Cable cars in urban transport: Travel time savings from La Paz-El Alto (Bolivia). (March 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Garsous, Grégoire; Suárez-Alemán, Ancor; Serebrisky, Tomás
• Is Part Of: Transport policy. Volume 75(2019)
• Page Start: 171
• Page End: 182
• Publication Date: 2019-03
• Subjects: O18 -- N16 -- R41; Transportation and state -- Periodicals; Transportation -- Rates -- Periodicals; 388
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2017.05.005
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0967-070X

Abstract

Abstract: Recently cable cars have come to be considered as an urban transport alternative in many cities. After the successful implementation of Metrocable in Medellin, Colombia, in 2004, other Latin American cities developed projects to incorporate cable cars as part of their public transport network. The system in La Paz and El Alto is the longest urban cable car network in the world. It connects two geographically complex areas with about two million inhabitants and high rates of poverty. This paper provides quantitative evidence of the effect of the La Paz–EL Alto cable car on users' commuting time, which may have an important impact on many dimensions of people's lives. Because cable cars have only recently been used for urban transit, literature on the subject is scarce. No paper has addressed the case of La Paz and El Alto in Bolivia, as most previous studies have focused on anecdotical information of the case of Medellin. From a mobility survey carried out in La Paz-El Alto, we compare the average commuting travel times of using cable cars (treatment group) over other transport modes (control group). We estimate that travel by cable car cuts commuting times by an average of 22% over other transport modes. This translates into a daily reduction of nine minutes in travel time and an average net benefit of US$0.58 per commute. The effect holds across the distribution of commuting times: No matter how short or long the commute, it takes less time when the cable car network is used. Highlights: Many cities around the world have built cable car networks to improve urban mobility. No quantitative assessment of time savings from cable cars has been made so far. We provide quantitative evidence of the effect of cable car systems on urban mobility. Travel time decreases by 22% on average when commutes are made by cable car. The reduction in travel time translates into a net benefit of US$0.58 per commute.