The effect of subway expansions on vehicle congestion: Evidence from Beijing

Peer Reviewed
1 January 2018

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management.

Does public transportation reduce vehicle congestion? Using a regression-discontinuity framework, we examine the effect of six subway openings on short-run congestion in Beijing between 2009 and 2015. We find that vehicle congestion drops sharply immediately after new subway openings. In our central specification, each of the subway openings decreased delay times by an average of 15% in the short run over the city of Beijing.

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Country
Sustainable Development Goals
Publication | 15 January 2018