The short-term land value impacts of urban rail transit: Quantitative evidence from Sunderland, UK

Experience of light rail, metro and other urban rail transit schemes shows they can play a significant role in improving the attractiveness and quality of urban public transport. In terms of the high cost of rail transit systems, land value capture has drawn increasing attention as a result of its potential for funding public transport infrastructure. To evaluate its potential success, it is crucial to examine critically the impact of public transport on land value before approaching the question of land value capture. This paper considers how the introduction of a rail transit system can lead to land value changes using the extension to Sunderland of the Tyne and Wear Metro (UK) as a case study. Changes in land values, specifically residential land prices, have been investigated using residential property prices data from local newspapers. This paper presents a statistical analysis of residential property price change in the vicinity of Sunderland Metro stations together with the results on the significance of land value uplift associated with the Metro in Sunderland. The results are discussed in the context of previous studies of the Tyne and Wear Metro before the Sunderland extension was planned. The paper concludes with a discussion of the reasons for the results.