Activity participation among disadvantaged communities and the impact of an aerial cable car: The case of TransMiCable, Bogotá

In Latin America and the Caribbean, topographical difficulties and urban spatial inequity patterns exacerbate transport complexities and challenges among disadvantaged communities. Aerial cable cars (ACC) have emerged as an innovative transit solution to address these disparities. This study measures the effects of an ACC system on activity participation in a disadvantaged community in the Global South. Using cross-sectional data before and after, we compare the impact of TransMiCable ACC in Ciudad Bolívar with that in San Cristóbal, two neighbourhoods with similar sociodemographic and travel behaviour characteristics in Bogotá, Colombia. Activity participation levels of total, mandatory, flexible, and care activities were measured using an ordered logit model controlled by temporal, neighbourhood, individual, and household characteristics. The results indicate that ACC increased activity participation, which was influenced by the rise in flexible and care activities. Interestingly, females are less likely to participate in care activities in 2019, a trend found to be independent of the ACC's influence. Additionally, the built environment exhibited different scale effects considering the type of activity. For instance, mandatory activities, typically conducted outside the neighbourhood, are more influenced by destination accessibility, whereas flexible and care activities, mainly conducted inside, are more influenced by distance to bus stops, population density, and land use mix. These findings suggest that decision-makers should consider the differential effects of sociodemographic and built environment variables on activity participation to maximise the social benefits of new transit infrastructures.