Degree Year

2018

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Economics

Advisor(s)

Ron Cheung

Keywords

Road quality, Public services, Road maintenance

Abstract

This paper examines what impacts road improvement patterns in San Diego, with a particular focus on how the income or racial demographics of an area may effect the area's roads. There are also, however, several other types of variables that are examined to understand how road maintenance is distributed across the city. The analysis covers a four year period from 2011 to 2015 and uses an Overall Condition Index number to assess the roads. Three linear models are run, and some of the key findings include: areas with a higher income generally have better roads; racial demographics don't impact road quality; areas that are densely populated with businesses have better roads; and roads near the international border are also generally better off. The results of this paper are specific to San Diego and cannot be generalized to other cities, however the results do offer an important look into the world of road maintenance and encourage questions such as what does it mean to have a fair distribution of road maintenance?

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