Analysis of the Economic and Social Impacts: Edinburgh Tram Project

This report examines the multifaceted impacts of the Edinburgh Tram project, focusing on its economic, social, and environmental consequences. The analysis begins with an executive summary outlining the project's approval and the rationale behind the extension to Newhaven, emphasizing benefits such as job creation and economic regeneration. The report delves into the construction phase's effects, including income generation from fares and developer contributions, employment opportunities, and GDP growth. It explores the tram's influence on safety, reliability, and accessibility, as well as its integration with land use and its environmental impact. Furthermore, the report addresses the negative impacts, such as noise and air pollution, accidents, and the financial aspects of operation, maintenance, and capital replacement costs. It also discusses the traffic management strategies employed and the changes in land use caused by the project. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the Edinburgh Tram project's wide-ranging effects on the city and its residents.

Name of Student
Unit Coordinator
City/ State

Executive Summary
The recommendations filed in the report, Edinburgh Tram Extension was approved by the City
of Edinburgh Council on 25th June 2015. The report that was presented highlighted recommendations
in relation to moving the project to the next level of project development. According to Outline
Business Case, it concludes that extension of trams line to reach Newhaven was beneficial to the net
economy of the city as a result of employment creation, economic regeneration, growth in population
and social inclusion. There will be also a provision of high capacity public transport spine from
Airport to Newhaven as the city continues developing.
The borrowing cost also needed to be funded by the identified extra resources by the council, this
funding could be done by the revenue from the public transport having no effect on Council revenue
budgets in the short, medium and long-term.
Background
The traffic problems incurred in Edinburgh since 19980s was a considerable factor and building
of tram was well-thought-out to the best solution to do away with the issue of traffic. The ownership
of the car was bottommost compared to the bus but in the last 20 years, the increment of the car and
the bus had been noticed and this led to the creation of congestion in the City more so in roads such as
Princess Street and Leith Walk. The council came up with the various project but as a matter of cost,
they were ruled out leaving only tram as a solution to congestion in the city. A report on 25th June
considered four options where the tram line was to be extended to from York Place
1st option- Newhaven
2nd option- Ocean Terminal
3rd option- Foot of the walk; and
4th option- MacDonald Road
In line with 25th June recommendation, the report is built on the findings of the preliminary OBC
work thus all parties supported the consensus which emerged on the City of Edinburgh Council
(CEC). The CEC allocated the management of the project to their arm- length company Transport
Initiatives Edinburgh (TIE). There was need of parliamentary bill to allow the progress of the project,
later it was approved by the ruling party.

TABLE OF CONTENT
Construction Impacts……………………………………………………………………….1
Advantages of Construction…………………………………………………………………2
Negative impacts……………………………………………………………………………4
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….….9
Reference………………………………………………………………………………..….11

The construction of Edinburgh Tram system had impacts on the following;
i) Income
The income obtained comes from tram fares. The streaming of income depends on the number of
passengers derive from JRC transport modelling work. The growth in tram patronage is shown by this
modelling which comes as a result of an increase in passengers predicting increases at Edinburgh
Airport and intended economic growth in the city (Tros, 2015, p. 337). In Edinburgh train, passengers
use different types of tickets such as Airport cash single, Rid card, cash single, travel cards etc. and in
the current situation, the Scottish government contributes for free bus travel for over 60s and payment
for concessionary travel is paid by the council. Apart from the fare, income from the tram also
includes 7.8m which is the amount contributed by the developer towards the construction of the
extended tram line (Alers, 2005, p. 56).
ii) Employment
Construction of line one runs through some of the most deprived parts of Edinburgh in the north
of the city. The construction of line has shown a direct impact on the local community as a result of
direct employment of the residents while those who were not employed as a result of tram extension,
benefited indirectly by having good accessibility to other jobs (Allsburg, 2015, p. 90).
The line one construction is predicted to generate employment for people living in Edinburgh
equivalent to 65 permanent jobs. There is possibility that secondary effect increases to about 72 or
slightly less than the number of unemployed people found in Edinburgh (Tyco, 2002, p. 162).
Employment will also be generated by the tram system in new development sites in Newhaven,
Grafton, and Leith by those living around the route. The construction led to improved large
accessibility to the large future market in Leith/ Waterfront which will generate job opportunities in
the North Edinburgh SIP area of 35 and 100 new jobs and this is equivalent to 4% to 12% of the total
number of people who are not employed. (Brewster, 2005, p. 78)
iii) Gross Domestic Product
The construction of the tram system has led to an increase in GDP since it created a conducive
business environment to the citizens. The table below shows calculation for GDP in Scotland in the
year 2007 (Brown, 2001, p. 67).

