Trampe - The World's First Bicycle Lift
This information is from the information folder about the world's first bicycle lift.
- Enjoy it!
Many motorists around the world would really rather use a bike.
As a little push to help them switch we have build the world's first
bicycle lift.
Health and environment campaigns can surly help shape attitudes.
But the bicycle lift is a call to action.
In Trondheim, just like many towns, people work downtown, while theire homes
are situated on the surrounding hills. Rush hour, with traffic jams and
congestion on roads never intended for the modern car, queues, noise and
air pollution - this scene is played out over and over again in one town
after another.
Impatient motorists sit and sit in their cars. Without exercise they endanger
their health while their waistlines expand. What's worse, the most
energetic motorist pay dearly for the privilege of cycling at a health spa.
When their health fails society has to pick up the hospital bills.
Countless campaigns have striven to change the public's attitude to health
and the environment. But bicycles are the perfect answer. Not only do they
provide cheap, fast, environment-friendly transportation, but you get free,
healthy exercise as well! So why don't more motorists become cyclists?
Because of bad weather (we can't do much about that) and The Big Hill on
the way home...
The inspiration for the world's first bicycle lift was the realization
that we often need a little push.
The aim of the bicycle lift is not to prevent people from getting
exercise, but to get more people on their bikes!
When the ski lift was invented doubters were saying "So now people
are going to be towed up the hill instead of getting healthy exercise!"
But what they forgot was that this pulled millions of people who may
never have set eyes on a pair of skies before out on the slopes. And of
cause they are enjoying plenty of fresh air and exercise!
Ski lifts are for recreation time, the bicycle lift is part of our
everyday - our daily ride to work and back, or the downtown shopping trip.
In Trondheim the bicycle lift is just one of many measures to get people
on their bikes. An extensive network of foot and bicycle paths is being build
in residential areas, the town centre and the surrounding countryside.
We are doing everything we can to get as many of the city's inhabitans
as possible to use their bikes more.
The bicycle lift has been developed by Design Management AS (Ltd.) in
Trondheim in collaboration with the Sør-Trøndelag Country division of the
Public Roads Administration. The lift is patent protected, and a great deal
of interest has been shown from other towns in Norway and abroad.
The bicycle lift consists of an underground cableway. You simply rest
your foot on the plate and the lift pushes you up the hill.
As the mechanism is underground it does not obstruct other traffic and being
virtually invisible it blends in perfectly with the street and town picture.
Easy to use:
- When you are going to use the lift you simply place your bike about
four inches from the cubstone and remind sitting on your bike
as it rolls up the hill.
- You keep your left foot on the bike's left pedal while placing your
right foot on the lift's footplate (image of the footplate,
image of the foot in the starting position).
Your body weight is concentrated on your
right leg.
- Insert and then withdraw the plastic key card in the slot and press the
start button.
- The lift will start and gradually build up speed to a normal marching
pace. You start off smoothly and are pushed up the hill through your
outstretched (backwards) right leg.
- You can get off the lift whenever you like, the footplate will merely
continue on its way along the rail. With the right technique the bicycle
lift is easy to use.
Technical principle of the lift. The prototype has been steadily
improved since its inception in the autumn of 1993.
The bicycle lift is an electrically operated underground cableway is an
housing which forms a normal pavement curb up the hill. Footplates are
anchored to the cable at 80 feet intervals. These footplates are concealed
within the mechanism's housing, only emerging when a cyclist inserts a key
card and pushes the start button. The footplates are slanted and thus gently
push the cyclist up the hill. Our special patented system ensures the cyclist
a smooth start.
The control panel is easy to use with clear, illustrated instructions. The
lift takes you at a comfortable speed of 3 to 4 mph. It can carry about
200 cyclist per hour. The prototype in Trondheim is 130 meters long with a
1:5 gradient and can take five persons at a time.
A bicycle lift could easily be several hundred meters long. It can have gentle
curves, and can be installed on hills with normal traffic or in its own lane.
The lift has been approved for unmanned operation by Det Norske
Veritas/Section for Aerial Cableways.
Drawing of the bicycle lift.
The lift can be adapted to just about any hill. Have you any tough climbs
in your town?
One glance at the map will tell urban planners which hills deter people from
from cycling. They may be long and tiring or short and steep. A bicycle lift
is a relatively inexpensive investment compared with many other traffic
solutions. Somethime the bicycle lift may be your ideal solution instead of
building expensive bicycle paths, thus saving the taxpayers' money.
But the major benefit is that more people will use their bicycles. With
creative planning, cyclists can be routed away from heavily trafficed
roads to more safe areas. This is good for cyclists and general traffic
safety. If you would like more information please contact us.
Contact us - we'll be
happy to tell you more about the bicycle lift in Trondheim!
Last modified: Wednesday the 01. of September, 1999
I made this! Jørn Dahl-Stamnes
The aim of the bicycle lift is not to prevent people from getting
exercise, but to get more people on their bikes!
