Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

This study examines how different policy levers (public transit subsidies, yellow bus services, etc.) play a role in school choice. These data and this analysis are designed to bridge the policy gap between transportation systems designed for working adults and the growing demands of choice-based school systems. We focus on data from Washington, DC, where most public school students do not have access to yellow bus service to school, traveling instead by public transit, car, or on foot. We follow all kindergarten, 6^th grade, and 9^th grade students enrolled in DC public traditional and charter schools from the 2013-14 school year to the 2015-16 school year. We calculate transit and drive times for each student, estimating their typical time to school and its relationship to transfers between schools, both during the school year and between school years. We also look at the correlation between school travel times (and student mobility) and other outcomes, such as test scores and absenteeism rates. As cities continue to expand school choice, they will increasingly depend on transit systems to accommodate longer and more frequent commutes by school-aged children.