The construction of the tram also improved people’s living standard and brought positive
change to people living around such as;
Revenue
Revenue is mostly obtained from fares, and the income obtained depends on the number of
passengers acquired from JRC modelling work. The growth in tram investment is shown by
modelling due to increase in the number of passengers at Edinburgh Airport. The developers also
contribute a certain amount apart from fare income.
Safety and reliability
As a result of tram extension, the security of the people will rise because the area will be equipped
with CCTV which helps in monitoring every stop made by the vehicle and also designed arrangement
aimed at improving security. To meet this objective, inspectors are applied in vehicles. General
improvement in public transport reliability as a result of the tram is also noticed since they benefit
from greater exclusion from overall traffic and priority at the junctions and this gives an opportunity
to meaningfully reduce the unpredictability of time taken while waiting at the stopping points
compared to a public bus (Cook, 2013, p. 89).
Labour supply
The Edinburgh Tram York place and Newhaven connect top planned and existing employment
destination (Edinburgh Park, City Centre) with Leith corridor consisting of high population density in
the city and major deliberate areas for new housing expansions along Leith towards Newhaven. As a
result of tram establishment, new and existing jobs will be created to new residents thus ensure that
accessibility of labour market is heightened and noticing economic growth. Worse comparative
accessibility made certain areas not to be connected by the tram and made some activities to be
relocated from their initial areas to the tram corridor (Curtis, 2016, p. 87).
Accessibility and Social inclusion
The local community economic growth, competitiveness, and improvement in performance are
achieved as a result of efficient, integrated and high-quality public transport system. People living in
new development areas such as Leith Docks, Waterfront and Granton will access job opportunities
and public transport network which results from the redevelopment of Phase 1b of the tram in
Granton (Theaker, 2016, p. 45).
Phase 1of the tram scheme enhance approachability to a recognized key trip attractions and
destination from a considerable portion of Edinburgh e.g.
 Edinburgh Park/Gayle Centre (Employment/ Shopping)
 Edinburgh Airport ( Transport interchange/ employment)
 Frederick Street junction/ George Street represents the Centre of the city (Shopping,
employment, and Waverley rail station accessibility).
The level of employment, education level and level of economic deficiency attainment exhibit a
substantial difference across the city when the mapping is done (Dimitriou, 2007, p. 123).

Transport and land use integration
The connection of residential developments at Granton and Leith Docks with the Airport, West
Edinburgh and the City centre will be done by the phase 1 of the tram. The second and fourth largest
employment concentration in Scotland is the City centre and West Edinburgh.
In case the I phase of the tram was missing, the new development taking place in North Edinburgh
may contribute significantly more to wide congestion in the city as a direct consequence of the failure
to integrate the land which was used and transport strategies.
Environment
There is need of addressing the effects caused by tram to the environment and try to eliminate or
reduce the adverse effect tram may have by working closely by the CEC Planning Committee to come
up with a complementary solution. There are some targeted areas on the routes which are sensitive
where design work is done to facilitate planning solutions in those particular areas (Duff, 2007, p.
167).
The railway lands which are not used and former landfills site are some areas of contaminated land
along the route. The construction works temporary causes negative impacts on the land and within the
corridor, there are some secured species available such as otters, bats and badgers thus complete
implementation of mitigation measures will be done to ensure that work is done in close proximity.
The contract necessities will guarantee that the last design conforms to the Tram Design Manual.
In phase 1, the environmental assessment carried out shows that positive contribution would be
achieved towards goals of decreased emissions and improved air quality in the air as mentioned by
Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) (Stec, 2015, p. 12).
Negative impact of the construction
The construction of the tram had negative impacts on the environment and people living around;
Noise pollution
Phase One construction, have impacts on the environment of Edinburgh in numerous ways
such as; directly through tram operation past home and other sensitive land uses and indirectly
through the effects of line one on patterns of road traffic movement. The best way to minimize noise
needs to be adopted during construction by the contractor. Some of the effects such as vibration which
also interferes with buildings and those occupying it and wide impacts across Edinburgh could rise
from changes in traffic movement (Gilbert, 2012, p. 78).
Air Quality
The quality of air was affected by the construction of tram indirectly by changing road traffic
pattern and directly from the operation. Since there are some neighbours living along the route there is
need of controlling the noise and dust from the construction. The advantage of the tram is that it is
powered by electricity thus it will not emit any pollutants into the air. Emission from trams results
from the generation of electricity which contribute in the increment of carbon dioxide in the air and
this led to the setting of ambitions to reduce carbon dioxide emission by UK and Scotland and this
will cause a net reduction in the near future (Green, 2016, p. 147).
Accidents and Security
The transfer of cars to the tram by the Edinburgh helped in reduction of accidents in the city,
however, the Leith corridor already has a high public transport mode. A high level of security is

