Irvine’s massive Great Park could get a system of gondolas to ferry visitors around

It could eventually get easier to navigate Irvine’s massive Great Park — and do it with a view.

Irvine’s Great Park board — composed of the mayor and City Council members — voted, 5-1, to authorize the city manager to begin negotiations with a startup to build a gondola-style transit system to ferry people across the 1,300-acre space.

But the vote came with concerns over what critics said was a lack of transparency and red flags about the project, which if completed, would be the first such public transit system in the country.

 "We've always prided ourselves in Irvine on being first," Mayor Larry Agran said. "I've learned over time that in many cases it's better be second to see what happens first."

Tuesday’s vote means city officials will begin drawing up agreements with Swyft Cities, a company that is yet to have a gondola transit system up and running. Swyft Cities is offering Irvine a one-year trial period worth around $10 million in equipment and services if they are recognized as “the mass transit option for the Great Park.” The money will cover eight gondolas operating between two stations connecting the visitor center and balloon with a planned retail facility, as well as maintenance and operational costs for three days a week. The rest of the time the city would be on the hook.

In their report to the board, officials noted that the elevated cable system “allows the mobility option to overcome traditional pedestrian obstacles that create complexity and cost for land-based transit systems.” Basically, the gondolas will go over buildings and park features instead around them.

But Councilmember Kathleen Treseder and other councilmembers raised concerns about the relatively new gondola company, as well as the lack of transparency in the staff report.

“ If I'm supportive of this motion, it's with an entire red flag on the whole entire thing,” said Councilmember James Mai.

Issues Mai raised included:

• The data in the staff report was from  Swyft Cities without independent verification.
• The report did not contain a  detailed breakdown of long-term operating maintenance and upgrade costs. The city could be on the hook, he said, if the system fails. 
• The system, he added, is proprietary, and Swyft Cities is “an unproven start up.”
• There was no information on what happens if the technology breaks down or becomes obsolete.
• The report did not address if the gondola system can withstand strong winds, earthquakes and high heat. 
• During the initial trial period, the staff report did not address who was on the hook in case of accidents or liabilities.

 ”I'd hope that you guys would take that in consideration because a lot of these are not just about the fiscal issues, it's about safety as well for the residents,” Mai said.

Given that Irvine is only negotiating a contract, City Attorney Jeff Melching told the board there is no exposure to possible liabilities.

Chi also said that Mai’s questions and the issues raised will be addressed in a pending regulatory review.

“If we do move forward, all of that would get taken into account and would be papered over in any agreement that we enter into with an entity to take those issues into account,” he said.

Swyft Cities licenses its gondola system from New Zealand-based Whoosh.

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Courtesy Swyft Cities

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What we know about the gondola system and company

Jeral Poskey, the chief executive of Swyft Cities, said the idea for the gondola public transit system was born at Google when the tech giant was exploring solutions to connect its campus. Poskey worked at Google at the time and was introduced to the gondola public transit system. The system, Whoosh, was pioneered by a New Zealand-based company.

While Google was interested in furthering the project, the pandemic shuttered those plans, and Poskey left to start his own firm and become the U.S. licenser for the Whoosh system.

LAist reached out to Swyft Cities for comment and is waiting to hear back.

The city’s current agreement with Swyft Cities

Chi told LAist the city is currently contracted with Swyft Cities to study the viability of the gondola system. The contract is for around $200,000. And now they will move to implement the system after Tuesday’s vote.

 ”We've been having conversations with the Great Park Board for the better part of the last year, year-and-a-half about Swyft Cities,” he said. “The question really to the Great Park Board last night wasn't, you know, whether or not you approve anything, it was whether or not we want to formally start assessing Swyft and engage contract negotiations for what a system could look like in the Great Park.”