The Man Behind Toronto’s Cable Car Proposal

The Medellin metrocable, Columbia by dw_globalideas

Recently, a proposal for a cable car system in Toronto was the hot topic around the water cooler. We did a little bit of research, but couldn’t find out much, so we went straight to the source. We corresponded with Steve Dale of Bullwheel International Cable Car Corp., the company behind the proposal, about his history in the cable car industry and discussed why Toronto should have a cable system.

Dale has been involved in the cable car industry for the last five years, working as a planner, researcher, and designer. He says that his partners have decades of experience to offer and that Bullwheel is there way of doing it. In the past, they have worked on a number of projects around the world.

In one of the articles about Dale’s proposal, he was called an “evangelist” when it comes to pitching cable car transit. This is what he has to say about that:

“I think ‘evangelist’ is a bit over the top. I'm very clear in my work that I never claim cable transit systems to be superior to other forms of transit. Cable transit, when implemented properly is an excellent complementary transportation technology. Having said that, our website is the world's most visible resource on the subject matter.”

Splitting the majority of his life between Toronto and Central Switzerland, Dale still finds time to travel to promote the implementation of cable car systems. He has been on every continent, but Central Switzerland remains one of his home bases because the “majority of cable car industry headquarters are centred in the Alps.”

According to Dale, a few other cities that have best implemented cable transit include Barcelona, Medellin, Portland, New York City, and Caracas.

If you read any of the recent articles about Bullwheel’s proposal, you probably saw that Dale called it “purely exploratory.” For that reason, exact details could not be discussed, but we were very curious about the construction process of a cable car system. Dale says that the installation is very brief and can be completed in months without disrupting traffic. What takes the longest is the permitting and legal hurdles that are encountered when working in a big city.

Since Bullwheel’s proposal extends from the Brickworks to the Broadview Danforth area, and overhangs the DVP, we assumed that its main purpose was to alleviate the intense traffic on the highway. According to Dale, that’s not the case: “This system, as a piece of tourism infrastructure, has less to do with alleviating traffic on the DVP and more about creating strong connections. True, this may help alleviate the poor parking situation at the Brickworks, but we see this system as a means to give Torontonians and tourists a chance to connect directly with the valley and the Evergreen Brickworks.”

The last question we asked Dale was ‘why should Toronto have a cable car system?’ to which he responded, “Why not?” - a fair and brief answer. What needs to be taken into consideration when implementing something like this? Perhaps we will find out soon.

So, what do you think about a cable car system in Toronto? Would you use it? Would it attract tourists?