Living Near Good Transit May Make You Happier

from The Atlantic Cities:



Jason Cao, a transport policy scholar at the University of Minnesota, has conducted a short but tidy study that demonstrates just what good public transit can mean to a person's life. His findings, in a word: satisfaction.

Cao focused his research on the Hiawatha light rail line in Minneapolis (lately called the Blue line instead). The line runs 12 miles between the downtown area and the Mall of America, carrying travelers to major sports stadiums, entertainment districts, and the international airport. Weekday ridership has already exceeded predictions for 2020 by 30 percent.

That's some good transit. The key question, in Cao's mind, was whether it was so good that it had a measurable impact on the well-being of people who live nearby.

Cao sent questionnaires to households in the Hiawatha corridor. Respondents rated the quality of transit in their area (namely, service quality and accessibility) as well as the quality of their lives (how satisfied they were). To form points of comparison, Cao sent the same survey to residents of four other corridors: two in urban areas with transit but no light rail, and two in suburbs with similar demographics but no transit. ......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2013/09/living-near-good-transit-may-make-you-happier/6867/