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Explaining the “immigrant effect” on auto use: the influences of neighborhoods and preferences

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  • Daniel Chatman

Abstract

Since immigrants will account for most urban growth in the United States for the foreseeable future, better understanding their travel patterns is a critical task for transportation and land use planners. Immigrants initially travel in personal vehicles far less than the US-born, even when controlling for demographics, but their reliance on autos increases the longer they live in the US. Cultural or habitual differences, followed by assimilation to auto use, could partly explain this pattern; and it may also be partly due to changes in locations and characteristics of home and work neighborhoods. Previous studies have rarely investigated non-work travel, and have not tested workplace land use measures, compared the relative influences of enclave and home neighborhood measures, or looked at the role of culturally-bound residential preferences or motivations for migration. This study relies on a unique and rich dataset consisting of a survey of US residents born in South Asia, Latin America, and the US, joined to spatial information in a GIS. I find that the home built environment is the most consistently influential factor in explaining the lower auto use of both recent and settled Latin American immigrants. Indian immigrants use autos less than would be expected given their home and work neighborhoods. There is little evidence that either ethnic enclaves, or cultural differences, play a role in lower auto use by immigrants. These results suggest there may be a role for neighborhood built environment policies in delaying immigrant assimilation to auto use in the US. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Chatman, 2014. "Explaining the “immigrant effect” on auto use: the influences of neighborhoods and preferences," Transportation, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 441-461, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:transp:v:41:y:2014:i:3:p:441-461
    DOI: 10.1007/s11116-013-9475-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Miwa Matsuo, 2017. "Hidden Costs of Carpooling in Family Life: Travel Behavior of Hispanic Families with Children in the US," Discussion Paper Series DP2017-13, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.
    3. Hu, Lingqian, 2017. "Changing travel behavior of Asian immigrants in the U.S," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 248-260.
    4. Seungil Yum, 2020. "The association between minority racial/ethnic groups and travel mode choices," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 1017-1044, September.
    5. Janina Welsch & Kerstin Conrad & Dirk Wittowsky, 2018. "Exploring immigrants travel behaviour: empirical findings from Offenbach am Main, Germany," Transportation, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 733-750, May.
    6. Matsuo, Miwa, 2016. "Gender differences in mobility of Hispanic immigrants," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 209-230.
    7. Gang Cheng & Shuzhi Zhao & Jin Li, 2019. "The Effects of Latent Attitudinal Variables and Sociodemographic Differences on Travel Behavior in Two Small, Underdeveloped Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-17, March.
    8. Chakrabarti, Sandip & Painter, Gary, 2019. "Geographic mobility of recent immigrants and urban transit demand in the U.S.: New evidence and planning implications," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 71-82.
    9. Hu, Lingqian & Klein, Nicholas J. & Smart, Michael J., 2021. "Comparing immigrant commute travel adaptation across and within racial/ethnic groups," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 112-122.
    10. Rahman Shafi & Alexa Delbosc & Geoffrey Rose, 2023. "The role of culture and evolving attitudes in travel behaviour assimilation among south asian immigrants in Melbourne, Australia," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 1261-1287, August.
    11. Klein, Nicholas J. & Smart, Michael J., 2016. "Travel mode choice among same-sex couples," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 1-13.

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