Which dots to connect? Employment centers and commuting inequalities in Bogotá

Abstract

Accessibility and equality evaluations have been primarily focused on residential location. However, workplace location might be an equivalent contributor to inequalities in the travel experience and accessibility. Traditionally, transport planning connects high-demand areas with the best-quality and capacity transport infrastructures. Literature supports that employment centers (EC) receive mainly workers in certain middle-to high-income occupations. This condition results in a type of segregation pattern associated with trip destinations and modal choice similar to those reported for the household location. This paper investigates commuting from a different standpoint, emphasizing the need to consider workplace location and employment distribution within cities. We identify five main EC in Bogotá, Colombia, and explore their association with the commuting mode choice of three population groups using mixed logit models. Results indicate that people who work in any EC tend to use more public transport (PT). Nevertheless, the probability of selecting PT differs among groups. Specifically, for low-income commuters, PT represents lower utility than that for middle-income commuters if their job is located in an EC. The fact that the population most likely to be public transport captive does not find this alternative as attractive as the middle-income segment needs further investigation for better policymaking.

How much is accessibility worth? Utility-based accessibility to evaluate transport policies in Latin America

“…2. The map also shows the location of the Central Business District (CBD), which corresponds to the zone of the highest concentration of employment (Peña et al 2022).…”

Geographical Influences on Job–Housing Balance: A Study of Coastal Urban Areas in Boston

“…Lengthy commutes not only increase the commuting expenses of residents but also elevate the incidence of diseases such as obesity and hypertension, and the prevalence of psychological disorders like anxiety and depression [9], ultimately diminishing the well-being of urban inhabitants. Beyond individual impacts, a job-housing imbalance also gives rise to severe societal issues, including widening income disparities, aggregating traffic congestion, and exacerbating social inequality [10,11]; concurrently, the lengthy commuting distances also amplify energy consumption and intensify urban environmental pollution. In 2018, the total emissions of the four pollutants from motor vehicles in China were preliminarily calculated to be 40.653 million tons, including carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), nitrogen oxides (NO x ), and particulate matter (PM), becoming the primary source of urban air pollution, seriously endangering human respiratory and nervous systems [12,13].…”