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Can LRT Improve Job Access Can LRT Improve Job Access of the Working Poor?of the Working Poor?

Yingling Fan, Yingling Fan, yingling@umn.edu

Andrew GuthrieAndrew Guthrie

Rose TengRose Teng

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Take-Away Messages

1. Significant gains in transit accessibility to low-wage jobs after the opening of the Hiawatha LRT

2. Accessibility gains not only occurred along Hiawatha but also in areas with bus connections to Hiawatha

3. Significant relocations of low-wage workers to areas near three Hiawatha LRT stations including Cedar-Riverside, Franklin Avenue and Lake Street-Midtown, as well as to areas with bus connections to Hiawatha.

4. Significant reorientation of low-wage jobs to the Hiawatha station areas in downtown Minneapolis and Bloomington’s Mall of America area.

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Study Area

• 23,193 transit-served blocks– 1.55 million pop;

– 59% of the 7-county pop.

• 8,921 Hiawatha-connected blocks – direct connection;

– reachable within 30 mins;

– 0.58 million pop;

– 22% of the 7-county pop.

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Concentration of Low-Wage Workers

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Dispersion of Low-Wage Jobs

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Before-and-After Accessibility Analysis

• Accessibility Measure: the # of jobs reachable within 30-mins of transit travel – Before: 2002 job info with 2000 transit network info– After: 2006 job info with 2005 transit network info

• Mapping the changes– Time-variant transit network (5am; 7am; noon, 5pm, 8pm)

• Estimating the changes base upon regression models– Use distance variables and block demographics to explain

accessibility

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Morning Peak Hour 7am-8am

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Consistency of Accessibility Gains Throughout the Day From 5am to 9pm

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Key Findings

• Significant and positive before-and-after changes;

• Major accessibility gains occurred – along the Hiawatha corridor – along the bus routes (especially high-frequency routes) that

connect with Hiawatha

• Consistent accessibility gains throughout the day

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Regression

• Before Hiawatha– Workers living in

downtown stations areas can reach 47% more low-wage jobs than regular bus station areas.

– South neighborhoods not higher

– Connection areas 112% higher

• After Hiawatha– Downtown 59% higher– South neighborhoods

94% higher– Connection areas 136%

higher

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5000

9000

13000

17000

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25

Distance to the Nearest Transit Stop

7AM, Post-LRT

7AM, Pre-LRT

17PM, Post-LRT

17PM, Pre-LRT

Before-and-After Accessibility Estimates in Connection Areas(Moring Peak Hour and Afternoon Peak Hour)

1,800 more jobs

500 more jobs

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3000

6000

9000

12000

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25Distance to the Nearest Transit Stop

5AM, Post-LRT

5AM, Pre-LRT

12PM, Post-LRT

12PM, Pre-LRT

20PM, Post-LRT

20PM, Pre-LRT

2,300 more jobs

Before-and-After Accessibility Estimates in Connection Areas(Early Morning, Mid Day, and Evening)

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Before-and-After Commuter Flow Analysis

• Estimating changes in the home-to-work BG flow volume

• Based upon– Characteristics of the home location

• Positive coefficients suggest low-wage workers’ relocation to the areas.

– Characteristics of the workplace location• Positive coefficients suggest low-wage employers’ relocation to the areas.

– Socio-demographics of the home BG

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Results

As workplace

As Residence

Areas Near Downtown Hiawatha Stations 0.522*** 0.033

Areas Near Cedar-Riverside, Franklin Avenue ____and Lake Street-Midtown Stations

-0.088*** 0.115***

Areas Near 38th Street, 46th Street, 50th Street- ______Minnehaha Park, VA Medical Center Stations

-0.077*** -0.036**

Areas Near Airport and Mall of America Stations 0.127*** -0.059

Areas with Bus Connections to Hiawatha 0.081*** 0.019***

Areas Near High-Frequency Bus Stops 0.075*** -0.005

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Estimated Increases in Commuter Flow VolumeCompared to estimated changes in areas served by regular transit

North Neighborhood

stations

Connection areas

Downtown stations

Suburb stations

Connection areas

Home

Work

5611

2,140313

11,886

510

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Conclusions and DiscussionConclusions and DiscussionPPositive evidence on the role of transit in promoting social equityositive evidence on the role of transit in promoting social equity

1. The Hiawatha impact is regional in scale.

2. To transit planners: • Transit system integration/coordination is essential to the improvement

of accessibility.

3. Low-wage workers and employers are able to take advantage of the LRT, at least in the context of the Hiawatha line.

4. To land use planners: • Balancing jobs and housing: NOT necessarily on the same site

(i.e., balance at the corridor level NOT the station level )