public transportation

6.2-6.3 Public transportation cable car system in Vienna

6.3.Austria-1-detail-b Highlights Relevant to Sustainable Design:

Effective public transportation with pedestrian integration increases the ease of urban motion and decreases the need for automobiles and the resulting CO2 emissions.

My research in Hungary started upon arrival in Vienna. This is a view of the Vienna Opera House looking up through the web of cables for the cable cars at a busy intersection. The upper center is an overhead view of the parallel paths of primary auto traffic in the center flanked by the cable cars, pedestrian walkways, parallel parking, one-directional secondary traffic, another layer of parallel parking, sidewalks, and finally the retail shops on the outside edges. This system of urban planning worked well to encourage efficiency, safety, and the integration of public transportation, private transportation, and pedestrians. In America, a version of this without the trolley cars is on K Street in Washington, DC. Prior to the interstate highway construction in America following WW II, major cities and towns across the country had electric streetcar systems that successfully provided transportation options. The US systems were purchased by corporations like General Motors, and some believe literally put out to pasture to create more demand for buses and automobiles.[i]

6.2.Austria-1-detail (a) with public transportation in Austria on the left side

6.1.From Austria to Hungary-1-Horizontal-with-Figure

The figure outline in this image is for scale to illustrate the size of the fold-out field drawing. The descriptions of certain key elements and insights are included with the accompanying drawings in this section.

Author and illustrator: Charlie Szoradi is an architect, inventor, and the CEO of Independence LED Lighting. He writes about many other topics related to public transportation through his extensive travels around the world.

If you have found this posting online, it is an excerpt from Mr. Szoradi’s book Learn from Looking that served as the inspiring seed content for this drawing share resource. For additional drawings and insights on public transportation and cable cars, we hope that you enjoy exploring LearnfromLooking.com. You can search via general terms such as sustainability as well as narrower terms such as electric streetcars within public transportation systems.

[i] Street Cars:

Austria 1: Detail (b)—General Motors Street Car Conspiracy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy.

 

Related Posts