After obtaining independence from colonial rule, most developing countries embarked on a single-focus programme of road building and have continued such programmes today without considering better options and more economic alternatives. Switzerland, on the other hand, modernised its transportation system using a mix of railways, roads and ropeways. Its balanced policy fostered the development of a judicious blend of transport technologies suitable to specific areas in the Swiss Alps and meeting economic requirements. With government support a robust ropeway industry flourished.
In rugged mountainous terrain, the advantages of ropeways over other means of transport are many. First, they are much cheaper to build, operate and maintain than roads. In addition, they cause negligible harm to the environment. They need much less space than motorable roads and there is no need for parking places. In fact, except for the foundations and supporting steel towers, ropeways do not require much construction work on the ground at all. Since very little earth is moved, mountain slopes are not destabilised as they are when road alignments are excavated. While roads are ugly gashes cut into mountain slopes, ropeways do not mar nature’s beauty. Ropeways, unlike hill roads, do not trigger landslides, nor are they as vulnerable to floods and cloudbursts. They have no expensive bridges to be periodically rebuilt after they are washed away. Because they can be powered by hydroelectricity—a resource abundant in the mountains if a government promotes local investment in decentralised hydropower plants—ropeways do not pollute the air as motor vehicles do. And, critically important for tourism, ropeways are silent.