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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Gondolas are a type of cable-propelled transit (CPT), typically with enclosed cabins that will detach from the cable that pulls them to slow down for onboarding and alighting purposes as they pass through a station. The city of Medellin, Colombia, named the Most Innovative City in the World in 2013 by the Urban Land Institute, has been greatly transformed in part because of its MetroCable system that employs gondolas as a means of public transit. Queen, MCRP + MS/CE ’15, believes that Atlanta could be greatly aided by the low cost, quick build time, small footprint, minimal noise, consistent speeds, short wait times, impressive safety record, high reliability, and stunning views that gondolas offer. “With our limited funding, high congestion, and physical barriers (railroads, highways, rivers, hilly terrain, etc.), gondolas seem like a potentially ideal fit for serving many of Atlanta’s urban areas,” Queen writes. “Given limited funding, we need to get creative with more affordable modes and greater investment from the private sector; but this will require open-minded, visionary leadership. Gondolas could be one part of the solution, but without a willingness to innovate, we won’t know until it is too late.”
