Mobilidade urbana e educação: o impacto da expansão do metrô sobre a distribuição espacial de alunos em escolas públicas de Salvador

Abstract

This study used the Differences-in-Differences (Diff-in-Diff) strategy to investigate whether the implementation of the subway in Salvador impacted the number of enrollments in public schools located near the stations. The central hypothesis is that the greater ease and efficiency of access provided by the subway may lead to an increase in enrollments in schools located up to 2 km from the stations (treatment group), compared to those between 2 km and 4 km (control group) in the post-opening period of the stations. The study considers the total number of students per school, between the years 2013 (pre-treatment period) and 2019 (post-treatment period). The results indicated that the isolated implementation of the subway did not generate statistically significant effects on the increase in enrollments in nearby schools between 2013 and 2019. Although the coefficient of the variable of interest was positive in all models, there was no statistical significance, suggesting that the improvement in urban mobility alone was not sufficient to alter the distribution of students in the short term. On the other hand, the research revealed that school infrastructure conditions (laboratories, libraries, covered sports courts) and institutional characteristics (type of management, complementary activities) had a robust and significant impact on the increase in enrollments. Thus, the study concludes that, although public transportation is crucial for mobility, its direct effects on school demand may be associated with other infrastructure factors of the educational units. This reinforces the need for integrated policies between mobility and investments in school infrastructure to promote equity in access to education.