2023 Freetown DAT Report - Flipbook - Page 29
Freetown DAT
The Business Case for Recommendations
A cable car system and the related downtown system
improvements can greatly strengthen the areas
directly served by the cable car (roughly the areas
within two kilometers of each station, as shown in the
transportation section), and, through greater mobility
and catalyzing new investment, all of Freetown.
Economic activity includes money that comes to a
community from community exports or spending by
outside visitors who come to the community (“basic”
industries and services) and money that recirculates in
an economy as people go around their daily activities
(“non-basic” industries and services). Because
communities need to import some goods and services
(for example, in Sierra Leone petroleum is a major
import), money is always leaking out (“leakage”) of the
local economy. As a result, some amount of exports,
or basic industries and services, are needed to bring
in new money. In its most simplified form, community
prosperity requires some combination of expanding
basic industries and services and retaining money in the
local economy so it recirculates (“multiplier”) for longer
time periods before it leaks out of the community to pay
for needed imports. Prosperity for all residents requires
that there are some benefits for all community members,
not only investors.
If properly developed, the cable car system and related
transportation and community system improvements
have the potential to help Freetown’s economy in
multiple ways. With Freetown City Council’s extremely
limited ability to make capital expenditures, this
economic help is critical:
First, because a cable car network will make
transportation more efficient, it will lower the total travel
cost (calculated as out-of-pocket travel cost plus the
value of travel time saved). As a result, Freetown will
be able to produce goods and services at lower cost,
making them more attractive to the local population
(reducing money that leaks out of the economy). The
lower cost of Freetown goods from a more efficient
transportation system will also attract those who would
buy Freetown’s exports and make it more desirable
for tourists and returning African and Sierra Leonean
Diaspora visitors (increasing the flow of money into
Freetown). These economic opportunities will generate
new jobs at all levels, one of the most important benefits
for all Freetown residents.
Although a significant number of trips will no longer go
by surface roads and instead use cable cars, a resulting
decongestion will be absorbed by vehicles spending
less time in traffic queues, and of course the cable car
line even at full buildout will only cover a portion of the
city. As a result, the livelihood of those in the transport
sector should not be threatened. Transport is the second
largest employer of Freetown residents, with 85% of
those in informal jobs (source: Frediani, Alexandre
Apsan. 2021. Freetown: City Scoping Study. African
Cities Research Consortium).
Second, because of the lower energy consumption
for cable cars as compared to current travel modes,
Freetown will be less dependent on petroleum imports,
one of its most expensive imports. Diverting some trips
off of surface roads will lesson decongestion and allow
slightly more efficient road transport, further reducing
the petroleum burned by vehicles waiting in traffic
queues.
Third, the related system improvements necessary to
make the cable car system successful and leverage
its benefits will help drive commercial and civic traffic
to downtown and spark new downtown investment.
In creating a more attractive central hub, these
improvements collectively will attract new tourists and
African and Sierra Leonean Diaspora visitors who would
not otherwise have visited Sierra Leone. This will benefit
both higher end investments (e.g., hotels) and, more
critical given Freetown’s extremely high unemployment,
generate a large number of service jobs.
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Fourth, improving the obstacles, or friction, to people
walking near each of the stations, especially downtown,
will lower everyone’s travel costs in those areas, even if
they are not riding the cable car. People will walk some
distance to get to any destination, including a cable car
station before looking for alternative transportation.
This distance people will walk obviously varies with
weather, the health and fitness of the walker, their
income and ability to take alternative transportation,
and, very significantly, the friction or challenges on the
route (such as traffic safety, crime, street trader and
parked vehicle obstacles, sidewalk encroachments, the
ability to cross streets, open and flooding storm drains).
The more that Freetown can reduce that friction, the
longer distances people can walk. Because walking
is almost always the least expensive travel mode,
decreasing this friction lowers everyone’s travel costs
and can help decongest streets. This can be especially
valuable to those who are most vulnerable and have the
least resources.
Fifth, while an argument could be made that all space
in cable car stations not dedicated to the cable car
operation should be rental space to help the system
financially, there are also two arguments for providing
some community benefits. On private property, some
community space for the property owner could both
benefit the owner, making them more willing to sell or
ground lease space, and to reduce the sales or ground
lease. Since the stations should be serving all of the
community, there is also an argument that some space
should be provided to directly serve the community,
and increase community buy-in while reducing the
risks of vandalism. On public property, such as at Kissy
Junction, the cost of providing community benefits is
lower because the land is already available and it is the
least land constrained area of the four station pilots.
Finally, the co-benefits of the project will all have
significant economic benefits. This includes fewer
vehicle crashes for those who replace a portion of their
roadway journey with a cable car journey, any new
community services provided in a station (such as a
library or ATM kiosk), less impact from air pollution and
its accompanying adverse health impacts, easier access
to services, more community pride, and a stronger social
compact.
Some of these benefits could be quantified with
appropriate data (e.g., reduction in petroleum imports).
Even intangibles (e.g. community pride and a stronger
social compact), have a clear, if much harder to quantify,
economic value.
