The Cost of Convenience: A Hedonic Approach to Travel Time Valuation and Cost‐Benefit Analysis

ABSTRACT This paper presents a novel revealed‐preference approach to estimating the value of travel time (VTT) and calculating consumer surplus for the economic evaluation of transport infrastructure. Departing from traditional stated‐preference models, we derive time valuations by linking residential rental transactions in Greater Sydney to employment accessibility. We estimate a hedonic price function that controls for unobserved amenities and spatial sorting, recovering VTT estimates consistent with current cost‐benefit analysis practice. Furthermore, we leverage the non‐linearity of the price gradient, as well as cross‐market variation in the price gradient, to perform a second‐stage regression without instrumental variables, recovering the structural demand function for accessibility. This allows us to quantify welfare changes from non‐marginal accessibility shocks, demonstrated on the Sydney Metro West project, grounding project appraisal in revealed spatial behavior.