Access to Jobs: Reverse Commuting from City to Suburbs

摘要

The report focuses on some of the problems associated with getting residents from the Near South and West Side areas of Chicago, where unemployment levels are high, to five suburban areas where nearly 20,000 Near South and West Side residents already commute. Major findings concerning these city-to-suburb commutes include: Over 43% of the households in the study area have no auto, over twice the regional rate. Waits for connections and walks from bus stops extend travel times by transit to 28 to 107 minutes, compared with 22 to 53 minutes by car. Carpools account for 30% of commutes (almost twice the city rate), but are considered unreliable by employers. City transit and suburban buses have fare parity which make this commute feasible and economical, but time consuming; service and fare changes are needed to make commuter rail service an alternative. Job counselors, unfamiliar with suburban transit services, cannot tell job seekers how to use those services to get to work sites. Providing city workers with efficient access to suburban employment is a regional problem that will require a coordinated regional solution. Scheduling to shorten waiting time, improved service to employment sites, integrated regional fare structures, and development of information about city-to suburb commuting are among possibilities that should be considered.