Towards transit equity in Detroit: An assessment of microtransit and its impact on employment accessibility

Abstract

• An equity analysis of a hypothetical microtransit service in Metro Detroit. • The performance measure used is logsum-based employment accessibility. • We found that urban residents are likely to experience the highest accessibility gains. • Microtransit is likely to help reduce the equity gap in accessibility. Several studies cite great potential for microtransit services to improve transportation equity by providing disadvantaged communities with a more flexible and reliable option relative to traditional fixed route transit. However, few have attempted to forecast these equity benefits. This study seeks to contribute to the ongoing discussion by exploring potential equity impacts of a microtransit service in Metropolitan Detroit. Using a logsum accessibility measure calculated from a regional travel demand model, we simulate accessibility changes due to a hypothetical regional microtransit service and demonstrate a regional transportation equity analysis using a typical regional travel demand model. Our results show that accessibility gains would be slightly higher for lower income communities (17% increase compared with 13% for high income) and transit-dependent households (21% compared with 15% for car-owning households). Further, we find that Microtransit may help to reduce gaps in accessibility between disadvantaged and more advantaged traveler groups.