Worker experiences of accessibility in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Details

• Creators:
  Lowe, Kate ; Marmol, Mariana
• Corporate Creators:
  Gulf Coast Center for Evacuation and Transportation Resiliency
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Low income groups
  • Travel demand
  • Mobility
  • Accessibility
  • Mode choice
  • Surveys
  • Commuting
  • Job opportunities
  • Suburbs
  • Urban areas
  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  CETR 12-05
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  New Orleans (Louisiana)
• Corporate Publisher:
  Gulf Coast Research Center for Evacuation and Transportation Resiliency
• Abstract:
  Existing research has identified transportation challenges that low-income workers face, including a ; spatial mismatch between suburban entry level-jobs and urban low-income workers. These studies rely on travel ; models and secondary data and thus may not capture the temporal or other constraints that low-income workers ; experience. To better understand mobility patterns and accessibility as experienced, this analysis considers ; commute choices and perceptions of accessibility. Findings are based on open-ended surveys with 50 low-income ; workers in New Orleans and its inner suburbs. According to a sizable share of respondents (40%), transportation ; problems do not preclude applying to jobs. Black and centrally located respondents most commonly did not ; perceive transportation as a limitation to job opportunities. On the other hand, many respondents did describe an ; inability to get to suburban job opportunities. Even when missed job opportunities were not reported, almost all ; respondents cited transportation problems for some locations or activities, especially shopping. Losing a functional ; automobile was a common reason to change commute mode after Hurricane Katrina, indicating that low-income ; workers may shift in and out of car ownership, as well change home and job locations. A few respondents— mostly ; active mode users—were highly satisfied with their journey to work. Interviewees most commonly desired ; increased frequency and reliability as critical transit improvements. The mixed findings on perceived job ; accessibility demonstrate the need to better integrate transportation and workforce research and policy. In ; addition, more transportation research work on perceptions and actual challenges is needed, including the role of ; time in workplace demands and physical accessibility. Finally, given dynamic auto ownership status, jobs, and ; residential patterns, longitudinal study is needed.
  More +
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/26053/dot_26053_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.75 MB]
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers ; US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:729d4df19d5d49ab545e7ea8339e23fd742634b577345510c8ae52415ea16fcc7b058c4a9c858b25877f5f02e6dee4014a3a16fe808d0b76cb4d696ecb4ed041