Fill the Gap between Light Rail Service and Rider's Move Choice: Evidence from Hudson-Bergen Light Rail

The impact of light rail transit (LRT) service on community is essential for conducting light rail planning and transit oriented development studies, especially since its renaissance in the U.S. from the 1980s. However, the extent to which the effects of LRT service on the livability of a community or the spatial redistribution of residents by various social-economic groups is still inconclusive. Motivated by the belief that the correlation between infrastructure investments and residential location changes has important implications for the planning, design, and implementation of LRT systems, the authors conducted an analysis based on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) rider survey data collected by New Jersey Transit (NJT) in February 2008. The survey results were summarized to find out the socio-economic characteristics of people who moved to the corridor within five years. Then a two-stage sample selection model was formulated to answer the questions: 1) Who move to the LRT corridor? 2) For the movers, how far do they choose to live proximity to the LRT train station? The results indicated that households with small household size, low income, young people and household with few automobiles and children are more prone to move than other household types. Same socio-economic group of people choose to live closer to transit station except that higher income households choose to live relative closer to the train station than lower income households. The results are consistent with the findings of the riders’ socio-economic characteristics from on board transit survey. The results from the study could provide quantitative indicators for planners and developers to design specific housing types, public facilities, and supporting transportation services adjacent to LRT stations or within its market areas for best benefits.