Research

In Delhi, India, a significant gender gap in college education persists, partly due to the lack of safe and reliable transportation. Since most students commute daily, access to transportation is a critical factor in their college enrollment decisions, typically made at age 18. This paper investigates the impact of access to the Delhi Metro- a vast public transit system which provides reliable and safe transportation to millions of people daily- on women’s college enrollment and completion rates. The metro is equipped with CCTV cameras, police presence in stations and a well-enforced ladies-only coach on every train. Results show Delhi Metro access increases women’s college enrollment by 12.6 percentage points and completion by 12.9 percentage points, while raising total education by 1.1 years. I find null effects of the metro on men’s college education outcomes. Using a Staggered Difference-in- Differences (DiD) approach, I exploit two sources of variation— location and timing of metro access—to estimate its causal impact on education. First, I compare areas that receive metro access to those scheduled to receive it later. Second, I compare cohorts who gain metro access before turning 18 to those who do so afterward. I use the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) from India, a repeated cross-sectional dataset with displaced location coordinates. Using geospatial analysis, I create square grids and convert this dataset into a grid-level panel with refined location coordinates to achieve more robust and precise estimates of metro access on education. This study is among the first to examine college education in India at the extensive margin and the first to establish a direct link between metro access and women’s higher education in Delhi. By highlighting the previously undiscovered impacts of the metro, it underscores the role of transportation infrastructure in closing gender gaps in education.