Gold Coast light rail study helps put a figure on value capture's funding potential

摘要

Value capture actually can work when it comes to funding new transport infrastructure. My research on the Gold Coast light rail provides the figures to demonstrate the size of the gains to nearby land values, which were around 25% of the $1.2b capital cost in stage one of the project. Value capture is the idea that new transport infrastructure can be financed, or at least partly, by increases in land value around the project. It is something Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has promoted and industry experts have come out in support of, but the proof has so far been elusive. To shed some light on the potential scale of such property value gains, I studied the changes in Gold Coast land values following the opening of the light rail project in July 2014.