Travelling fair: Targeting equitable transit by understanding job location, sectorial concentration, and transit use among low-wage workers

Abstract

Low-wage workers have a pressing need for adequate and affordable transportation services. However, the growing polycentricity of North American metropolises means transit providers face the difficult task of serving ever more dispersed employment centers. Deciding where limited project resources would provide the most benefit for disadvantaged populations should be a concern for transit planners and elected officials. The purpose of this research is to determine where low-wage employment zones are, where different types of low-wage jobs concentrate, and determine if job type and location have an effect on transit ridership for low-wage workers. We use a previously proposed method to identify low-wage employment zones in the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area, Canada and measure job type concentration using a gravity approach. We then test to see if job type concentration and employment centres relate to ridership, while controlling for other factors that influence mode share. Our results indicate significant differences in transit use for different occupations exist. These results can help guide more transit investment and research by tackling specific occupation's travel needs.