Property Values and Transportation Facilities: Finding the Transportation-Land Use Connection

Abstract

This article reviews empirical studies of the relationship between transportation facilities—highways, heavy rail, and light rail transit systems—and property values. The main objective is to develop an explanation for inconsistent results presented in this literature over the past several decades. Results from these studies vary based on whether travel time or travel distance is used as a measure of accessibility. When researchers measure access to highways and rail transit in terms of travel time, study results usually indicate the expected inverse relationship between access to transportation facilities and property values. When studies use travel distance as a measure of access to transportation facilities, results tend to show mixed property value effects. The delineation of study areas also appears to influence the direction of results. This article offers a new interpretation of the transportation facility-property value literature that improves our ability to measure this relationship and to anticipate land-market responses to transportation facilities.