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Do people value bicycle sharing? A multilevel longitudinal analysis capturing the impact of bicycle sharing on residential sales in Montreal, Canada

Rania Wasfi
PhD candidate, Department of Geography, McGill University

Abstract:

Many studies have aimed to assess the impacts of major transportation investments, such as freeways expansions and light rail presence on property value. Yet, few studies have attempted to understand the impact of active transportation investments on housing prices. This study attempts to understand the relationship between a new bicycle sharing system and home sale prices in Montreal, Canada. Using multiple sales for units in multifamily housing that are reported in the Multiple Listings Service (MLS) of Montreal between 1996 and 2012 we develop step wise multilevel longitudinal hedonic regression models analyzing this relationship while controlling for various spatial and temporal factors that are known to impact home sales. Our results show that the presence of a bicycle sharing system in a neighborhood with 12 stations serving an 800 meter buffer is expected to increase the property value for units in multifamily housing by approximately 2.7 percent. Policy makers wishing to improve the local urban environment while benefiting from economic gains can work on increasing the availability of bicycle sharing systems as this will likely result in increasing property values, improved neighbourhood health, and a more vibrant urban environment.

Bio:

Rania Wasfi is a PhD candidate at the Department of Geography at McGill University. Her research interest is in health geography, specifically looking at the social determinants of health and the role of active transportation in the production of health. Her research focuses on the role of environmental factors— such as a neighbourhood’s physical characteristics (built environment), socio-economic characteristics and transportation systems— in shaping travel behaviour, physical activity and body weight of urban Canadians, using longitudinal and cross sectional datasets. Rania is starting her Post-doctoral training at the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Universite de Montreal in October 2015. She received her Bachelors in Architectural Engineering from Alexandria University, Egypt and a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning from Portland State University, Oregon, USA. She is a former research fellow at the Institute of Health and Social Policy at McGill University. She has nine publications in peer reviewed journals. Prior to joining McGill, Rania was a research fellow at Oregon Health and Science University and University of Minnesota respectively. Her work during that period concentrated on conducting community environmental assessments for people with physical disabilities and measuring the transportation needs for seniors and people with developmental disabilities.