Study of the Effect of the Transmilenio Mass Transit Project on the Value of Properties in Bogotá, Colombia

Abstract

The new commercial and housing developments around the TransMilenio Bus-Rapid-Transit System (BRT) of Bogotá indicate that accessible to the system generates benefits for adjacent properties that must be reflected in the prices of land and buildings. This paper contributes to an understanding of the impact of TransMilenio on the price of adjacent properties. It uses Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to compare selling prices of buildings in two areas of Bogotá that are homogeneous with respect to their urban and socioeconomic characteristics except that one of them has access to TransMilenio and the other does not. We find that properties located in the TransMilenio area of influence enjoy a “premium” that is reflected in their value of between 5.8% and 17% for residential buildings. We believe that determining and quantifying these impacts will enable the national and local authorities to design mechanisms to help them to obtain additional resources for the expansion of TransMilenio.

Keywords: Bus Rapid Transit System, Accesible, Benefits, Prices Land, Impact Evaluation, Propensity Score Matching

JEL Classification: R40, R42, R49