The Burden of Choice? Assessing the Impact of School Choice on Student Travel and Household Activity in Philadelphia

Abstract

The debate over school choice generally neglects the effects of school choice on student and household travel, and additional work is needed to understand how transportation policies foster educational equity or exacerbate inequity in large urban school districts. This study examines how school choice affects household travel behavior in Philadelphia. School choice creates access to better neighborhoods and schools, but at a cost of increased and inefficient travel. We offer direction for how education administrators and transportation planners can use disparate sources of data to estimate school policy effects and call for improved data collection by local and regional planners.

Publication
SSRN
Jesus M. Barajas
Jesus M. Barajas
Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Policy

Related