The Portland Aerial Tram is an aerial tramway planned for Portland, Oregon to connect its South Waterfront area with Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) and the surrounding neighborhood. It is tentatively scheduled for completion in 2006 at a cost of $28.5 million.
The tram will travel 3300 linear feet in a ride planned to last two minutes, 40 seconds. Its upper terminal will be adjacent to OHSU, 140 feet above grade, and connected to the ninth floor of a building on the university's campus. Its lower terminal in the South Waterfront will be the focal point for a mass transit center and development in the surrounding area by OHSU and others.
A single tower will support the tram's cables between the two terminals, allowing the tram to rise 500 feet over Interstate 5.
The tram cabins are shaped and painted to look like "bubbles floating through the sky"; the surface of the cabins will reflect and refract light, minimizing their visual impact to the neighborhood underneath. The cabins will be designed to limit passenger's view of the neighborhood.
External link
- Portland Aerial Transportation website
- No Tram to OHSU website, last updated in 2002