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Does public transit spread crime? Evidence from temporary rail station closures

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  • Phillips, David C.
  • Sandler, Danielle

Abstract

We test whether public transit access affects crime using a novel identification strategy based on temporary, maintenance-related closures of stations in the Washington, DC rail transit system. The closures generate plausibly exogenous variation in transit access across space and time, allowing us to test the popular notion that crime can be facilitated by public transit. Closing one station reduces crime by 5% in the vicinity of stations on the same train line. Most of this effect remains after controlling for decreased ridership, indicating that a decrease in the availability of victims does not drive most of our results. We find suggestive evidence that crime falls more at stations that tend to import crime, i.e. stations where perpetrators are less likely to live. We also see larger decreases at stations on the same line when the transit authority closes stations that tend to export crime. These heterogeneous effects suggest that the response of perpetrators to increased transportation costs contributes to the decrease in crime.

Suggested Citation

  • Phillips, David C. & Sandler, Danielle, 2015. "Does public transit spread crime? Evidence from temporary rail station closures," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 13-26.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:52:y:2015:i:c:p:13-26
    DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2015.02.001
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    6. Laila Ait Bihi Ouali & Daniel J. Graham & Alexander Barron & Mark Trompet, 2020. "Gender differences in the perception of safety in public transport," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 183(3), pages 737-769, June.
    7. Dustan, Andrew & Ngo, Diana K.L., 2018. "Commuting to educational opportunity? School choice effects of mass transit expansion in Mexico City," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 116-133.
    8. Gabriel Ahlfeldt & Volker Nitsch & Nicolai Wendland, 2016. "Ease vs. Noise: On the Conflicting Effects of Transportation Infrastructure," CESifo Working Paper Series 6058, CESifo.
    9. Wagner, Gary A. & Komarek, Timothy & Martin, Julia, 2017. "Is the light rail “Tide” lifting property values? Evidence from Hampton Roads, VA," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 25-37.
    10. Borges Ferreira Neto, Amir & Nowicki, Jennifer & Shakya, Shishir, 2021. "Do Public Libraries Help Mitigate Crime? Evidence from Kansas City, MO," MPRA Paper 111073, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Spader, Jonathan & Schuetz, Jenny & Cortes, Alvaro, 2016. "Fewer vacants, fewer crimes? Impacts of neighborhood revitalization policies on crime," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 73-84.
    12. Moreira, Gustavo & Ceccato, Vania, 2021. "Testing theft transmission in and around São Paulo metro stations, Brazil," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
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    14. Fe, Hao & Sanfelice, Viviane, 2022. "How bad is crime for business? Evidence from consumer behavior," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    15. Twinam, Tate, 2017. "Danger zone: Land use and the geography of neighborhood crime," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 104-119.

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