Indicator: Access to transportation

Definition

Individuals have access to low-cost and timely transportation to commute to school or work.

RECOMMENDED METRIC(S)

  • Average commute time to work, school, or college
  • The Low Transportation Cost Index, from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Type(s) of Data Needed

Survey data; administrative data

Why it matters

Unequal access to transportation contributes to racial and socioeconomic disparities in employment and earnings;1158 also, neighborhoods where residents have longer commute times have lower levels of upward economic mobility. Workers of color are more likely to lack a vehicle and commute by public transit, and they are overrepresented among workers with one-way commutes of 60 minutes or more. For example, White workers are twice as likely as Asian and Latino workers to have a car at home, and three times more likely than Black workers. Unequal access to transportation also affects students. Nationwide, Black students spend more time traveling to school, on average, compared to other racial and ethnic groups, and are more likely to use public transportation to get to school: 40 percent of Black students take public transportation to school, compared to 32 percent of White students and 23 percent of Latino students. At the postsecondary level, transportation costs represent about 17 percent of the costs of attending college and have been linked to disparities in college completion

What to know about measurement

We recommend measuring average commute time and transportation costs, as both reflect individuals’ access to transportation in a locality. The American Community Survey (ACS) asks the number of minutes it usually takes a person to get from home to work and reports these data annually by region. A similar survey question could be adapted locally by schools and colleges. Data on local costs are available through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Low Transportation Cost Index, which estimates the average transportation cost for a three-person, single-parent family earning 50 percent of the median income for renters in a region. Institutions that provide subsidized public transportation passes (which includes some K–12 districts and postsecondary institutions) should also track the share of eligible students receiving these benefits.

Source frameworks

This indicator appeared in four source frameworks reviewed for this report. Our proposed measures align with the Urban Institute’s recommendation in the Boosting Upward Mobility framework to measure the Low Transportation Cost Index, as well as recommendations from StriveTogether to measure average commute time to work or school.

References

The framework's recommendations are based on syntheses of existing research. Please see the framework report for a list of works cited.