US: Report: Better Data Can Drive Equity in Suburban Transit

As low-wage workers are pushed to live in suburbs, those same workers are traveling farther to jobs, sometimes without transit systems to serve them adequately.

These issues are at the heart of a new study by the Urban Institute called Access to Opportunity Through Equitable Transportation. The analysis takes a close look at the concept of equity in transportation systems in four metro regions: Seattle, Baltimore, Lansing, Mich., and Nashville, Tenn.

In each region, researchers explored the "spatial mismatch" -- the distance between where low-wage workers live compared to where job opportunities exist -- and found a yawning gap for those living in suburbs.