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The Roosevelt Island Tramway is an Aerial Tramway in New York City . It spans the East River and connects Roosevelt Island to Manhattan . It is the only commuter aerial tramway in North America. Over 26 million passengers have used the tram since it began operation in 1976. Each cabin has a capacity of up to 125 people and makes approximately 115 trips per day. The tram moves at about 16 miles per hour (28 km/h) and travels 3,100 feet (1 km) in 4.5 minutes. At its peak it climbs to 250 feet above the East River as it follows its route on the north side of the Queensboro Bridge . Two cabins make the run at fifteen minute intervals from 6:00 am to 2:30 am (3:30 am on weekends) and continuously during rush hours. The tram is operated by Interfac on behalf of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of the State of New York (RIOC). RIOC is a state public benefit corporation created in 1984 to run services on the island. HISTORY Historically Roosevelt Island was connected to Manhattan by a Trolley line that crossed over the Queensboro Bridge. Trolleys westbound from Queens stopped halfway the bridge to meet an elevator, which then took passengers down to the island. As the only connection to the rest of the city from the island, the trolley remained in service until 1957, long after most other trolley service had been dismantled in the city, and was the last trolley line in New York State. Beginning in the mid-1970's, Roosevelt Island was redeveloped to accommodate low- to mid-income housing projects, necessitating the construction of a new public transit connection to the city. The trolley tracks had deteriorated too much to be usable and the planned subway connection to the island (the IND 63rd Street Line ) had not yet been completed. The tramway was built in 1976 by the Swiss company Von Roll as a temporary transportation solution to the island. As the subway project fell further behind schedule, the "Tram" became more popular and was converted into a permanent facility. The subway connection to the island was finally completed in 1988. The tram was the last holdout for the use of tokens in the New York City Transit System . Although tokens were phased out in favor of the Metrocard on subways and buses by 2003, the tram would not start accepting Metrocards until March 1, 2004. The fare is the same as that on the subways, US $2.00 for a one way trip. During the 2005 New York Transit Strike , the Tramway was one of the few intra-city public transportation systems still in operation. On April 18, 2006, two trams were stuck over the East River for seven hours, trapping 69 people at about 5:22pm EDT because of mechanical problems. Rescue baskets capable of holding up to 15 people were being sent up to the stranded cable cars at 10:55 with children and elderly going first and each rescue taking about 20 minutes. These baskets also carried supplies to the trams, such as blankets, baby formula, and food, for the remaining passengers. All passengers were expected to be returned to Roosevelt Island in about 6 hours, officials said. It has been announced that the tram will suspend operations indefinitely after the incident. This was the second time in eight months the tram system lost power. On September 2, 2005 more than 80 people were trapped on the tram for over 90 minutes. After that incident state inspectors cited the Roosevelt Island Tramway for not having an operational diesel backup system, called an MG Set System. The State Department of Labor said the system did not pass electrical inspection and could not run when the April 18 power outage took place. The tram continues to be out of service as of April 22, 2006. ACCESSIBILITY AND TRANSFERS The tram is Handicapped Accessible . Bicycles are permitted on the tram as well. In Manhattan the closest New York City Subway station is the complex of Lexington Avenue-59th Street () on the BMT Broadway Line and 59th Street () on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line , with Lexington Avenue-53rd Street () of the IND Queens Boulevard Line and Lexington Avenue-63rd Street () of the IND 63rd Street Line also nearby. On the island the Roosevelt Island "Red Bus" meets the tram and offers transportation around the island for 25 cents. MEDIA REFERENCES The tramway was featured prominently in climatic battle in the 2002 film Spider-Man . The Spider-Man film was not the first appearance of the tramway; the Sylvester Stallone thriller Nighthawks (1981) depicted the tramway as a terrorist target where United Nations delegates were taken hostage. It was used in the opening credits of City Slickers (1991). It also appeared in the 2005 horror movie Dark Water . The tram also figured prominently in the Universal Studios Florida theme park attraction Kongfrontation , which opened in 1990 but was removed in 2002. The ride consisted of passengers boarding a recreation of a Roosevelt Island tram where they promptly came face-to-face with King Kong . The recreation did take certain (necessary) liberties with regard to accuracy--the real trams, for example, do not have seats. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS REFERENCES |
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