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Whereas ground level travel often met with obstacles -- steep slopes, rivers and thick growth -- the highway in the air was unencumbered! The first humans were forced down from the trees when forests disappeared but always missed the freedom of the open skies. When woven rope became an improvement upon thick vines as a means of transportation, humans looked back to the sky. They saw the rope, and what could be hung from it as their ticket to unimpeded movement and went from moving hand-over-hand to suspension in bags, baskets and boxes until a few wheels were added, along with a haul rope as a companion to the carrier rope. As with the vertical elevator, improvements were made in the strength of rope, the running gear and the cabins. Finally, with the advent of steam and electrical power, drive machines and controls provided aerial transportation that allowed as many as 150 passengers in a cabin to conquer mountains and assure scenic views unavailable to the high-flying aircraft or the wandering balloon. In time, the continuous movement of small batches of two to a half dozen passengers offered swift transportation within sports venues -- conveyors in the sky!
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