American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Evaluating the Impact of Urban Transit Infrastructure: Evidence from Bogotá's TransMilenio
American Economic Review
(pp. 418–63)
Abstract
This paper estimates the effects of improving public transit infrastructure on city structure and welfare. It develops a quantitative urban model with multiple worker groups and transit modes, and derives a special case yielding sufficient statistics for aggregate welfare in a broad class of models. The paper estimates reduced-form elasticities to implement the approach using data spanning construction of the world's largest Bus Rapid Transit system in Bogotá, Colombia. This class of models explains observed adjustments in economic activity. Standard value-of-time calculations capture only 52 percent of welfare gains. Accounting for reallocation and general equilibrium effects, distributional impacts are modest.Citation
Tsivanidis, Nick. 2026. "Evaluating the Impact of Urban Transit Infrastructure: Evidence from Bogotá's TransMilenio." American Economic Review 116 (2): 418–63. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20190874Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H76 State and Local Government: Other Expenditure Categories
- L92 Railroads and Other Surface Transportation
- L98 Industry Studies: Utilities and Transportation: Government Policy
- O18 Economic Development: Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
- R42 Transportation Economics: Government and Private Investment Analysis; Road Maintenance, Transportation Planning
- R53 Public Facility Location Analysis; Public Investment and Capital Stock