Cars Still Essential for Economic Opportunity

Adie Tomer and Joseph Kane address the ongoing question of the role of the automobile in enabling—or obstructing—economic opportunity by citing recent data from the 2013 Census showing that workers who don't own cars are driving more. That is, "zero-vehicle workers still do quite a bit of driving. Over 20 percent drive alone to work—meaning they find a private car to borrow—and another 12 percent commute via carpool. Both rates jumped between 2007 and 2013, defying national trends toward less driving."

Tomer and Kane use the new data to make a case for providing alternative forms of access to jobs: "To address this inequity, we need to shift how we plan transportation investments and urban development. Planners and engineers need to think less about mobility—how fast we move—and more about access—how many destinations we can reach."