From carrying 2000-plus people an hour in either direction between the CBD, Frankton and the airport, it would now carry 3000 an hour.
Southern Infrastructure chief executive Ross Copland said that was equivalent to a 50-seater bus departing every minute in each direction.
"We believe it will be very popular and we should sort of future-proof it for that potential future growth."
Mr Copland — whose cable car/gondola plans were first revealed by Allied Press in January — confirmed the trip between the CBD and airport would take about 20 minutes.
For this first stage there would be 10 passenger cabins with plenty of room for bikes, prams and wheelchairs, he adds.
The proposed route is from the council’s Boundary Rd carpark, beside the CBD, up to a Queenstown Hill station, along to a Lake Johnson station, down to the planned new Frankton bus hub, then on to the airport.
Mr Copland, the Infrastructure Commission’s former chief executive, said "we’re engaging strongly with landowners — we’re sort of ticking that off in largest to smallest-type order".
They were also working with stakeholders such as the council to see what services the stations should provide, "whether toilets and showers and cycle lockers and things like that".
As for timetabling, he would like this stage up and running by late 2028, coinciding with the renewal of local bus contracts with the Otago Regional Council (ORC) and the chance to tie in with its schedules.
"That’s a pretty aggressive timetable, so we need a few things to go our way.
"But it probably means we would need to look at a fast-track type process for our resource consent.
"It’s very fast to build, 18 months, and there’s very few capacity upgrades you could do that can deliver that much capacity for that cost in that short a timeframe."
As for funding streams, he estimated $200million for stage 1. But that would be influenced by whether the government approved a regional deal with the Queenstown and Central Otago councils and the ORC, he said.
Although he has also said they would proceed regardless.
His business partner is local tech entrepreneur and philanthropist Rod Drury — "our intention is he’ll assist with the capital raise for the project".
Mr Copland remains committed to low-cost fares depending on what subsidy they get.
In further stages the cable car would run to Ladies Mile, Arthurs Point and the southern corridor.
Amanda Robinson, co-founder of active travel lobby group The Lightfoot Initiative, fully supports the project.
"Lightfoot’s vision is for Queenstown Lakes to be world-leading in shared and active travel by 2035."
"To achieve this we need a convenient, cost-effective, low-emissions mass rapid-transit option to move people around Queenstown."
