Car use is critical to improving access to opportunities, especially for low-wage immigrants whose jobs are dispersed and when transit service is minimal. But many states have restricted the ability of undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers licenses, making it potentially difficult for them to improve their economic standing. The effects of these laws have been tested for their association with traffic safety but not on mode choice itself. Using the two most recent versions of the National Household Travel Survey, I fit a series of difference-in-difference models to estimate the effect of permissive immigrant driver licensing on travel outcomes. Permissive licensing increased the rate of giving rides by about 13% and increased the rate of getting a ride by about 6.5%, but changes to driving alone were insignificant. Results suggest permissive licensing has beneficial accessibility impacts for all immigrants in addition to the positive safety and economic externalities documented elsewhere.

汽车的使用对于改善获得机会的机会至关重要，尤其是对于工作分散且运输服务最少的低薪移民而言。但是许多州限制了无证移民获得驾驶执照的能力，这使他们可能难以提高经济地位。这些法律的影响已经过测试，它们与交通安全相关，但没有针对模式选择本身。我使用《国家家庭旅行调查》的两个最新版本，拟合了一系列差异模型，以评估宽松的移民驾驶执照对旅行结果的影响。允许的许可将乘车的比率提高了约13％，将乘车的比率提高了约6.5％，但仅凭驾驶进行的更改就微不足道了。