2023 Freetown DAT Report - Flipbook - Page 12
Freetown DAT
Sierra Leon’s transit system is popular but consistently overcrowded.
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The Likoni commuter ferry in Mombasa, Kenya.
connected to downtown except by motor vehicle. Much
of the market for the cable car would benefit from a
short, non-stop ferry to downtown, especially given the
dense population and activity near the Kissy Ferry and
nearby commercial port. Private ferry services could
blossom and ultimately expand connections to serve
the airport as well as tourist destinations like Tasso and
Bunce islands.
A Comprehensive Mobility Corridor
Lagos, Nigeria operates several BRT lines and continues to expand (Source: The Guardian).
Envisioned as a multi-modal corridor that promotes
walking and biking to cable car, bus and ferry stations,
the pilot cable car alignment can be seen as much more
than a stand alone attempt to solve specific commute
problems. It can begin a transformative approach to
how Freetownians get to work, education, medical
appointments, family, entertainment and more. An
approach that focuses on aerial, ground and water
transit, along with safer and more convenient walk and
bike access, will garner much broader support, ridership
and optimism.
At the most fundamental level, this begins with better
walking connections to each cable car station and along
the transit priority corridor. Every person, whether using
a car, bus or other mode, begins and ends their trip on
foot. Making basic improvements that make walking
safer in Freetown will result in reduced congestion,
simply by making transit systems more easily accessible
to more people. In the corridor map shown here, true
walk boundaries or “isoclines” that depict the 10-minute
walkshed from each station along existing streets are
shown. This boundary assumes a slower speed of only
2.5 feet/second, because many factors delay what would
be a 3.5 feet/second speed for the average person,
including road crossings without crosswalks, missing
