| The primary objective of this thesis is to measure, through empirical analysis, the social and economic equity of the distribution of urban transportation services. The analysis examines the impacts of personal transportation system benefits from highways and public transit on owner-occupied residential property values for metropolitan Atlanta. Emphasis is placed on the spatial distribution of these benefits by income class, race, and urban location. It is theorized that there is a benefit differential between income classes and racial groups, as well as between city and suburb, which promotes a locational shift of capital that is destructive to urban centers both economically and socially. The lack of urban service delivery equity is by no means a new proposition. There is little empirical evidence, however, of the degree to which it occurs within an urban area as measured from a benefits perspective. Measuring the disparity of such urban policies helps to identify deficiencies in infrastructure administration and provide the basis for appropriate policy changes.; The hypothesis that the benefits of personal transportation system access are oriented to higher income, predominantly white, suburban zones is tested by first measuring the capitalization of transportation benefits into residential property values using hedonic price analysis. This method uses multiple regression to estimate the implicit price or demand for property attributes such as the delivery of public services, environmental quality, neighborhood conditions, and site improvements. The estimated locational benefits of personal transportation accessibility, holding other determinants of site value constant, are compared to household characteristics to estimate the incidence of these benefits. Personal transportation benefit levels are not uniformly distributed to households throughout the urbanized area of Atlanta. Results of the analysis indicate that spatial biases exist where net benefits are systematically higher for residential property in predominantly high income, white neighborhoods. In addition, transportation cost redistribution alternatives to overcome benefit inequities suggest that in order to equalize benefits across households, more than just a change in pricing will be needed. |
