Item - 2015.ED3.12

The Economic Development Committee:

1.  Requested the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture, in consultation with appropriate staff, to consider the feasibility of a private tourism infrastructure proposal to link the Evergreen Brick Works with Danforth Avenue via cable car and to report to the appropriate Committee on the necessary process and approvals required to advance the project.

In December 2013, I was approached by representatives of Bullwheel International Cable Car Company, with a proposal to construct a Gondola (cable car) linking the Brick Works with Danforth Avenue (at Playter Gardens). The project would be privately financed, owned and operated, and would require the City's cooperation only in terms of permitting and land leasing to accommodate the station at Playter Gardens.

City Planning met with Steven Dale of Bullwheel International several times last year in order to better understand the project and to determine how best to move forward. From those meetings, the following key project details were revealed:

-           While serving an important transportation function, the Gondola would be run as a piece of tourism infrastructure, rather than as a piece of transportation infrastructure;

-           Bullwheel International is estimating an annual ridership of between 220,000 in the worst case, and 515,000 in the best case;

-           A round-trip fare is currently estimated to cost approximately $10; and

-           The project is estimated to cost approximately $20,000,000 and will be privately financed, requiring no financial contribution from the City.

While City Planning is supportive of the project in principal, they advise that the unusual nature of the proposal means that there is no clear path towards advancing it beyond the proposal stage.