Minority travel disparities and residential segregation: Evidence from the 2017 national household travel survey

Abstract

This paper uses data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey to examine whether Black and Latino trip makers who live in segregated metropolitan areas are required to make longer duration or longer distance trips than their White and non-Latino neighbors. It finds that residential segregation contributes to Black-white and to Latino/non-Latino travel disparities in noticeable but not always expected ways. For those living in racially segregated metropolitan areas, driving to work and play requires additional time for Black trip-makers than for White trip-makers. For Black tripmakers who take the bus to work or to make social or recreational trips, living in a more segregated metro area is associated with shorter trip times. Latino residents of metro areas segregated along Latino/non-Latino lines take longer to ride the bus or walk to work—but not to drive—than Latino residents of less segregated metro areas.