Segregated Access to Educational Opportunities and the Role of Public-School Transportation Infrastructure
When measuring access to school quality, researchers commonly consider (1) a school district’s school choice zoning policy and/or (2) geospatial factors (e.g., distance, duration, and transportation mode). However, and surprisingly, less explored is the extent to which the transportation services provided by the school district affect access. In this paper, the research team asks: How do school transportation services impact accessibility? Do increases in service provision improve access to school quality? Do increases in service provision reduce segregation of school quality access across racial and economic divides? The team probes these questions through neighborhood level data nationally. The team can thoroughly explore these questions by leveraging the work by (Rich & Sprague, Working Paper). The team builds off this work but shift focus away from school choice zoning policy and toward transportation service provision. Similar to (Rich & Sprague, Working Paper), the team estimates a student-school matching model that incorporates choice preferences conditional upon district zoning policy, school type, and capacity constraints. But here, the team extends the model to include factors of transportation services. The results allow the team to simulate shifts in accessibility due to changes in transportation service provision. That is, the team estimates how transportation service provision affects student-school match rates, translating to changes in school quality access. Further, the team tracks how these changes in access distribute across students, addressing questions of segregation. At a minimum, expected outcomes include preference estimates that differ across levels of district transportation service provision, including changes in travel preferences such as driving distance, driving duration, and walking duration. This is useful for transportation researchers interested in how district transportation services affect the spatial reasoning of a student-school match. More advanced outcomes shed light on the distribution of transportation service impacts, that is, which neighborhoods benefit the most (least) across the nation and how the benefits distribute across socio-economic groups. These findings allow us to determine which socio-economic and infrastructure factors most correlate with changes in school transportation service provision.
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Completed
- Funding: $32970
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Contract Numbers:
69A3551747119
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Sponsor Organizations:
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
University Transportation Centers Program
Department of Transportation
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Managing Organizations:
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
University Transportation Centers Program
Department of Transportation
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Project Managers:
Kline, Robin
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Performing Organizations:
Center for Transportation, Environment, and Community Health
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY United States 14853 -
Principal Investigators:
Gao, H
- Start Date: 20210501
- Expected Completion Date: 20220430
- Actual Completion Date: 20220430
- USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Access; Consumer preferences; Neighborhoods; School trips; Schools; Simulation; Socioeconomic factors; Transportation; Zoning
- Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Policy; Public Transportation; Society;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01759871
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Center for Transportation, Environment, and Community Health
- Contract Numbers: 69A3551747119
- Files: UTC, RIP
- Created Date: Dec 9 2020 3:22PM