The state's roads would be far less congested if more people adopted recent Latino immigrants' commuting habits, according to a new study from the UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture.

The study shows that recent immigrants to the United States are seven times more likely to use public transportation to go to work, and five times likelier to carpool to work, than are non-Hispanic whites. If everyone adopted these patterns, the number of single-occupant vehicles congesting the state's roads could be slashed by nearly half.

"Population changes in the last 10 years in Los Angeles have resulted primarily from an increase in U.S.-born Latino births and, to a lesser extent, immigration of Latinos," said David E. Hayes-Bautista, UCLA professor of medicine and the center's director. "However, data clearly show that recent immigrants are not contributing to traffic congestion the way earlier in-migrant groups have."

The researchers examined the driving habits of four employed groups: non-Hispanic whites, U.S.-born Latinos, long-term immigrant Latinos (defined as those who entered the United States prior to 1995) and recent immigrant Latinos (who entered the country between 1995 and 2000).

"The trip to work is the most important trip most Californians make in any given day. It turns out that different groups in this state have vastly different patterns in getting to work," said Iya Kahramanian, a co-author of the study.

The study found that 20.4 percent of recent immigrants use public transportation to travel to work, compared with 8.6 percent of long-term immigrants, 4.4 percent of U.S.-born Latinos and 3.2 percent of non-Hispanic whites.

The researchers also found that 56.7 percent of recent immigrants carpool to work, compared with 29.5 percent of long-term immigrant Latinos, 19.2 percent of U.S.-born Latinos and 11.7 percent of non-Hispanic whites.

"Beyond its personal economic benefits, carpooling is environmentally friendly and has the potential to dramatically reduce traffic congestion," said Jessica Iglesias, a co-author of the study.

Some 10.4 million single-occupant vehicles crowd the state's roads on a typical workday, according to the study. This number would be slashed to 5.4 million vehicles, a 47.7 percent reduction, if all commuters followed recent Latino immigrants' lead and used public transportation or carpooled to work, the researchers found.

Furthermore, the number of single-occupant vehicles would fall to about 8.8 million, down 15 percent, if commuters used carpooling and public transportation the way long-term Latino immigrants do. Finally, the number of cars would fall by 2.8 percent to about 10.1 million if commuters adopted U.S.-born Latinos' commuting practice.

"Clearly, these immigrants are not contributing to the traffic congestion in the same way that immigrants from the Midwest did in the 1945–65 era," the researchers wrote. "Indeed, if all commuters exhibited the same transportation patterns as recent immigrants, the positive effects on the state's highways would be remarkable. Simply by more widespread use of carpooling, millions of single-occupant cars could be removed from the state's streets, without greatly increasing the burden on the public transportation system."

The researchers used data from the 2000 U.S. Census Public Use Microdata Sample for the report.

Since 1992, the UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture has been a resource for cutting-edge research, education and public information about Latinos, their health and their role in California. Under the leadership of Hayes-Bautista, the center, part of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, has been the lead institution in exploding myths and stereotypes about Latinos in California society, providing reliable data on Latino health, emphasizing the positive contributions of Latinos to the state's economy and society, and informing the public about the important emerging Latino medical market.

California's largest university, UCLA enrolls approximately 38,000 students per year and offers degrees from the UCLA College and 11 professional schools in dozens of varied disciplines. UCLA consistently ranks among the top five universities and colleges nationwide in total research-and-development spending and receives more than $750 million a year in research contracts and federal and state grants. For every $1 state taxpayers invest in UCLA, the university generates almost $9 in economic activity, resulting in an annual $6 billion economic impact on the Greater Los Angeles region. The university's health care network treats 450,000 patients per year. UCLA employs more than 27,000 faculty and staff, and has been home to five Nobel Prize recipients.