SCJ partnered with Leitner-Poma on a planned gondola in Vancouver, B.C. A regional education and research hub, Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) Burnaby Mountain campus draws 25,000 staff, faculty, and students daily across Metro Vancouver, B.C. It’s also home to over 5,000 residents. Currently, the mountain is served by one of the worst-performing bus routes in the region. At peak hours, commuters can see up to four full buses pass them, doubling their travel time. And in inclement weather, buses are frequently unable to complete the trip up the steep slope, leaving commuters to walk the rest of the way to campus.
With the Burnaby Mountain Gondola planning moving forward, many hope soon to have a faster and more reliable commute option. Cable car system manufacturer Leitner-Poma and SCJ’s Cable-Propelled Transit team have partnered to provide client TransLink, Vancouver’s public transit agency, with technical services for the system. “The project is still in the early planning stages,” said Project Manager Mike Deiparine. “But the scope could easily grow to include more work for SCJ.”
So what was the winning formula? Replicating the approach to the High Roller Observation Wheel project proposal in Las Vegas, Perry Shea, Principal-in-Charge, and Mike helped facilitate the conversation with the project partners. At the same time, SCJ Marketing Manager Cathy McKay did the heavy lifting on creating the proposal. Many Leitner-Poma/SCJ team members also visited community leaders and TransLink staff over the years to discuss the concept, including taking trips to the project area. Another winning factor was the Leitner-Poma/SCJ team’s integration. With experience implementing dozens of projects over decades of working together, our firms have a track record of success that helped turn this opportunity into a win.