A stop too far: How does public transportation concentration influence neighbourhood median household income?

Abstract

Research on US cities has connected the concentration of public transit with various neighbourhood outcomes, but it remains unclear whether public transit was more attractive to lower or higher income households. Some research found neighbourhoods with public transportation were more attractive to lower income households, likely because such households could not afford private transportation. Closer examination suggested that the type of transit was important, as lower income households were more likely to use buses while higher income households were more likely to use rapid transit. A key limitation of existing research on transit and neighbourhood household income was that it did not adequately control for variation over time. The current study addresses this limitation by assessing how the concentration of subway and bus stops predicted variation in median household income in New York City during the 2000s. Results of cross-sectional regressions partially confirm the findings of previous research that lower income households corresponded to areas characterised by higher concentrations of bus stops. Longitudinal results, however, indicate that the concentration of different forms of transit was uniquely associated with changes in neighbourhood median household income, independent of other neighbourhood changes.