That really only could work in a place like Frisco or Seattle. If they just built it into the design of the streetcars it would have been brilliant. Good work Norway.

This could get rather interesting with a rope, and perhaps a person you don't like.

so what happens if your foot happens to get lodged in front of the thing

haha... this thing is awesome, I hope the US will look into importing this.

WTH no video......thats wack!!!

WOW! It's like one of those car wash push along things but for feet instead of tires. If only it came with turtle wax....

I'll refrain from commenting about the fact that this is really just a post about a powered uphill wedge and is only minimally gadgety at best. But it's still cool!

I could see this being set up in San Francisco, possibly using the cable car lines. The problem that would arise would be the inevitable rise of the "Critical Mass" against the cable cars. The bicyclists, of course, claiming the cable belonged to them in the first place and then attacking random mothers in vans again.

Then again, I think the US is entirely to lawsuit happy for this device to make any kind of appearance.

Then again, I think the US is entirely to lawsuit happy for this device to make any kind of appearance.

Sad but true.
That's a huge hill.

Haha knowing me I'd screw it up lose my footing and tumble into the person behind me. :/

People probably do slip up now and again, but after a crash, they help each other up and dust themselves off and continue on their way. Americans don't think like that. Unless they make it big enough to push a Suburban up the hill, it wouldn't get much use.

To build on Vince77's relatively accurate analasys of American culture, no American city would even consider installing a liability like this in this day and age.

Imagine the law suit from all the first-timers scratching their tootsies on the pavement while trying to use this with sandals...

vince77

Dude, you're absolutely right! Americans would just continue to run over those that get in their way by obstructing their pathway! Americans are so arrogant! They always think that they are in the biggest baddest country on Earth. I mean how did such a self-centered group of people get to be so powerful in the first place?

Come on man, don't go making generalizations like that. It's insulting and a childish. Just like the comments above.

FYI - no one calls it Frisco. Only the tourists. No offense.

I'm sure someone in America must have thought of this before. Of course then the oil companies realized they couldn't charge us for it so they squashed any chance of it coming to fruition.

Oh wait - that's EVERY SINGLE Alterna-transpo idea ever imagined.

Damnit! That's it, ban me! I'm being a bit overzealous...

I love the kid just standing on it to ride up hill sans any other convience. My favorite, though, is Mom with one foot on the stroler and the other on the lift. Moms already work too hard.

if it's going to be installed in the US, it's gonna need a lot more powerful motor to haul alot of fat ppl. i bet it's gonna get jammed few time a week

You know where they really need something like this?……ski resorts. but with full blown chairs.

Surprised no-one's made the obvious comment yet: this would be great for wheelchair users.

One thing I DO like about the US is that handicapped people here seem to get out and about a lot more. At first I was wondering why there seemed to be a higher percentage of - excuse me - literally - retards, but then I realized that it's because people here aren't ashamed of the "special" members of their family and friends as Asians tend to be.

Not in this "Alway someone else's fault" country?
Someone would got hurt, intentionally or not , then suit government for millions.

It would be ++awexome for hauling the drunk riders back up to the top for the start of the next heat at the annual Lombard Street Big Wheel Rally. Gavin Newsom, install this most excellent invention on streets of San Francisco post-haste. Drunken big wheel riders need it desperately.

the cables in san fran actually move -- there's no motor in the cars (thank you, discovery channel).

so all you need to do is find some way of clamping onto the cable in the street, give yourself some kind of clutching mechanism (like the big lever in the streetcar) and you're golden. free ride!

"I'm sure someone in America must have thought of this before. Of course then the oil companies realized they couldn't charge us for it so they squashed any chance of it coming to fruition.

Oh wait - that's EVERY SINGLE Alterna-transpo idea ever imagined."

It's more likely that the mass transit bureaucrats simply can't figure out how to build one for less than $50 million, with $20 million of the cost going toart funding.

a) this is great
b) this will never happen in the US because too many lawyers convince too many people to sue someone
c) sooner or later everyone in the United States calls San Francisco by the name of "Frisco", except people that live in San Francisco*
d) when it comes to nick-names used for their city, people from Frisco have a stick up their butt

* people that live in San Francisco will occasionally refer to it as "Frisco", until someone with a stick up their butt tells them that "only tourists do that". then they will put a stick up their own butt and wait until they hear someone else called it "Frisco" so that they can tell them that "only tourists call it that".

The simplicity of the device will be lost when the lawyers take a crack at it. the device will be complicated with all kind of safety harnesses that it would look similar to a cable car.

ps : the locals call it 'the city' and not frisco

Lombard Street
Bill Cosby was right about that street.

Beautiful town.

Hey, if you can call Boston "Beantown" I can call San Fran "Frisco"

Please don't call Boston "Beantown..." Thats much worse.

That's ok, the nickname for New York is "That Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy".

@FlaminYawn

No, actually that really is it's "Christian Name".
It's nickname is #@$!%^$!!@#&&!$!@.
But I just call it home.

One of the best things about Scandanavia is the hope of so many beautiful women. Part of that beauty is the athleticism created from hiking up those hills.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j1PgmMbug8

Found a video, thought that might help things a bit.

I have used this "lift"(twice) when I lived nearby, its not working most of the time. Its not really practical and kind of hard to use, thats why there is still only one in the world (this was built in 1993).