Study Compares Job Access by Transit in 46 U.S. Metropolitan Areas

David Levinson shares news of a new report (authored Levinson and Andrew Owen) that "examines accessibility to jobs by transit in 46 of the 50 largest (by population) metropolitan areas in the United States." The report, "Access Across America: Transit 2014," follows up on the work of "Access Across America: Auto 2013." The report includes interactive maps.

Levinson explains the methodology of the report: "Rankings are determined by a weighted average of accessibility, giving a higher weight to closer jobs. Jobs reachable within ten minutes are weighted most heavily, and jobs are given decreasing weight as travel time increases up to 60 minutes."

Emily Badger also shared insights into the report on the Washington Post's Wonkblog, including this insight on the potential of these maps to influence land use and transportation choices: "From a transit perspective, these maps can also illustrate how small changes in service — a few more buses at rush hour, more frequent connections in the subway — could dramatically alter access to jobs across town."