Spatial variations of the effects of bus rapid transit on residential property values

Abstract

Public transport investment is normally targeted at increasing accessibility which land rent theory identifies will increase land values. There is clear interest in how much land values increase to establish whether there is sufficient uplift to capture to help pay or contribute to investment plans. Identifying uplift for residential land has been well studied in the context of new light rail systems and bus rapid transit (BRT) systems in developing countries but there is little evidence for BRT in developed countries. This paper has two objectives. First, to examine long term impact of BRT in a developed world context in Brisbane, Australia as studies in Sydney, Australia, suggest little uplift in comparison to developing world contexts but this maybe from its isolated suburban location in contrast to the extended BRT network in Brisbane. Second, to consider the spatial distribution of uplift which is an essential pre-requisite to understanding the distributional impact if uplift is used to contribute to infrastructure provision. Spatial modelling is used to examine the accessibility impacts of the BRT and this is followed by Geographical Weighted Regression, used to examine the spatial distribution of accessibility. The results show there is greater uplift in Brisbane, as compared to Sydney, Australia which is likely due to the greater network coverage of BRT in Brisbane and a relative lack of rail based competition.