Multimodal Accessibility and the Capitalization of Realized Access by Car and Transit in Housing Prices Across Canada

Although the transportation accessibility benefits afforded by multiple transportation modes play a fundamental role in determining transportation costs and land prices, there are challenges associated with isolating how multimodal accessibility benefits are capitalized into property values. In response, this research extends calibrated gravity-based measures of potential accessibility to employment by car and transit to include mode share proportions for commuting to reflect how this accessibility potential is realized. These realized accessibility measures capture not only the presence but also the performance of different modes for facilitating commuting trips. Spatial econometric models examine the extent to which access is capitalized into property values across Canada’s twelve largest metropolitan regions. Results suggest that car and transit access potential is generally valued across most cities, although there is evidence of moderate multicollinearity between the unweighted car and transit access potential scores. In contrast, the origin and destination mode use weighted measures of realized access offer advantages in terms of model performance and interpretation. These models show that premiums are generally linked with trade-offs between car and transit access, with the highest overall premiums found for properties in locations with the highest levels of transit access and transit use for commuting in most cities.