Public transit commuting among U.S. immigrants: The role of English skills

Abstract

Using 2021 5-year American Community Survey, we empirically examine the effect of English proficiency on public transit ridership among immigrant commuters. To solve the endogeneity problem of English proficiency, we employ an instrumental variable strategy designed based on the interaction term between the age at arrival and non-Anglophone linguistic origin. English skills have a mixed role in explaining commuters’ travel behaviors: On the one hand, immigrants from English-speaking countries are more likely to commute by public transit than those from non-English-speaking countries. On the other hand, controlling for countries of origin, there is a moderate, negative association between English proficiency and public transit commuting among immigrants. Such an association is spatially heterogeneous: the association is statistically significant only in counties where public transit is a common commuting option.