The association between residential housing prices, bicycle infrastructure and ridership volumes

City officials and planners have shown increased interest in pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly designs aimed at addressing urban problems such as traffic congestion, pollution, sprawl and housing availability. An important planning consideration is the economic impact associated with existing or planned infrastructure, especially in relation to home property values. In this study, we use measures of infrastructure and ridership to evaluate the relationship between bicycling infrastructure and activity and single-family home values in Tempe, Arizona. We apply a hedonic modelling approach and find that bicycle infrastructure density is positively associated with home sale price, while ridership density around home locations has no significant relationship with sale price. Our results inform discourse related to the potential economic values of residential bicycle infrastructure, especially in areas where property tax is a source of local public finance revenue. We show that the characteristics of bicycle-friendly design may be the same characteristics valued by homebuyers and the resulting increased home sale values may lead to increased property tax revenue in Tempe, Arizona.

Automated summary

This study analyzes the relationship between bicycle infrastructure and single-family home values in Tempe, Arizona, finding that bicycle infrastructure density is positively correlated with home sale price. On the other hand, ridership density around home locations does not have a significant relationship with sale price. The findings suggest that bicycle-friendly design can increase property values and property tax revenue in Tempe.