Understanding the relationships between regional accessibility travel behaviour and home values

Accessibility is a comprehensive measure of the interaction between land use and transportation systems. It has been put forward as a performance-measure for evaluating the land use and transportation performance, transportation plans and projects. However understanding the effects of accessibility on household choices such as travel activity and home location and values has been less studied. In this research paper, we study the effect of regional accessibility on individual travel behaviour, as well as its monetary value in residential property markets. First, accessibility to jobs and workers by automobile is generated for the entire region. Second, the actual activity space of each household in the sample is generated. Using a linear regression, the spatial dispersal and area of the household activity space, as well as the total distance traveled are predicted using the inverse balancing factors of the doubly constrained spatial interaction model of regional accessibility, while controlling for household and neighbourhood characteristics. In addition, residents’ willingness to pay for higher levels of accessibility is measured through a hedonic regression. The models show that households with high levels of regional accessibility to jobs have smaller, less spatially dispersed activity spaces as well as shorter travel distances than those with lower levels of regional accessibility, while controlling for household and neighbourhood variables. In a second model, we found that accessibility has a positive effect on home sale values. This study underscores the importance of using accessibility and activity spaces as performance-measures for land use and transportation planning. It shows the effects of regional accessibility on household choices. These measures will help transportation planners gain insight into travel behaviour, travel demand and help to plan for more sustainable outcomes.

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