Two approaches to valuing some of bicycle facilities’ presumed benefits

This article reports the results of two different approaches to valuing some of what are thought to be benefits of bicycle trails and lanes. First, an adaptive stated preference survey is used to measure how much travel time individuals are willing to spend to obtain particular features of on- and off-street bicycle facilities. These findings indicate that bicycle commuters in Minneapolis and St. Paul prefer bicycle lanes on existing streets over off-street bicycle trails, and also prefer them over streets that have no onstreet parking but lack designated bicycle lanes. Second, I used home sales data to learn the effect of bicycle trail proximity on home value.
Though proximity to bicycle facilities is valued differently for different types, it actually significantly reduced home value in suburban locations. Suburban home values were most reduced by proximity to roadside trails, which also reduced home values significantly in the cities. Proximity to other types of bicycle facilities in the cities did not significantly affect home values.