I have been a fan of urban gondolas since I visited a traditionally based one in Brest.
This innovation of the concept in Sharjah is a very impressive advancement that can be practically applied to many municipal contexts.
One of the many benefits of sky pods, is the minimal footprint the infrastructure requires, as compared to roads or rail. With Smart systems and apps integrating such a solution to other public transport, this can be an amazing addition to mobility innovation. Arguably it can be faster to implement that rail and can provide a secure chanel for point to point needs.
Specific problems such as crossing existing infrastructure and providing burst capacity for events could be solved, at least in part, with this clever solution.
Sustainability being a key metric all initiaives should be measured by, urban gondolas can score well as they are powered by electricity and can act as an extension to public transport, while also allowing for control of motor vehicles in a given zone.
In terms of social or cultural benefits, urban gondolas can provide attractiveness, excitement and uniqueness to an experience such as park and ride. Additionally it can be a way of creating unique view points safely, bridges and roadside parking coming with their own risks.
Source: Hussain Al Mahmoudi