What do we know about immigrants’ travel behaviour? A systematic literature review and proposed conceptual framework

Immigrants make up a significant population in many countries; in some countries as many as 30% of the population was born overseas. An increasing number of studies have found that immigrants are likely to travel differently to their native-born counterparts. But to date the reasons for these differences have been explored disparately across many different countries and contexts, which makes it difficult to determine whether these findings are transferrable. This study aims to develop a conceptual framework of immigrant travel behaviour using a systematic literature review of existing studies. A systematic search uncovered 48 studies of immigrant travel behaviour between 2004 and 2022; nearly half of these studies were published in the last five years. Most studies found that on average, immigrants drove less and used other modes (including carpool) more than native-born counterparts, but that travel behaviour tends to assimilate toward the norm over time. We propose two broad factors that influence this process: direct effects including demographics, attitudes, past travel behaviour and socio-cultural norms; and the role of ethnic enclaves which set the scene for the transport and land-use system experienced by immigrant communities. But all of these factors play out differently against the intersecting background of an immigrants’ country of origin and country of destination. Given this complexity, future research should explore a greater variety of immigrant cohorts and look in greater depth at the past travel experiences of immigrants. If we choose not to consider where people come from, we risk further excluding potentially vulnerable groups as well as potentially missing out on a growing market for more sustainable transport solutions.