offered by the tram by employing CCTV and passengers help point also the availability of Ticket
Sales Assistants on board and street (Smith, 2008, p. 356).
Operating and Maintenance cost
The details for the current operating costs have been provided by the Edinburgh Trams. There has
been an increment in the tram cost have been uplifted by appropriate inflation indices. Making a
comparison to the 2015 OBC, operating and maintenance cost has increased (Housecroft, 2012, p.
97).
Capital replacement cost
Apart from operating and maintenance cost, tram assets are replaced making the Tram to incurred
capital replacement cost
Taxation
Company. Refining of tax calculations within the model was highlighted in recommendations
made by the Grant Thornton who was a tax adviser also recommended further analysis and work
around the tax efficiency (Klapper, 2016, p. 203)
Traffic management
The construction of existing route and experience gained from other countries such as Europe
and UK helped in adopting a traffic management plan which enables work site to be opened in the
large section. The work is enhanced by providing important traffic management. In the current
situation, city traffic management has been delivered in substantial sections. The proposed traffic
management has the following advantages (Krette, 2001, p. 67).
Land use
The development of 1st phase will cause some changes in the usage of land along the route since the
routes exist along the existing roads. Construction of tram led to;
 Demolition of public houses such as Caledonian Alehouse
 Demolition of unused bridge over the former Rosen burn Railways Corridor
 Permanent development of tram led to the loss of two small areas of new landscaping.
Geology, Soils and Contaminated Land
The contractors provided the best contractors but there was no prediction when it comes to soil or
geology. There was soil disaggregation was experienced during construction work along Roseburg
Railway Corridor. During constructions, materials encountered will be dealt with in compliance with
the existing legislation (Mandri, 2008, p. 99).
Urban Landscape and Townscape
The character of the landscape and how it is experienced are caused by development resulting
from townscape and landscape impacts. In order to allow tram rails construction, the surface of the
street needs to be re-laid along the whole route. Since the shutting down of Rosenberg railway, shrubs
and trees have grown thus changing the landscape.
There is a small effect caused on the townscape caused by the tram such as low platform height hence
resembling a high curb and not a railway platform and large, organized bus stops will be represented
by the large ones (Potts, 2014, p. 55).

Ecology and Nature Conservation
There is direct impact noted as a result of a widened footway along a 250m section of the seawall
at the since the effect will occur when the construction access a strip of the offshore at Wardie Bay
and effects on the foreshore will occur. An important effect on Urban Wildlife Site will be caused as a
result of tram construction since the loss of mature vegetation resulted from the development of tram.
There will be also a significant impact on protected species resulting from the effect on foraging
routes, sets, and areas along the corridor (Pettit, 2015, p. 213).
Water Quality
The water of Leith on existing bridges at Coatbridge is crossed by the project and approval by
the relevant authorities before the beginning of the work. To reduce the impact of flooding and
drainage. The existing drainage regime might be improved by the project and SEPA guideline and
requirements on disposal of waste and effluent are adopted to assist in minimizing risk from
accidental spillage of fuel.
Culture Heritage
The construction of tram led to the identification of cultural, historical and archaeological sites. The
problem will be the principal effect on where these this sites will be located since one listed building,
the Caledonian Ale House will be demolished and identification of mitigation for the sites has been
done and they are predicted to be directly affected (Pettit, 2015, p. 44).
Conclusion
The construction of the tram system is very effective and helpful in many nations since it
creates employment and reduces congestion in the city though it has some disadvantages to the
environment e.g. pollution and people living around

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