Measuring the impacts of new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on quality of life and cost concerns: A natural experiment in Montréal, Canada

Investments in major infrastructure projects such as Bus Rapid Transit systems (BRT) may be accompanied by fears of gentrification and displacing residents. The fear of being priced out of a neighborhood can cause mental stress to those residing near the new infrastructure, which can have significant impacts on their well-being. The main goal of this paper is to evaluate the perceived impacts of a new BRT system on residents’ perception of quality of life and increasing costs of living in Montréal, Canada. We employ a natural experiment design to analyze these impacts while controlling for potential biases due to changing trends over time. We use a panel dataset at three points in time: before the BRT opening (2019–2021), right after its opening (2022), and one year after its opening (2023). This design allowed us to measure the persistence of residents’ perceptions over time with respect to a control group not living near the BRT. Our findings show that the new BRT system had a positive impact on residents living within a 0.5 km radius of newly opened stations. This positive impact became stronger after one year of operation. Additionally, we found that the BRT resulted in increased concerns about rising costs of living right after inauguration. However, this perception disappeared after one year of operation. The findings in this paper provide relevant insights supporting future BRT implementation, as they suggest long-lasting perceived benefits of a BRT and short-lived concerns and stress.