The cost of equity: Assessing transit accessibility and social disparity using total travel cost

Abstract

Social equity is increasingly incorporated as a long-term objective into urban transportation plans. Researchers used accessibility measures to assess equity issues, such as determining the amount of jobs reachable by marginalized groups within a defined travel time threshold and compare these measures across socioeconomic categories. However, allocating public transit resources in an equitable manner is not only related to travel time, but also related to the out-ofpocket cost of transit fares, which can represent a major barrier to accessibility for many disadvantaged groups. Therefore, this research proposes a set of new accessibility measures that incorporates both travel time and transit fares. It then applies those measures to determine whether people residing in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods in Montreal, Canada experience the same levels of transit accessibility as those living in other neighborhoods. Results are presented in terms of regional accessibility and trends by social indicator decile. Travel time accessibility measures estimate a higher number of jobs that can be reached compared to combined travel time and cost measures. However, the degree and impact of these measures varies across the social deciles. Compared to other groups in the region, residents of socially disadvantaged areas have more equitable accessibility to jobs using transit; this is reflected in smaller decreases in accessibility when fare costs are included. Generating new measures of accessibility combining travel time and transit fares provides more accurate measures that can be easily communicated by transportation planners and engineers to policy makers and the public since it translates accessibility measures to a dollar value.

Social Sustainability in Metropolitan Areas: Accessibility and Equity in the Case of the Metropolitan Area of Valencia (Spain)

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Accessibility and the evaluation of investments on the Beijing subway

“…Fares during the study period were heavily subsidized by the Beijing government, however new pricing schemes since 2014 have changed fares. Future research could address the influence of transit fares on accessibility (El-Geneidy et al 2016).…”

Study of the Impact of a High-Speed Railway Opening on China’s Accessibility Pattern and Spatial Equality

“…Social indicators have been widely used to reflect the issue of spatial equality [61,62]. For example, Hao et al analyzed the demand of urban transportation in China using indicators like low-income groups, disabled population, and aging population [63].…”