Prof. Eun-jin Shin Presents the Direction of the U.S. Transportation Policy Evaluation

- Suggests the comprehensive evaluation regarding commuters benefits program

- Published the paper in the August issue of the Transport Policy

Eun-jin Shin, a professor of the Graduate School of Governance at SKKU, said she published a paper in the August issue of the Transport Policy under the theme of “The Spillover Effects of Commuter Benefits”.

Many companies around the world have paid various commuting expenses (e.g., parking, public transportation, and bus service) for the convenience of commuting. Interest in the influence of transportation subsidies has been increased, especially in recent, as some large U.S. cities have introduced policies requiring large corporations to subsidize commuters’ expenses for public transportation to reduce traffic volume and air pollution.

In response, the research team studied the effects of benefits on employees’ non-commuting travel behavior and their household members’ travel behavior, unlike previous studies that focused solely on how the commuter benefits affect the employees’ commuting mode choices.

The research team found that the commuter benefits have a significant impact on workers’ use of vehicle. In particular, the availability of commuter benefits makes workers drive less not only for commute, but also for non-commute purposes. Moreover, it demonstrates that the commuter benefits reduce not only the workers’ use of vehicle but also the workers’ household members’ use of vehicle.

Prof. Shin said “Although this study result came up based on Seattle cases, because the Seoul Metropolitan Government has also implemented a corporate transportation demand management policy that reduces congestion charge when large corporations operate programs to reduce employees’ use of personal vehicles since 1995, this provides important political implication for Korea. Yet, the research that fits Korea’s reality is required since Korea’s traffic culture and system are different from big cities in the U.S.”

※ Title: Commuter benefits programs: Impacts on mode choice, VMT, and spillover effects
※ Original Journal: Shin, E. J. (2020). Commuter benefits programs: Impacts on mode choice, VMT, and spillover effects. Transport Policy. 94. 11-22.