Imagine the Coast Skyway Gondola “From the Coast, to CSM, to the Trains, to the Planes” with a $80k Feasibility Study

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

MAP. Gondolas may also be called aerial trams. See post history below.

City of San Mateo and City of Half Moon Bay would love to see the results of a $74-81k feasibility/concept study for the Coast Skyway Gondola.

Could Measure K fund the study as the gondola goes through three San Mateo County Supervisor Districts?

Is this a solution for equity transportation?

 

Destinations

NOTE. The Skyway Gondola goes through three Supervisor’s Districts (see map below).  The concept study will assess the route and may also include a stop at the top of Skyline and at the Hwy 92/280 interchange.

From West to East (and East to West):

• District 3, Ray Mueller (from/to the Coast)
• District 1, Jackie Speier (to/from College of San Mateo (CSM))
• District 2, Noelio Corzo (from/to the City of San Mateo’s Caltrain station at Hayward Park; Jackie Spier’s suggestion).

City of San Mateo to HMB

• College of San Mateo (CSM)
• Trains and Planes
• Beach
• Biking
• Walking
• Surfing
• Entertainment: movies, shopping, restaurants
• Overnights

Half Moon Bay to City of San Mateo

• College of San Mateo (CSM)
• Trains and Planes
• Seniors to medical
• Service worker commute
• Entertainment: movies, shopping, restaurants
• Teen Sports to games

Rides sharing to fill the last mile. In HMB there could also be beach buses.

 

Facts that Drive the Coast Skyway Aerial Gondola Exploration Team

• City/County Association of Governments (CCAG) has said they will build no new roads, as reported by Half Moon Bay Council member and CCAG representative, Harvey Rarback.
• SamTrams has always been challenged by a lack of east/west roads.
• Aerial Gondolas are cheaper and safer than roads.
• Dopplemayr-Graventa has expressed interest in the project per Peter von Bleichert’s article (he is a distant relation to the company).
• SCJ Alliance has offered a Concept Design Study that would include station locations, towers, and tech specs, and recommended stakeholder consortium.
• Caltrain wants to expand ridership.
• Young drivership is falling. In 2018, approximately 61% of 18-year-olds in the U.S. had a driver’s license, down from 80% percent in 1983. The number of 16-year-olds with licenses decreased from 46% to 25% in the same period.
• The City of Half Moon Bay’s visitor serving business model makes money through the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) and Sales Tax.
• Electric gondolas are GREEN. The accelerating climate change crisis makes it imperative that we shift as fast as possible from internal combustion vehicles to zero-emission mass transit alternatives. Moreover, clean infrastructure is a heavy priority for both federal and state spending.
• High-capacity gondola lines are proven, popular technology that is providing reliable, economical, zero-emission, and super-cool mass transit in countries all over the world. Why not have San Mateo County lead a wave of adopting them in the U.S.?

 

---

 

More on the Coast Skyway Gondola on Coastside Buzz

Matt Oja Pitches our U.S. Representative, Anna Eshoo, and She Pledges to ID Feasibility Study Funding for  the Coast Skyway Gondola ~ “From the Coast to the Trains to the Planes”; May 12, 2023

City Council Directs Staff to Explore Grant Possibilities to Help Fund a Feasibility Study for the Coast Skyway Aerial Gondola; April 20, 2023

VIDEO.  City Manager, Matthew Chidester, offers a way to fund the initial exploration of the aerial gondola by way of a grant. Council member, Debbie Ruddock, and retired staff from the California Coastal Conservancy (CCC), said that a big part of the CCC’s mission is not just access along the coast, but access TO the Coast. And their strategic plan, as part of Division 21’s enabling legislation, prioritizes innovative transportation to the Coast. Ruddock suggests that the goal of the grant would be to determine permitting “project killers” as a start to a larger feasibility study (see Tampa study below).

Would You Like the City of Half Moon Bay to Explore a Coast Skyway Aerial Gondola ~ Downtown to CalTrain Hayward Park?; April 18, 2023

Coast Skyway – What If You Could Travel over Highway 92 Traffic in an Aerial Tram?; October 27, 2022 (100 shares)

A Brief History of Gondolas and Cable Propelled Transit ~ A Possible Transportation Future for the Coastside?; June 30, 2022

An Aerial Tram From Silicon Valley to Half Moon Bay? There Was One from Portola Valley to La Honda in 1900 ~ Why?; June 7, 2022

HMB Parks Committee Visions Gondola/Aerial Tram Idea as a Public/Private Project with Massive Grant Opportunities; May 5, 2022

WATCH the Presentation! How About Building a Gondola From Half Moon Bay Over Hwy 92 to San Mateo?; April 14, 2022

AGENDIZED! How About Building a Gondola From Half Moon Bay Over Hwy 92 to San Mateo?; March 31, 2022

How About Building a Gondola From Half Moon Bay Over Hwy 92 to San Mateo?; June 8, 2021 (362 shares)

---