We in Pittsburgh know how cool the Inclines are. Now, maybe the rest of the world will get clued in.
Atlas Obscura, one of the web’s neatest travel sites, has released a list: 18 of the World’s Most Wondrous Public Transportation Options.
“One of the greatest ways to experience a new place is also one of the simplest: take public transportation,” Atlas Obscura’s Eric Grundhauser writes. “Riding a bus or subway is a wonderful way to explore a destination both inexpensively, and like a local. But as terrific as first-rate mass transit can be, all over the world you can also find public transport options that are experiences in and of themselves.”
The site put it to its readers to suggest some unforgettable public transit options.
Among the options that made the cut is Pittsburgh’s own Monongahela Incline.
“When I was a student at Pittsburgh’s Art Institute (1973-1975),” writes Altlas Obscura user alanrogers250. “I rose on the Monongahela Incline, one of TWO funiculars to get up to the top of Mount Washington. It’s a great place to view Pittsburgh’s wonderful downtown.”
We couldn’t agree with you more, alanrogers250. (Or, can we call you 250?) It’s a beautiful ride.
The Mon Incline was one of several funiculars on the list. Funiculars, of course, are a mode of transportation that uses a cable to move two cars up and down a steep incline.
Grundhauser is obviously a fan of the cable ride, writing “If you truly want to travel in style, remember this one simple rule: always ride the funicular.”
Also on the list is West Virginia University’s PRT system.
Of the transit option, user thinhtien writes, “I have had the opportunity to travel on a lot of cool systems like the Eurotrain, but the most unique was the Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) installed at West Virginia University in 1975. I used it during my time as a student and then some. It consisted of a small driverless vehicles zooming around on semi-enclosed concrete tracks. A really forward-looking system considering the date. What’s more amazing is that it is still in use to this day.”
The list includes entries like the St. Charles Streetcar Line in New Orleans, the Metrocable, in Medellín, Colombia, the Roosevelt Island Tramway in New York, and the crazy Elevador de Santa Justa in Lisbon, Portugal.
The website’s mission is to share some of the most incredible and awe-inspiring places and foods from around the world — many of which are submitted by a vast community of users.
