RESEARCH PAPERS ARE PRELIMINARY MATERIALS CIRCULATED TO STIMULATE DISCUSSION AND CRITICAL COMMENT. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE INDIVIDUAL AUTHORS. WHILE RESEARCH PAPERS BENEFIT FROM ACTIVE UHERO DISCUSSION, THEY HAVE NOT UNDERGONE FORMAL ACADEMIC PEER REVIEW.
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems have become increasingly common in US cities. BRT stations provide a local amenity by improving transportation options for local residents, but may also represent a local nuisance due to noise or displacement of other road users. We estimate whether BRT is priced into local real estate by studying a recently opened BRT project in Vancouver, Washington. We use a difference-in-difference method with both hedonic and repeat sales estimators to test for a price effect. We estimate a 5-7% price premium for homes located within a 20 minute walk of a BRT station. Overall, BRT generated new real estate value that exceeded the project’s construction costs by a factor of six. We discuss how government could leverage future residential property value increases to fund construction of BRT projects.
Published: Tyndall, J. (2023). The effect of bus rapid transit on local home prices. Research in Transportation Economics, 102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2023.101370