Traditional gondola systems - the kind we most commonly think of being used in ski resorts - operate like a clothesline. All of the cabins are essentially clipped to the line and to move the cabins you rotate a giant bull wheel that moves the cable and, as a result, moves the cabins clipped to the cable. 

Traditional gondolas are based on centuries old technology and can be a bit inefficient. For example, if you only need to move a few cabins, because of a lower number of riders (like during a slow time of day), you still have to move all of the cabins - even if most are empty.

Also, for all practical purposes, traditional gondolas can only go in straight lines. If you want more options you can “connect” them - but realistically this requires making passengers exit and switch to a new cabin on the next straight line at a hub. Some more recent innovations allow for massive turntable platforms that slowly rotate the cabins over to the next line where they can clip on again. That is usually pretty slow and requires a lot of energy use.

Because of all of that, a lot of the major players in the gondola industry are attempting to re-invent the “cableway” for the modern urban era. A few upstart innovators are joining the race as well.

What they are trying to do is combine the ride hailing convenience of services like Uber and Lyft with self-driving, autonomous cabins that can move around a branching network of possible destinations. And they are trying to do it largely on a suspended cable network above the streets.

So that’s essentially it. If your gondola cabin can function as a “self-driving Uber gondola” - taking you on a continuous personalized trip, then it’s a supergondola. And if you found a gondola system that can do that… let us know.