Presented by Ed McMahon, ULI Senior Resident Fellow

Surveys show that high-quality infrastructure is a key driver of real estate investment.

Technology is enabling new forms of transportation and mobility. Every change in transportation mobility from horse cart to steam-powered train to street cars to the automobile has had a profound impact on our cities.

The transportation landscape is rapidly changing. Ride-sharing, car sharing, bike sharing, Uber/Lyft, bicycles/electric scooters and autonomous vehicles will have a big future impact.

Columnist, George Will put it this way in a 2016 column: “Like the smartphone which you lived without until about a decade ago and now can’t imagine living without, future mobility innovations will quickly change from unanticipated to indispensable.”

Investments in roads and highways led to auto-oriented development. Investments in public transportation led to transit-oriented development. Investment in bicycle infrastructure is now leading to trail-oriented development.

There are now over 2000 open Rails-to-Trails projects totaling 23, 616 miles. An additional 8,400 miles are planned or under construction. There are also 7,500 miles of parkland bikeways.

Bicycle infrastructure is relatively inexpensive. On average, 1 mile of multi-purpose trail costs 1/20 per mile of 1 mile of city street.  For example, Portland, Oregon has developed a 300 mile network of bike trails, bike lanes and bike boulevards  for about the same cost as 2 miles of urban freeway.

Investments in bicycle infrastructure also have high levels of return on investment.

Trails lead to trailside development. Builders in Dallas, Texas, for example, report up to a 25 percent premium for having their properties back up against the Katy Trail. Property values within one block of Indianapolis Cultural Trail rose 148% in six years, while citywide property values rose only 22%.

A market for bike friendly features exists in both residential and commercial development and is growing. Relatively small investments in bike friendly amenities, can lead to improved returns.

Bicycle-friendly features include bike parking, bike storage areas, easy access, wider hallways, repair stations (tools, air pump and bike stand), showers and lockers in commercial buildings, bike share stations, etc.

Cities that invest in bicycle, pedestrian and micro-mobility infrastructure will be more competitive.