UC Santa Barbara

In Chapter 1, I study the impacts of rail transit expansions in 30 U.S. metropolitan areas by comparing changes in commuting patterns for neighborhoods located near newly opened stations to similar neighborhoods that remained more distant. The effects depend heavily on socioeconomic status with below-median poverty neighborhoods experiencing a meaningful increase (1.97 percentage points) in the proportion of public transit commuters. Higher poverty neighborhoods see no change in public transit commuting as increases in rail usage are completely offset by reductions in bus usage. Regardless of poverty rate, these changes in commute mode are not accompanied by commute time savings.

In Chapter 2, I investigate the extent to which public, rail transit can improve employment outcomes of targeted populations by enhancing job access to urban residents. Using a novel, person level panel data set, I exploit changes in rail access resulting from the large number of stations opened between 1968 and 2017 to compare changes in outcomes for workers located near new stations relative to those that remained more distant. I find that the introduction of a rail station within 2 miles of a household leads to a 2.73 percentage point increase in the probability of employment among household heads. The effects appear immediately following a station's opening, but continue to grow in magnitude until stabilizing at an elevated level three years afterward. The results provide evidence that rail infrastructure development can be an effective policy tool in improving the economic outcomes of urban residents.

In a joint work with Jacob Gellman, Chapter 3 explores the impacts of rail infrastructure on residential property values using a comprehensive data set that incorporates all urban rail development throughout the U.S. from 1996 to 2017 to investigate the differential effects of rail development on home values. Prior research documents a positive causal relationship of public rail transportation infrastructure on real estate values. However, the extent of the effect appears to differ considerably both within and across cities based on location, system, and property characteristics. We find similar positive effects of rail development on home values while highlighting this inter and intracity heterogeneity.