Soaring like an albatross above Sydney Harbour comes the latest public transport plan for the city: a cable car teetering between Pyrmont and Barangaroo.
Imagine cabins carrying passengers over the waves, from casino to casino, air sickness bags included. Morning commutes measured in knots. Pigeons fleeing in fear. The Monorail is dead. Long live the Cable Car.
The flight of fancy was proposed by the Sydney Business Chamber at high-profile talks on connecting western harbour to the CBD. "Sydney needs to think outside the square if it is going to manage growth," executive director Patricia Forsythe said. "It is a little bit out of left field."
The aerial tramway might trundle over the harbour from near the National Maritime Museum to Barangaroo, she said, flying by forlorn Monorail stations on the way. "Pyrmont Bridge is basically at capacity because we have so many more cyclists, we do need to look at some other options," she said, before becoming slightly skittish about the idea. "I don't want to be [the cable car's] great champion...We were just floating it out there."
Several ski resorts and major cities already boast their own cable car systems, among them New York, Bolivia's La Paz, Sweden's Norsjo and Albuquerque. Ms Forsythe cited London's aerial tramway over the River Thames, which was built in 2012 and at last count was used by tourists and only four local commuters.
Cable cars have also proved popular in such Hollywood films as Moonraker, Where Eagles Dare and the 1974 telemovie Skyway to Death.
"It's hard to say whether it would be feasible in the Sydney context but it might be one of those things it is worthwhile keeping an open mind about," said Tourism & Transport Forum acting chief executive Trent Zimmerman.
"It is obviously best used where there are difficult terrains that need to be traversed and maybe the harbour would fit into that category."
The Star casino is believed to have considered a cable car across the harbour as part of a $1.1 billion redevelopment proposal in 2013, before opting instead for a lurid pedestrian bridge and "aquatic park".
NSW deputy premier Andrew Stoner reportedly told business groups on Monday that the Pyrmont pedestrian bridge was "at capacity" and that a new bridge could be built from the CBD to the growing western harbour area.
University of Sydney urban planning professor Peter Phibbs said western harbour, which covers Barangaroo, Darling Harbour and Pyrmont, suffered from poor "connectivity" to the CBD. "We live in a harbour city and it is hard to get across those strips of water," he said.
But he doubted whether a cable car would overcome such problems. "They're not really a cost effective mass transportation device," he said.
