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Disentangling the role of cars and transit in employment and labor earnings

Author

Listed:
  • Michael J. Smart

    (Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey)

  • Nicholas J. Klein

    (Cornell University)

Abstract

We examine the relationship between transportation access on the one hand and individuals’ employment and labor earnings on the other. We improve on existing studies by bringing a large national panel data set to bear on this question, attempting to disentangle the mechanisms by which individuals improve their economic standing and, finally, comparing the economic benefits to the direct costs of car ownership. To do this, we use nine waves from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics from 1999 to 2015. We find that access to a car is a strong predictor of future economic benefit for individuals, and that at very high levels of transit access, carless individuals can also fare equally well. Access to an automobile is strongly associated with employment, job retention, and earning more money over time. Though having a car is associated with economic benefits, owning and operating a car is expensive; yet, our findings suggest that the benefits may outweigh the costs for most people living outside neighborhoods with truly excellent transit service.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael J. Smart & Nicholas J. Klein, 2020. "Disentangling the role of cars and transit in employment and labor earnings," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 1275-1309, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:transp:v:47:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s11116-018-9959-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11116-018-9959-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Allen, Jeff & Higgins, Christopher D. & Silver, Daniel & Farber, Steven, 2023. "Are low-income residents disproportionately moving away from transit?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    2. Klein, Nicholas J. & Basu, Rounaq & Smart, Michael J., 2023. "Transitions into and out of Car Ownership among Low-Income Households in the United States," SocArXiv ka6nr, Center for Open Science.
    3. Wendy M. Purcell & Brian S. Feldman & Molly Finn & John D. Spengler, 2021. "Exploring a Culture of Health in the Auto Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-18, April.
    4. Dionissi Aliprantis & Kristen Tauber & Hal Martin, 2022. "What Determines the Success of Housing Mobility Programs?," Working Papers 2022-043, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    5. Blumenberg, Evelyn & Paul, Julene & Pierce, Gregory, 2021. "Travel in the digital age: Vehicle ownership and technology-facilitated accessibility," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 86-94.
    6. Allen, Jeff & Farber, Steven, 2020. "Suburbanization of transport poverty," SocArXiv hkpfj, Center for Open Science.
    7. Da Silva, Diego & Klumpenhouwer, Willem & Karner, Alex & Robinson, Mitchell & Liu, Rick & Shalaby, Amer, 2022. "Living on a fare: Modeling and quantifying the effects of fare budgets on transit access and equity," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    8. Yan, Xiang & Bejleri, Ilir & Zhai, Liang, 2022. "A spatiotemporal analysis of transit accessibility to low-wage jobs in Miami-Dade County," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    9. Singer, Matan E. & Cohen-Zada, Aviv L. & Martens, Karel, 2022. "Core versus periphery: Examining the spatial patterns of insufficient accessibility in U.S. metropolitan areas," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).

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