Motorways and Railroads to Trust

This paper examines how transportation infrastructure, specifically motorway and railroad length, impacts interpersonal and political trust. Using data from the European Social Survey (ESS), we observe higher trust levels in individuals from regions with more extensive infrastructure. Our analysis encompasses three layers: a cross-regional analysis, an international immigrant analysis where immigrants are linked to their origin country infrastructure, and an inter-regional immigrant analysis where immigrants are linked to their origin region’s infrastructure, respectively. Consistent results across specifications suggest infrastructure enhances trust by promoting mobility and exposure to new people and ideas, as well as by elevating political trust as the government is perceived as more reliable and effective. Further analysis in a panel of Nuts 1 regions focuses on the mechanics of mobility. We investigate how trust in a region correlates with the road and rail travel time between regions as well as with the cost-effectiveness of its connections. The findings indicate that increased and more affordable mobility leads to higher trust, further supporting our hypothesis.