The Causal Effect of Crime on Everyday Mobility

• In Event: Poster Session 2

Abstract

Despite extensive theoretical consideration of crime as consequential for individuals’ everyday behaviors and experiences, the impact of local crime on everyday mobility pattern as a social-environmental determinant of everyday mobility patterns has received limited attention. Do crime spikes in routine destinations divert individuals from visiting those places and seek alternative activity spaces? Is the impact uniform across different activity types? How do people react to changes in crime in everyday routines? Is the effect equal across different socio-demographic groups? These empirical questions remain unanswered in the literature. In this study, we use novel longitudinal GPS location tracking data of connected vehicles in San Antonio, TX. With more than 10 million unique vehicle trips during Nov. 2021 and Jan. 2022, we examine the causal effect of crime on travel behaviors across urban neighborhoods.

Author

• Liang Cai, The University of Chicago