Associations Between Cycling Facilities and Residential Property Values: A Case Study in a Growing Mid-sized City in Canada

Abstract

Cycling is increasingly valued as a healthy active transport mode. Many cities across the world are investing in on-street bike lanes or multi-use trails to support more sustainable travel. When cycling infrastructure plans are proposed, however, local communities often express concern about loss of driveway access, on-street parking and street trees, also asserting that bike lanes will reduce their property values, termed “Bikelash” by planners. Our research examines correlations between cycling facilities and residential property values, applying space–time multi-level hedonic models in Kitchener, a growing mid-sized Canadian city. We consider three types of cycling facilities: (1) on-road bike lanes, (2) separated bike lanes, and (3) multi-use trails. The models use 2013–2018 housing transaction data and compare two types of proximity metrics: distance buffers and network distance. The results present no evidence that on-road bike lanes or multi-use trails in proximity to single-family or multi-family homes reduce property values. These findings can help planners inform the local community of the actual relationship between cycling infrastructure and property values and lower the resistance facing municipalities when making cycling infrastructure improvements.