The deeper and wider social impacts of transportation infrastructure: From travel experience to sense of place and academic performance

Abstract

Traditional transportation planning emphasized the direct economic benefits of transportation infrastructure. While there is a growing awareness of the environmental consequences, social impacts are frequently overlooked due to methodological complexities and political neglect. Although existing literature acknowledges the existence of transportation-related social exclusion, it primarily concentrates on quantifiable and immediate short-term social outcomes arising from improved accessibility and affordability, which facilitate place-to-place interactions and activities. There has been limited exploration of the more intricate and indirect societal impacts associated with transportation. This paper argues that new transportation infrastructure not only affects mobility and travel experiences but also has deeper social impacts on the sense of place. These effects may extend to broader benefits, including academic performance, by influencing place identity, attachment, and dependency, which in turn affect daily activities unrelated to travel. Our study focuses on a university student community (N = 323), a pivotal future workforce, and investigates how the introduction of a new metro line passing through the campus reduces commuting time, subsequently enhancing academic productivity. Employing structural equation modeling method, our analysis reveals that sense of place acts as a mediator between travel experience and student engagement under the influence of transportation mode choice. These findings may have broad applicability in identifying indirect social impacts of transportation infrastructure, thus providing insights for investment decisions.