Gondola may ease traffic woes

A gondola running from the airport into central Queenstown is on a list of options being considered to cope with the resort’s transports woes.

Queenstown Lakes District Councillor Alexa Forbes confirmed the idea had made a ‘‘long list’’ of options being considered as a way to ease traffic congestion.

‘‘It made the list and work is being done,’’ she said. ‘‘There will be investigations into it.’’

It was unclear where exactly the gondola would run but Forbes dismissed talk it would go along the Queenstown Hill ridge line.

A figure had been aligned with the idea but Forbes was not at liberty to disclose it.

A Doppelmayr gondola system cost between about $3 million and $12m per 1.5 kilometres, CNN reported in 2014, and a 2015 proposal for a 9.8km gondola from Remarkables Park Town Centre to the Remarkables Ski Area was valued at $50m.

The distance between Queenstown Airport and central Queenstown was about 8km.

It was far more cost-effective than a monorail, an idea that did not make the long list, Forbes said.

Some Doppelmayrs could move 5000 people per hour at about 30kmh.

‘‘That’s faster than you move down Frankton Rd sometimes.’’

The idea of a gondola ‘‘came out’’ at an integrated transport planning meeting and about a dozen ideas were on the long list including bus and ferry options.

Gondolas were becoming a more common mode of transport in some South American cities, Forbes said, and she would research them on a trip to that continent later in the year. The trip would be at her own expense. She was excited at the prospect. ‘‘. . . I think it would be remiss if we didn’t consider it.’’