Journal of Transport and Land Use

Bus rapid transit impacts on land uses and development over time in Bogotá and Quito

C. Erik Vergel-Tovar

Universidad de los Andes

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8645-8685

Daniel A. Rodriguez

University of California at Berkeley

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6550-5518

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5198/jtlu.2022.1888

Keywords: BRT;, urban development, land use, Latin America

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Abstract

Despite the worldwide popularity of bus rapid transit (BRT), empirical evidence of its effects on land uses and development remains limited. This paper examines BRT’s impacts on land use and development in Bogotá and Quito, by using a parcel-level difference-in-differences research design. We estimate a propensity score-weighted regression model of parcel development characteristics in treatment and control areas. In Bogotá, although parcels in close proximity to the BRT are subject to fewer changes in terms of development intensity (changes in built-up area) in relation to parcels in the control area, they are more likely to change uses, shifting toward commercial activities. In Quito, the results are mixed; parcels in one BRT corridor are more likely to be subject to redevelopment, but the parcels in a more recent BRT corridor are less likely to be subject to development activity in relation to parcels in the control corridor. Taken together, our results suggest that changes in land use are important but frequently overlooked impacts produced by BRT implementation. Attempts to capture value from mass transit investments should also consider the ancillary planning decisions required to allow changes in land use.

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Author Biographies

C. Erik Vergel-Tovar, Universidad de los Andes

C. Erik Vergel-Tovar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at Universidad de los Andes. Professor Vergel-Tovar received his PhD in City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the United States. He studied Architecture at the National University of Colombia in Bogota (Colombia) and received a Master’s on Urban Management and Development with Distinction at the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies IHS at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. He participated in the Land Readjustment International Training Course offered by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency JICA in Tokyo, Japan.

Daniel A. Rodriguez, University of California at Berkeley

Daniel A. Rodríguez is Chancellor’s Professor of City and Regional Planning and Associate Director of the Institute for Transportation Studies. His research focuses on the relationship between transportation, land development, and the health and environmental consequences that follow.

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