IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/transp/v41y2014i3p441-461.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • 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
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11116-013-9475-4
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11116-013-9475-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David A. Jaeger, 2007. "Green Cards and the Location Choices of Immigrants in the United States, 1971–2000," Research in Labor Economics, in: Immigration, pages 131-183, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    2. Cathy Yang Liu, 2009. "Ethnic enclave residence, employment, and commuting of Latino workers," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 600-625.
    3. Smart, Michael, 2010. "US immigrants and bicycling: Two-wheeled in Autopia," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 153-159, May.
    4. Glaeser, Edward L. & Kahn, Matthew E. & Rappaport, Jordan, 2008. "Why do the poor live in cities The role of public transportation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 1-24, January.
    5. Chatman, Daniel G., 2008. "Deconstructing development density: Quality, quantity and price effects on household non-work travel," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(7), pages 1008-1030, August.
    6. Jarad Beckman & Konstadinos Goulias, 2008. "Immigration, residential location, car ownership, and commuting behavior: a multivariate latent class analysis from California," Transportation, Springer, vol. 35(5), pages 655-671, August.
    7. Evelyn Blumenberg & Michael Smart, 2010. "Getting by with a little help from my friends…and family: immigrants and carpooling," Transportation, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 429-446, May.
    8. Heisz, Andrew & Schellenberg, Grant, 2004. "Public Transit Use Among Immigrants," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2004224e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    9. Maite Blázquez & Carlos Llano & Julian Moral, 2010. "Commuting Times: Is There Any Penalty for Immigrants?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(8), pages 1663-1686, July.
    10. Mark Ellis & Richard Wright & Virginia Parks, 2007. "Geography and the Immigrant Division of Labor," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 83(3), pages 255-281, July.
    11. Steg, Linda, 2005. "Car use: lust and must. Instrumental, symbolic and affective motives for car use," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 39(2-3), pages 147-162.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Michael Smart, 2015. "A nationwide look at the immigrant neighborhood effect on travel mode choice," Transportation, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 189-209, January.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Matsuo, Miwa, 2016. "Gender differences in mobility of Hispanic immigrants," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 209-230.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. K. Bruce Newbold & Darren M. Scott & Charles Burke, 2017. "Immigrant status and commute distance: an exploratory study based on the greater Golden Horseshoe," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 181-198, January.
    2. Michael Smart, 2015. "A nationwide look at the immigrant neighborhood effect on travel mode choice," Transportation, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 189-209, January.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Evelyn Blumenberg & Michael Smart, 2014. "Brother can you Spare a Ride? Carpooling in Immigrant Neighbourhoods," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(9), pages 1871-1890, July.
    6. Chatman, Daniel G. & Klein, Nicholas J., 2013. "Why do immigrants drive less? Confirmations, complications, and new hypotheses from a qualitative study in New Jersey, USA," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 336-344.
    7. 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.
    8. José M. Casado-Díaz & Raquel Simón-Albert & Hipólito Simón, 2022. "Reassessing the commuting penalty for immigrants: new evidence from Spain," Transportation, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 1099-1132, August.
    9. Cathy Yang Liu & Gary Painter, 2010. "Travel Behavior among Latino Immigrants: The Role of Ethnic Neighborhoods and Ethnic Employment," Working Paper 8516, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    10. Zhu, Pengyu & Zhao, Songnian & Jiang, Yanpeng, 2022. "Residential segregation, built environment and commuting outcomes: Experience from contemporary China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 269-277.
    11. Lovejoy, Kristin, 2012. "Mobility Fulfillment Among Low-car Households: Implications for Reducing Auto Dependence in the United States," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt4v44b5qn, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    12. Jun Guan Neoh & Maxwell Chipulu & Alasdair Marshall, 2017. "What encourages people to carpool? An evaluation of factors with meta-analysis," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 423-447, March.
    13. Nielsen, Jesper Riber & Hovmøller, Harald & Blyth, Pascale-L. & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2015. "Of “white crows” and “cash savers:” A qualitative study of travel behavior and perceptions of ridesharing in Denmark," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 113-123.
    14. Miwa Matsuo, 2020. "Carpooling and drivers without household vehicles: gender disparity in automobility among Hispanics and non-Hispanics in the U.S," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 1631-1663, August.
    15. Jukka Heinonen & Michał Czepkiewicz & Áróra Árnadóttir & Juudit Ottelin, 2021. "Drivers of Car Ownership in a Car-Oriented City: A Mixed-Method Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-26, January.
    16. Hellerstein, Judith K. & Neumark, David & McInerney, Melissa, 2008. "Spatial mismatch or racial mismatch?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 464-479, September.
    17. Jixiang Liu & Longzhu Xiao, 2024. "Socioeconomic differences in effect size: predicting commuting mode choice of migrants and locals using a light gradient boosting approach," Transportation, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 1-24, February.
    18. 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.
    19. Bose, Pablo S., 2014. "Refugees in Vermont: mobility and acculturation in a new immigrant destination," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 151-159.
    20. Guizhen Ma, 2019. "Similar or Different? A Comparison of Environmental Behaviors of US-Born Whites and Chinese Immigrants," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1203-1223, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:transp:v:41:y:2014:i:3:p:441-461. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.