Transport Round-Up
TRANSPORT
FIRST OPEN-TOP DOUBLE-DECKER ROPEWAY CABIN
Peaking at 1,898 m (6,227 ft) above sea level, the
Stanserhorn mountain in Switzerland offers a dramatic view
of the Alps that includes 10 lakes and even, on a clear day,
neighbouring Germany. And there can be few better ways
to enjoy it than on the 6-min 24-sec journey in the open-
top “CabriO” cable car. The upper deck can accommodate
up to 30 people – provided they have a head for heightsǴLARGEST BUS RETROFIT PROGRAMME
The double-decker bus is an iconic symbol of the city of
London in the UK. Now its distinctive bright-red fleet has
turned green. In Jul 2014, the city’s transit department,
Transport for London (TfL), embarked upon an extensive
retrofit programme for its older buses. The exhaust systems
on 1,015 buses, travelling on 50 different routes, are now
equipped with a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SLR) system
that reduces nitrogen oxide emissions. TfL aims to increase
the programme to include 1,800 of its buses.HIGHEST PASSENGER
ROPEWAY STATION
Visitors riding China’s Dagu
Glacier Gondola are taken
on a 3-km (1.8-mi) journey
from green forests to the
apex of a snowy mountain
top boasting beautiful
glacial views. Each gondola
is designed to take eight
people, with journeys
lasting under 10 min. The
summit terminal’s location,
at 4,843 m (15,889 ft)
above sea level, may
leave passengers literally
gasping for air. Visitors can
catch their breath at what
has been called the world’s
loneliest café.At any given time, there are 60,000 people
flying in the skies above the USA.Longest continuous road
Australia’s Highway 1
circumnavigates the whole
country via a network of
fully interconnected roads.
Its total length is 14,523 km
(9,024 mi), making it
3,500 km (2,175 mi) longer
than its nearest rival, the
Trans-Siberian Highway.
More than a million people
travel along at least part
of Highway 1 every day.
It passes through every
state in the country.
The longest one-way
road is also located in
Australia. The M2 Southern
Expressway in Adelaide,
South Australia, has a total
length of 21 km (13 mi). Built
to ease congestion on the
Main South Road, it runs
northbound into Adelaide
city in the morning before
switching to southbound
in the afternoon.Longest straight road
Built originally as a private
road for King Fahd (SAU),
the stretch of Highway 10
connecting Highway 75
in the Haradh area to
Highway 95 in the west
of Saudi Arabia is 240 km
(149 mi) long. It cuts
through the desert with no
bends left or right, or any
appreciable gradient up or
down. The super-straight
stretch has an estimated
driving time of around 2 hr.MOST CROOKED ROAD
Originally constructed in 1922, Lombard Street in San
Francisco, California, USA, would give an ancient Roman a
heart attackǴ Over the course of a famous 400-m (1,312-ft)
stretch between Hyde Street and Leavenworth Street in
Russian Hill, the red-bricked road follows eight hairpin turns
that twist a total of 1,440ƻ. Traffic can only move one way
along Lombard Street – down the hill’s steep 1:3.7 gradient –
and there is a 5-mph (8-km/h) speed limit.Longest network
of roads
According to the latest
available figures in the
CIA World Factbook, the
USA had 6,586,610 km
(4,092,729 mi) of graded
roads in 2012. India had
the next longest road
network, with 4,699,024 km
(2,919,838 mi).Oldest functional
traffic light
Designed by Teddy Boor
(USA), a four-faced signal
with a rotating red-and-
green lamp was installed on
the corner of Main and Long
Streets in Ashville, Ohio,
USA, in 1932. It continued
to operate until 1982, when
it was transferred to the
town’s museum. The traffic
light still works today.Steepest street
Located in Dunedin, New
~ealand, Baldwin Street
rises a total of 69.2 m
(227 ft) over its length of
350 m (1,148 ft). The street
has an average gradient
of 1:5, with a true gradient
near the top of 1:2.86. It is
laid with specially grooved
concrete to enable cars to
grip the surface.Shortest street
Ebenezer Place in Wick,
Caithness, UK, measured
2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) long when
measured on 28 Oct 2006.
That’s about half as long as
a Volkswagen Beetle car,
or approximately a quarter
the length of a London
Routemaster bus.Longest bus route
Operated by Peruvian
company OrmeÊo, the
world’s longest bus route
measures 6,200 km
(3,852 mi) – around
14 times the length of
the Grand Canyon –
and connects Lima in
Peru to Rio de Janeiro
in Brazil. Known as the
Transocenica, the route
takes passengers through
the Amazon and the Andes
on a 102-hr (four-plus
days) trip. The bus climbs
to the dizzying height of
3,500 m (11,482 ft).Lombard
Street has
featured in several
iconic films, including
Alfred Hitchcock’s
chilling Vertigo
(USA, 1958),^
Bug The Love
(USA, 1968) and
even the animated
Inside Out
(USA, 2015).