Explaining the “Immigrant Effect” on Auto Use: The Influences of Neighborhoods and Preferences
Immigrants make up a growing share of urban employment and population growth, a trend expected for the foreseeable future. They travel very differently than the US-born, with a greater reliance on alternative modes such as carpooling, public transit, bicycling and walking, even when controlling for demographics and regional built environment characteristics—a phenomenon I call the “immigrant effect.” Reasons for these differences are much discussed but little investigated, largely because data are not available. This study uses a unique and rich dataset to permit a deeper investigation of some hypotheses than earlier research on immigrant work and non-work travel. It looks at two distinct groups of immigrants—US residents born in South Asia and Latin America—using an original survey carried out in New Jersey, along with geographic data on homes and workplaces. Statistical analysis of current work and non-work auto use focuses on small-scale spatial characteristics as well as measures of preferences: residential location criteria, and migration motives. These pathways partly explain the lower reliance on autos by Latin American immigrants, particularly home neighborhood population density, rail and bus availability, and access to grocery stores and restaurants, though controlling for neighborhoods increases the effect for South Asians. Enclave measures are less significant than built environment measures. Preference measures play a much smaller role in explaining the immigrant effect than do neighborhood measures, although those who migrated to the US to join family are somewhat more likely to use autos.
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Supplemental Notes:
- This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADB10 Traveler Behavior and Values.
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Corporate Authors:
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20001 -
Authors:
- Chatman, Daniel G
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Conference:
- Transportation Research Board 92nd Annual Meeting
- Location: Washington DC, United States
- Date: 2013-1-13 to 2013-1-17
- Date: 2013
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: References; Tables;
- Pagination: 23p
- Monograph Title: TRB 92nd Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Automobile travel; Consumer preferences; Demographics; Immigrants; Neighborhoods; Travel behavior
- Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I21: Planning of Transport Infrastructure; I70: Traffic and Transport;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01478782
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: 13-5008
- Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
- Created Date: Apr 18 2013 8:51AM