A new report finds that 700,000 American households have no car or cannot reach their local transit system. The study, entitled “Transit Access and Zero-Vehicle Households” and released by the Brookings Institute Metropolitan Policy Program, found that public transit fails in connecting workers to jobs. Over 90 percent of zero-vehicle households in large metropolitan areas live in neighborhoods with access to transit service of some kind. This greatly exceeds the 68 percent coverage rate for households with a vehicle, suggesting transit service aligns with households who rely on it most. However, some 700,000 zero-vehicle households in the 100 largest metro areas lack access to transit.
The report also found that the typical metropolitan household without a vehicle can reach over 40 percent of metro-wide jobs via transit within 90 minutes, exceeding the 29 percent transit access share for households with a vehicle. The tendency of zero-vehicle households to live in cities contributes to their above-average access to jobs via transit. Unfortunately, limited job access via transit in most metropolitan areas leaves many jobs out of reach for zero-vehicle households.
The report ranks the 100 largest U.S. metro areas for the number of households with no cars and no access to transit. Atlanta, Dallas and Houston top the list with the lowest coverage rates and do the poorest job serving this population. Together, the metro areas leave more than 100,000 no-vehicle households with few transportation options.
To read more of the report, visit www.brookings.edu.