Mi Teleférico — La Paz–El Alto's Urban Cable-Car Network, With Causal Evidence and Honest Limits

La Paz and El Alto sit about 400 m apart in elevation, joined by a single congested highway. From 2014 the state-owned Mi Teleférico began running aerial cable cars as mass transit, starting with the Red, Green and Yellow lines at a cost of roughly US$280 million; by June 2018 the network had grown to seven lines, and fares were set at 3 bolivianos (about US$0.40) to be competitive with minibuses.
A 2024 study in Economía (LACEA) by Martínez, Sánchez and Yañez-Pagans, using a 2016 survey of 3,575 households and distance-to-station as an instrument, estimates that riders save around 70 minutes of commuting per day, spend more on public and less on private transport, and are more likely to be self-employed (+48%, up to 80% in El Alto). An earlier origin-destination study cited by the IDB found an average 22% travel-time reduction.
The evidence has limits the authors state openly: a cross-sectional design (no difference-in-differences), possible residential sorting, estimates that apply only to proximity-induced users, gains concentrated in El Alto, and no long-run or system-wide equilibrium effects. Benefits exceed costs by a factor of 1.05–2.16 depending on assumptions, so the economic case is positive but not overwhelming. The case is a useful reference for cities with steep topography and fragmented informal transit.

Read the full analysis: https://economia.lse.ac.uk/articles/10.31389/eco.439