Taking the bus to work: The relationship between public transit commuting time and household income in Washington, D.C. suburbs.

摘要

American suburbs have become the new frontier of poverty. Once symbols of middle class prosperity, suburbs have been experiencing increasing rates of poverty since the late 20th and early 21st century and many of the new low-income suburban residents are ethnic and racial minorities. Suburbs developed around the private automobile and lack adequate public transit service, placing a burden on low-income residents who spend an average of 27 percent of their income on transportation and rely heavily on public transportation. In this study I estimate the relationship between public transit commuting time and household income in Washington, D.C. suburbs using an ordered logistical model and data from the 2009 National Household Travel Survey. Transit commuting time has a negative and statistically significant relationship with household income, demonstrating that longer commutes burden suburban residents and limit their ability to increase their earnings. Public investment in additional transit service can reduce commuting times, relieve the transportation burden on low-income suburban residents and help alleviate poverty in Washington, D.C. suburbs.