Skip to main content

Free report asks: can land ‘value capture’ help fund transit projects?

The Mineta Transportation Institute in the US has released its newest research report, Decision Support Framework for Using Value Capture to Fund Public Transit: Lessons from Project-Specific Analysis. The research investigates the viability of land "value capture" (VC) to help generate revenue for transit provision. Five VC mechanisms are evaluated in depth, including tax increment financing (TIF), special assessment districts (SADs), transit impact fees, joint developments, and air rights. The report incl
May 11, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The 5277 Mineta Transportation Institute in the US has released its newest research report, Decision Support Framework for Using Value Capture to Fund Public Transit: Lessons from Project-Specific Analysis. The research investigates the viability of land "value capture" (VC) to help generate revenue for transit provision. Five VC mechanisms are evaluated in depth, including tax increment financing (TIF), special assessment districts (SADs), transit impact fees, joint developments, and air rights. The report includes policy recommendations. Principal investigators were Shishir Mathur, Ph.D., and Adam Smith, MUP. The free 200-page report is available as a %$Linker: External 0 0 0 oLinkExternal PDF download here Decision Support Framework for Using Value Capture to Fund Public Transit: Lessons from Project-Specific Analysis Report false http://www.transweb.sjsu.edu/project/1004.html%20 false false%>.

"This report reviews five VC mechanisms ¬and evaluates the performance of each one through numerous case studies using several criteria," said Mathur. "These criteria include enabling legal environment, stakeholder support, institutional capacity, revenue yield, revenue stability, and equity. We also developed a decision-support matrix to help policy makers, local governments, and transit agencies decide which mechanism or which combination of mechanisms would meet their needs."

He noted that the US federal government has reinforced the need to integrate land use with transportation and to provide public transit. However, fiscal belt-tightening at all levels of government has made it more urgent to identify alternate funding sources for public transportation. He said funding transit is especially difficult because transit typically requires large subsidies. Value capture is one possible funding source. Based on the benefits received principle, VC captures public infrastructure-led increases in land value.

Related Content

  • June 12, 2014
    CHAMP final workshop
    The European Cycling Heroes Advancing sustainable Mobility Practice (CHAMP) project will come to an end in September 2014. The final workshop takes place in Gent, Belgium on 11-12 September. The CHAMP project brings together leading cities in the field of cycling. Within the project, they have looked at innovative ways to further boost cycling in their cities and enhance local policies. CHAMP has developed and tested a performance analysis tool, building on self-analysis as well as peer review by ot
  • June 28, 2013
    Polis issues position paper on open transport data
    The Polis Traffic Efficiency & Mobility Working Group has been working on the topic of open transport data for more than eighteen months, with the aim of sharing information among Polis members on local experiences of publishing transport data, lessons learned and future plans. Polis has now issued its position paper, detailing the knowledge shared and the insight gained into the fast evolving area of open data, which has enabled it to produce informed recommendations to the European Commission in relation
  • March 16, 2017
    London conference looks to MaaS future
    Transportation experts from across the globe converge on London for ITS International’s MaaS-Market Conference on 22 and 23 March. Reading international transport and technology experts will gather at a major conference in London next month to debate a revolutionary overhaul of their transport systems by developing Mobility as a Service – or MaaS – operations.
  • April 24, 2013
    ITS America appoints new technical editor
    ITS America has chosen Dr John Miles as technical editor for a new web-based resource on ITS. With funding from the US Department of Transportation (USDOT), the society plans to publish in mid-2014 in partnership with the World Road Association (PIARC) on the latter’s website.