Professional Ropeway Consultants for Aerial Gondolas, Cable Cars and Tramways:

ROGER GARDNER  Principal of ECO-Transit. Gardner provides expert aerial cableway planning and feasibility study services, specializing in technical and economic cableway studies, specifications development and cost estimating. Roger founded Eco-Transit and has 40 years experience as an operator, designer, executive, and project manager in urban and attraction gondolas, cable cars, telefericos and funiculars. He had primary responsibility for setting up the first engineering and manufacturing facilities in North America for two prominent European ropeway manufacturers. He has a wealth of experience in both urban oriented and attraction aerial cableway design, operations, planning, environmental integration and construction. He also has extensive experience in station oriented development for urban gondola systems. Roger started his career at Telluride Ski Resort in the operations, planning and construction departments. He then moved into the aerial ropeway engineering and manufacturing sector, holding management positions with U.S. subsidiaries of major international cable car manufacturers. Subsequently, he became the North American President of another worldwide aerial cableway manufacturer before founding Eco-Transit as an independent consultancy for urban and recreational lift systems in 2004. Mr. Gardner has authored numerous technical and economic feasibility studies for urban development that focus on aerial cable cars and urban gondolas as public transit systems and tourism attractions. In his carreer, Mr. Gardner has been directly involved with the planning, design, project management, and construction of over 100 ropeway systems and aerial cableways worldwide.

ROSS STEVENS, PE Consulting ropeway engineer. Ross is a recognized expert professional engineer for all types of urban and recreational aerial cableways, tramways and funiculars with 40 years of experience in planning, engineering, inspection, and certification in the aerial cableway industry. Ross is a certified aerial tramway and lift inspector in multiple U.S. States and Canada. Mr. Stevens possesses specialized skills in civil, structural, and mechanical engineering with specialized focus in the recreational lift and aerial cableway industry. He has consulted for numerous engineering teams in preparation of engineering design and feasibility studies for public, private, and international clients and numerous aerial cableway and funicular planning, design, project management, construction, commissioning and certification projects. Mr. Stevens has been an active member of the ANSI B77 Standards Committees for passenger tramways and funiculars for 40 years and has served as the chairman of numerous technical subcommittees on the National Tramway Standards Board. Over his distinguished career, Ross has also been a featured speaker at NSAA conferences and trade shows and has further served on OITAF International Ropeways committees for ropeway safety and standards development.

ANDREA MAROCCHI, P.E. / PhD  Consulting ropeway engineer. Andrea provides ropeway structural and mechanical engineering and planning consulting for aerial cableways with a variety of public and private clients and has 40 years experience in feasibility studies, design engineering, safety standards and project management for aerial cable systems, funiculars and gondolas. Mr. Marocchi is an acknowledged expert for resort, industrial and urban transit ropeways. Marocchi has many tramway industry project references in Europe, North America, Japan and Korea. He has assisted regional governments in planning and programming of cable car public transportation systems; and he was special consultant to the 2006 Winter Olympics for their ropeway and gondola transportation systems. For five years he was a registered engineering consultant responsible for assessment of the European Ropeway Safety Standards by appointment of the European CEN Codes Organization. He has been a technical adviser and consultant to several European ski resorts and the manufacturers Doppelmayr, Garaventa, Leitner Lifts, and CCM Lifts. Andrea is a frequent speaker and technical paper presenter to international standards organizations, such as OITAF, concerning International Codes' conformance to recognized tramway and gondola safety standards.

JOSE GUILLERMO DEYA, P.E. Consulting ropeway engineer. Jose provides specialized electrical planning and engineering, and as a native of Puerto Rico, is fluent in English and Spanish. Mr. Deya received his professional training and engineering degrees at Tulane University in the United States and has over 25 years of experience in teleferico aerial ropeway systems engineering, funicular installation, and vertical elevator design. He is an expert in the system design, planning, construction, and maintenance of aerial ropeways and elevators. Mr. Deya has extensive knowledge in project management, budget planning and system's operations and maintenance. In 2011 Jose founded the company, Caribbean Ropeway Advisors, and served as project manager for the installation of a Doppelmayr 8 passenger teleferico system in La Marquesa Regional Park, PR. In 2012 to 2015, Deya teamed with ECO-Transit for the design and feasibility study of a 12 passenger teleferico to service Olde Towne San Juan, and a system to service the municipality, sports stadium and beaches of Aguadilla, PR. In 2019 / 2020 Deya was the project manager and certifying engineer for a large incline ropeway system being installed in Puerto Rico at Conquistador Resort for transportation between the three levels of the hotel, condominium and marina complex. Jose has also been active in planning and proposal efforts in El Salvador, Panama, and in Santo Domingo, DR for the inspection services for Linea Uno of the MetroCable teleferico, and construction and inspection services proposals for the future Linea Dos.

MICHAEL ACIERNO Consulting business development specialist. Michael provides financial analysis and business planning consulting for urban aerial ropeways and has 30 years of experience with startup and emerging growth companies in the transportation, infrastructure, and financial sectors. Michael was a founding director of First American Railways, the parent company of the groundbreaking Florida Fun-Train and has provided ongoing financial consulting services for the Durango & Silverton Railroad in Colorado. He held the position of VP of Corporate Development with North American Mag-Lev / Transrapid, which was recognized by the State of Florida for the intrastate High Speed Rail program. Transrapid developed and operated the first commercially viable MagLev transportation system in the world in Shanghai, China. Mr. Acierno has worked on various P3 structured, public / private partnerships for transit / infrastructure development and has worked extensively with government transportation agencies including the City of Miami, Miami-Dade County, Broward County, the City and County of Denver, and others in North America.

DAVID WILSON Consulting construction and maintenance specialist. Dave provides analysis and planning for aerial ropeways as a highly regarded expert for inspections, construction, operations and maintenance for resort cableways and aerial transit gondolas with over 35 years of experience constructing, operating and maintaining ropeways for resorts, lift manufacturers and public agencies. While working at Alyeska Resort, AK, Dave had the responsibility for bringing all the company’s lifts up to Code as well as the construction of several new high speed detachable chairlifts and a modern 110-passenger aerial tramway. Most recently, Dave was Lift Manager for Vail Resort for 10 years with full responsibility for the operations and maintenance of 30 chairlifts and 2 gondolas at Vail. Dave provides real world / real time, knowledge to feasibility study clients and the resort and urban gondola industry. Dave is a certified Tramway Inspector, a member of the ANSI B77 Standards Committee, a member of the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board, and former President of OITAF-NACS International Ropeways Organization.

MICHAEL WEISE Consulting operations and maintenance specialist. Michael provides study and planning expertise with 40 years of experience in the construction, maintenance and inspections of ski lifts and aerial cable transit systems. Michael started his career in lift operations at Squaw Valley, CA and then moved to Copper Mountain, CO as Lift Manager in charge of all construction and maintenance for 25 ski lifts. Weise continued his career in aerial ropeways as a construction manager with the lift manufacturer Yan Ropeways installing chairlifts in the US and Canada. Mike was then hired by the lift manufacture Leitner Lifts in 1998 as a project manager and moved his way up to General Manager in charge of US operations; when Leitner merged with Poma in 2002, he continued with the new company, Leitner-Poma, in charge of after sales service, administration of maintenance contracts, and annual inspections of L-P lift installations. Mike is an ASNT certified inspector for NDT of aerial ropeway components, a member of the CPTSB and member of the NSAA Ropeway Standards Committee. Most recently Mike was a project manager for the major rebuilding of the Roosevelt Island Tramway in 2010 and has provided inspection services to New York State for the tramway after its recommissioning.