Neighborhood design plays a critical role in affecting auto ownership around light rail transit developments

There is a growing interest in exploring the relationship between auto ownership and rail transit investment. However, gaining insight into this relationship is challenging, as researchers must disentangle the impact of rail transit on auto ownership from the influences of the built environment and residential self-selection. In a new research centered on the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan area, Jason Cao and Xiaoshu Cao examine the effects of light rail transit (LRT), neighborhood design, and self-selection on auto ownership. They find that neighborhood design and residential self-selection influences auto ownership and that LRT does not have an independent impact on auto ownership beyond neighborhood design and self-selection. Their results point to the importance of neighborhood design in rail transit development.