Aerobus is a self-propelled electrically powered bus-like vehicle riding on a suspended overhead cable. The cable arrangement, similar to a

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridges, which lack vertical ...

, allows for long spans of up to 600 metres between pylons. The Aerobus system was invented in the late 1960s by Gerhard Mueller of the

GMD Mueller GMD may refer to: * Ben Slimane Airport, in Morocco * Gambian dalasi, the currency of Gambia by ISO 4217 code * Game (retailer), a British video game retailer * GDP-mannose 4,6-dehydratase, in enzymology * General material designation, in li ...

aerial lift company in Switzerland. The patents to Aerobus are currently owned by Aerobus International Ltd. of

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

Installations

* 1970 – First test track in Schmerikon ( Switzerland) * 1975 – Test track sold and moved to Mont-Sainte-Anne (

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

) where it stayed in operation until 1992. * 1974 New test track in Dietlikon ( Switzerland). * 1975 Temporary installation in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

(

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

) with 8 cars and 2.2 million people transported in six months. * 1992 (not installed) - awarded Phase I planning study funding for

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County is located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, and the 45th most populous cou ...

, (

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

) Regional Medical Center. * 2000 (not installed)– Chinese city of

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Cou ...

awards a contract to Aerobus for a 2.6 km system with three stations that crosses the Yangtze and Jialing rivers in the downtown area, with pylons up to 300 ft high. This was project was apparently cancelled, as the rapidly growing city installed bigger, more costly transit modes instead. * 2007 (not installed)– Final approval for construction of a 4.2 km-long installation carried by eight pylons in

Weihai Weihai (), formerly called Weihaiwei (), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport in easternmost Shandong province. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow Sea to the east, and is the closest Chinese city to South Korea. Weihai's popul ...

( China). The system would connect Liugong Island with the mainland city of Weihei, with a large observation-tower station in the center. According to a company spokesman in early 2009 construction was underway on the $100 million Weihai line, with completion originally scheduled for 2011. However the project seems to have been cancelled or stalled as there are no further reports of any progress. * 2013 (proposal)- Reports indicate that as of August 2013 the company is seeking to sell the system in Quito, Ecuador * Proposed Malacca Aerorail is supposed to use Aerobus technology * Proposed Phnom Penh Skytrain is prefer to use Aerobus technology than AGT

References

{{reflist

External links

Official Aerobus web pageAerobus by Parks corporate videoAerobus container transportation demo videoPromotional video for design of tourist-oriented Weihai Aerobus line & sightseeing tower
Suspended monorails Cable cars in Switzerland Aerial tramways in China Aerial tramways