Revisiting Gender, Race, and Commuting in New York

In the 1990s, many women commuted shorter distances and less time than men, and research underscored the pernicious effects of racial and ethnic segregation and access to transportation on minority women's commuting. Since then, growing income inequality and the bifurcation of employment between well-paid and secure jobs and a growing number of insecure and poorly paid jobs have been accompanied by the concentration of jobs at central and suburban locations and the transformation of women's roles in the labor market. We investigate some of the geographical implications of these trends by analyzing commuting in the New York metropolitan region. In 2010, gender and race differences in commuting varied across the metropolitan area. Regression analysis demonstrates that the impacts of wages and household composition on commuting differ between the highly valued center that has benefited from private and public investment, the suburbs where traditional gender roles persist, and the deteriorating inner ring where minority women still commute long times on slow public transit. The findings highlight racial and gender disparities in geographical access to employment within the metropolitan region.