Case studies of job access and reverse commute program: 2009-2010

Thakuriah, P., Tilahun, N., Soot, S., Vassilakis, W., Cottrill, C. and Blaise, E.T. (2011) Case studies of job access and reverse commute program: 2009-2010. Technical Report. United States Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, Chicago, IL.

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Abstract

This report presents perceptual, mobility and employment outcomes self-reported by 573 users of 26 transportation services funded by the Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) program. The respondents were predominantly low income with 42 percent reporting 2008 personal incomes less than $10,000 and two-thirds of the respondents earning $20,000 or less for the same year. Nearly half the respondents have no household vehicles. Nearly three in five respondents reported that their travel has become reliable and convenient after using the services. Workers using the services have benefitted from overall reductions in the cost of commuting to work. Close to 94 percent rated the service as being important or very important in keeping their jobs. Respondents also self-reported that the services allowed them to access a job with better pay or better working conditions, and to improve their skills. Both median hourly wages and median weekly earnings are reported to have increased since using the service for those workers who use the service to commute to work and were employed in the one-month period prior to starting use of the service. Alternative reasons may exist for these wage changes, including overall changes in the economic conditions of the locations where the services operate, as well as changes in the personal conditions of the workers that are unrelated to the JARC program in the period between starting use of the service and the time of the survey, such as graduation from job-training or school, residential relocation and so on. Because of the lack of a probability sample of services, the results cannot be generalized to the entire JARC program. Detailed case studies of the 26 services yield insights into the types of benefits that are being provided overall in these cases and the planning and programmatic environment within which they operate.

Item Type:Research Reports or Papers (Technical Report)
Additional Information:The questionnaires used in this study was developed with the assistance of the Questionnaire Review Committee, Survey Research Lab, University of Illinois at Chicago. The sampling design was developed with the assistance of Professor Jerome Sacks, Professor Emeritus of Statistical Science, Duke University. Survey content was developed with input from transit program managers. Surveys were pretested and refined as a result. Any omission or error with respect to reporting the results of the case studies is the final responsibility of the authors.
Keywords:Job access reverse commute program, JARC, low-wage worker, public transportation, employment transportation, coordinated human services transportation plan, planning partners, mobility outcomes, perceptual outcomes, fixed route public transportation, demand-responsive public transportation.
Status:Published
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Thakuriah, Professor Piyushimita
Authors: Thakuriah, P., Tilahun, N., Soot, S., Vassilakis, W., Cottrill, C., and Blaise, E.T.
Subjects:G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General)
H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications
College/School:College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Urban Studies
Publisher:United States Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2011 United States Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration
Publisher Policy:Reproduced with permission of the publisher

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