[1] In contrast, an aerial tramway operates solely with fixed grips and simply shuttles back and forth between two end terminals.

[2] The capacity, cost, and functionality of a gondola lift will differ dramatically depending on the combination of cables used for support and haulage and the type of grip (detachable or fixed).

The Kohlerer-Bahn opened on June 29, 1908, in Bolzano, South Tyrol, the first modern aerial enclosed cable car solely for passenger service.

[citation needed] In other systems the cable is slowed intermittently to allow passengers to disembark and embark the cabins at stations, and to allow people in the cars along the route to take photographs, such as Lebanon's Téléférique which offers an exceptional view to the Mediterranean, the historical Jounieh Bay and the pine forest at the 80% slope which this gondola lift goes over.

One of the longest gondola rides in the world, Gondelbahn Grindelwald-Männlichen, is in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland and connects Grindelwald with Männlichen.

Cable cars used for urban transit include the Metrocable in Medellín, Colombia and the TransMiCable in Bogotá, Colombia; Aerovia in Guayaquil, Ecuador; Portland Aerial Tram in Portland, Oregon, United States; Roosevelt Island Tramway in New York City, New York, United States; Metrocable in Caracas, Venezuela; Trolcable in Mérida, Venezuela; Cable Aéreo in Manizales, Colombia; Mi Teleférico in La Paz, Bolivia; Mexicable in the State of Mexico, Mexico; Teleférico de Santo Domingo; Yenimahalle-Şentepe teleferik in Ankara, Turkey; Maçka and Eyüp Gondolas in Istanbul; the London cable car in London, England;[5] Nizhny Novgorod Cableway, Russia.

The Metrocable systems in Medellin and Caracas are fully integrated with the public transit network which provides passengers the ability to seamlessly transfer to the local metro lines, whereas the network in La Paz, the largest in the world, forms the backbone of the city's public transit system itself.

The system uses multiple lines and has five stations, and it connects Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios with one another and with several Disney-owned and -operated resort hotels.

[10] In late 2012, a widespread aerial gondola system was proposed for Austin, Texas, in an effort to expand mass transit options in the rapidly growing city.

Gravity is particularly common in mountainous mining concerns, and directly employed; the weight of loaded down-going containers pulling the returning empties back up the slope.

[15] Conventional systems where a single cable provides both support and propulsion of the cabins are often called monocable gondola lifts.