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Non-stop equity: Assessing daily intersections between transit accessibility and social disparity across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA)

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  • Ahmed El-Geneidy
  • Ron Buliung
  • Ehab Diab
  • Dea van Lierop
  • Myriam Langlois
  • Alexander Legrain

Abstract

Public transportation systems generate economic benefits that can potentially reduce social disparities between populations when such benefits are distributed evenly within a region. However, the achievement of equity in the allocation of public resources is not easy to accomplish for land use and transportation planning agencies. This research seeks to determine whether people residing in socially disadvantaged areas in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), Canada, experience the same levels of transit accessibility as those living in other areas over the course of a day. Comparisons are presented in terms of regional accessibility, trends by social decile, spatial distribution of accessibility during the day, and travel time impacts. Findings suggest that residents in socially disadvantaged areas have equitable if not better transit accessibility to jobs than socially advantaged groups, and this is reflected in shorter travel times. However, the degree and impact of this advantage varies over the course of the day. Findings from this research can be of interest to transportation planners, engineers, and policy makers as it highlights deficiencies with current equity assessment practices that do not take into account variation in transit services over a 24-h time period.

Suggested Citation

  • Ahmed El-Geneidy & Ron Buliung & Ehab Diab & Dea van Lierop & Myriam Langlois & Alexander Legrain, 2016. "Non-stop equity: Assessing daily intersections between transit accessibility and social disparity across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA)," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 43(3), pages 540-560, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirb:v:43:y:2016:i:3:p:540-560
    DOI: 10.1177/0265813515617659
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Wessel, Nate & Allen, Jeff & Farber, Steven, 2017. "Constructing a routable retrospective transit timetable from a real-time vehicle location feed and GTFS," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 92-97.
    3. Shengxiao Li & Luoye Chen & Pengjun Zhao, 2019. "The impact of metro services on housing prices: a case study from Beijing," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 1291-1317, August.
    4. Grisé, Emily & El-Geneidy, Ahmed, 2017. "Evaluating the relationship between socially (dis)advantaged neighbourhoods and customer satisfaction of bus service in London, U.K," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 166-175.
    5. Allen, Jeff & Farber, Steven, 2019. "Sizing up transport poverty: A national scale accounting of low-income households suffering from inaccessibility in Canada, and what to do about it," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 214-223.
    6. Campbell, Kayleigh B. & Rising, James A. & Klopp, Jacqueline M. & Mbilo, Jacinta Mwikali, 2019. "Accessibility across transport modes and residential developments in Nairobi," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 77-90.
    7. Karner, Alex, 2018. "Assessing public transit service equity using route-level accessibility measures and public data," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 24-32.

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