Halfgrid
We love getting tips and updates on the expanding urban supergondola landscape. We recently had a member of the supergondola community reach out to ask, “What about Halfgrid”? Back in 2022, we were pretty surprised to see the level of coverage the folks at Half Company were getting for their urban aerial transportation concept.
Halfgrid is a pitch for a “fully autonomous transport system for people and goods set on a separate layer above the ground and based on the smallest unit possible - an individual person-sized pod. The system is light and flexible and can be implemented in most mid to large-size cities. Its backbone is a grid of static cables that forms a new layer in the urban fabric. AI-driven individual pods transport people and goods across the network. Users can book transport from A to B via an app, and the system will schedule the trip and determine an optimal route.”
They were definitely speaking our language. The big twist for us was their idea of reducing the cabins down to fit a single passenger. While that had our claustrophobia levels soaring, there was something familiar about this idea. The cable car at the Dolomites has been providing transportation at this scale for years to great success. It takes riders up to the Forcella Sassolungo from Passo Sella. But… they literally call it the “coffin lift” and some people just completely freak out when they are faced with the idea of riding it in person, If you haven’t seen that system, check out the video below:
Clever engineers can design to reduce claustrophobia, and maybe in a less extreme environment those fears would be diminished. And the team at Half Company has a proven track record of executing on clever ideas (more on that below), so maybe it’s time to revisit the concept. This video from 2022 shows off the idea - and no doubt lead to the interest from the likes of Fast Company and other media outlets:
Pretty intriguing. But it’s just a concept… or is it?!? Which brings us back to that recent question, “What about Halfgrid?”
Half Company is no stranger to bold and seemingly wild ideas. They took the concept of their Halfbike through to a wildly successful product. So, let’s not underestimate them. We decided to check in and caught up with Bobby from Kolelinia Ltd - Halfbike’s parent organization. Here’s an excerpt from that exchange:
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SUPERGONDOLA.COM: We love what you’re doing with Halfbike. The success you’ve had made us wonder if you’re secretly doing the engineering work for your Halfgrid concept. How far has the implementation of the idea progressed?
BOBBY: The project is still in its early conceptual phase and to reach a working test version we need to go through several prototypes first. With that said, we're not actively pursuing any development currently. We have plenty of work to do before we're ready to discuss its implementation. We don't have much to share, besides the info we've shared on halfgrid's website.
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We’re not counting Halfgrid out, but we’re also not counting on them to come back around to this anytime soon. We’re cheerleaders for this industry and everyone out there trying. But having combed through the details and regulatory hurdles that all of these companies are dealing with to develop the world’s first urban supergondola, we know Halfgrid has a lot of work to do to figure this concept out. We’re absolutely rooting for them, but this isn’t coming anytime soon as it seems Halfgrid “has left the chat”.
In the end, Halfgrid’s biggest contribution may have been getting the industry to “think small” while thinking big. From what we’ve analyzed, some of that approach might be necessary when you’re trying to fit in a dense urban space.