Paris, France

By 2025, commuters near the Paris suburb of Creteil will have a new way to get to work: the French capital’s first-ever public transit gondola.

The new aerial tramway will be called Cable A, and will link several outlying but populous neighborhoods in Paris’ southeastern suburbs to the terminus of Metro Line 8. Traveling a distance of 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) with five stations along its length, Cable A promises to speed trips from the district into the city center, easing connections between the network of schools, universities, hospitals and public offices scattered across the area.

First proposed in 2008, the gondola line was identified as the most suitable solution because adding conventional public transit links to this region would be complicated and expensive: Not only is the area somewhat hilly, it is also bisected by several highways, a TGV high-speed rail line and tracks leading to a large rail freight depot. Laying a tram line would require extensive engineering in the form of bridges and tunnels.

The gondola, by contrast, can sail above these obstacles, and its land needs are minimal: Beyond station sites, an aerial tramway just requires space for the towers supporting the cables. The electricity-powered mode also won’t add to the area’s air pollution or climate emissions, and by making it easier for commuters to central Paris to access the metro system, it can help with removing cars from the road.