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Title: Commuter Mobility and Economic Performance in US Cities

Citation Type: Conference Paper

Publication Year: 2016

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Abstract: Rival schools of thought disagree on the impact increased mobility has on metropolitan economic performance. New Urbanist contributions to the discussion typically downplay the supposed benefits, emphasising the drawbacks of autodependency that often accompany increases in mobility. The current study adds to this debate by demonstrating that increased mobility inflates metropolitan median income, while imposing negative consequences for several measures of metropolitan workforce performance, and no clear impact in terms of economic growth. Findings suggest that the benefit to society of marginal mobility investment may well be negative. Prior to this paper, a metropolitan level estimate of mobility’s causal effect on economic and labor market outcomes had not been attempted. Future research should explore the apparent workforce outcomes more deeply and at the neighborhood or individual level in order to identify which subpopulations are impacted most strongly by increases in urban mobility. In spite of the potential for further research there is now strong evidence in the literature demonstrating that capital investment in the pursuit of urban mobility is above the efficient level. The imagined economic benefits of mobility investment have no clear empirical basis.

Url: https://trid.trb.org/view/1483970

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Authors: Tyndall, J

Conference Name: Canadian Transportation Research Forum 51st Annual Conference

Publisher Location: Ontario

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Other

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