Can Consumer Information Tighten the Transportation/Land-Use link? A Simulation Experiment

Where people live, work, shop, and recreate fundamentally determines their local travel options. In this study, we use an experimental research design to test how strongly the dissemination of integrated accessibility and housing information influences individuals’ residential location choices. We hypothesize that individuals who receive information about accessibility to transit and accessibility to important destinations in an area as part of each rental unit listing they see are more likely to choose to live in highaccessibility neighborhoods than are individuals who do not receive such information. This research is motivated by the prospect of using information as a policy intervention to allow householders to self-select into areas that facilitate walking, cycling, transit use, and shorter trips generally. Our results suggest two main findings: Providing bundled accessibility and housing information resulted in the selection of preferred locations that were closer to major destinations, as compared to the selections of individuals without access to the information; and individuals in the experimental group selected properties closer to transit lines that serve their destinations than members of the control group. Thus, providing housing seekers with information about their transit options from each unit may influence certain population subgroups to choose more transit-friendly locations than they would otherwise select. Our findings have implications for both the research and policy communities. At the level of public policy, the results suggest that information targeted towards individuals who are relocating can be used to enhance the attractiveness of locations that support multiple travel modes. Transportation and urban planners, health promoters, transit agencies, universities, and other institutions interested in promoting walking, bicycling, and transit use will find our results useful. For researchers, our results provide new evidence about how the connection between transportation and land use can be strengthened through policy attention that focuses on how transportation information can guide locational decisions.