In the Columbian city of Medellin, traffic planners wanted to run a cable car through the city. “At that time they believed in the project more than we did," says Bosio. Other cities, including Frankfurt, Hong Kong, New York, Rio de Janeiro and Ankara followed suit. Cable cars find space even in crowded cities, are much cheaper than a subway, can be built relatively quickly and are eco-friendly. “We must abandon the notion that cable cars are only for the mountains,” says Giorgio Pilotti, the Italian sales manager for Leitner Ropeways. South Tyrol has long been a place where people have had to reinvent. This film shows that it pays to think outside of the box. Calling into question that which exists. Sometimes even ourselves. For more South Tyrolean stories, please visit: https://www.suedtirol.info/en/en/info...