Bus Rapid Transit Impact on Property Prices: Comparing Two Natural Experiments in El Paso, TX

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has been increasingly popular recently. This study compiles longitudinal house transaction data and carries out two natural experiments in El Paso, TX, to explore the effect of BRT stations on residential property values. A synthetic control methodology, which creates counterfactual groups for identifying matching controls, has been used. Transportation corridors are used as our spatial control pool. The results reveal a significant variation in the impact of BRTs on housing prices even within the same City. It appears that BRT may have greater benefits in lower-income neighborhoods and less popular housing markets.