Better Answers Needed to Transit

The Brookings Institute, a "nonprofit public policy" institution, through its Metropolitan Policy Program, has published a study of transit and jobs in metropolitan areas of America. Missed Opportunity: Transit and Jobs in Metropolitan America examines data from 371 transit providers in 100 metropolitan areas and found that while transit coverage is highest in western metro areas and lowest in southern metro areas, there typically is a disconnection between where the poorest residents live and where the jobs are.

It notes that as metropolitan areas grow, employment opportunities are increasingly decentralized. 

Spatial mismatch and the costs of transportation. As economies and opportunity decentralize, a “spatial mismatch” has arisen between jobs and people in metropolitan America.  In some metro areas, inner-city workers are cut off from suburban labor market opportunities. In others, low- and moderate-income suburban residents spend large shares of their incomes owning and operating cars. While owning a car improves chances of employment, a growing body of work quantifies the large combined impact of housing and transportation costs on households’ economic bottom lines.

Looking at the tables and charts, Milwaukee metro area actually compares well to its peers in terms of median frequency (under 9.2 minutes), and is #8 at share of jobs reachable in 90 minutes which is 48.6%.  Yet it is in the middle of pack regarding share of working-age residents with access to transit, or between 57.7% to 67.4% of the working-age population. Milwaukee's combined ranking of access to transit and employment ranks it at #14, edging out Madison at #15.

In Wisconsin, for example, the state’s two major metro areas, Milwaukee and Madison, rank 14th and 15th on our combined score of transit coverage and job accessibility. The average neighborhood in these metros can reach 49 and 58 percent of the metro areas’ jobs, respectively, via transit. Both metro areas rank in the top 20 nationwide for the share of their commuters using public transportation. Yet the program cuts proposed statewide are expected to lead to increased fares and the reduction or elimination of certain transit services in these places. One analysis shows that the funding reductions to the Milwaukee County system alone would make 25,000 currently served jobs “inaccessible by transit” and would be directly burdensome to low-income workers. This would be on top of the estimated 40,000 jobs made inaccessible in that metro due to transit cuts from 2001 to 2007.

Yet  Milwaukee County Transit System's ridership is at a 35-year low, plunging 9% just in 2010.  Other suburban transit options also saw higher declines in their riderships.  Clearly, despite the metro area's relatively better transit coverage, it is not seeing the same increases that other metro areas are seeing. This is quite a change from the 1990's, when Milwaukee saw a 21.8% increase 1995-1999. Clearly MCTS has to make some changes to reverse this decline. 

Back to the Brookings study, it discusses two strategies for a better approach to transportation systems linking people to jobs.  Both approaches, unfortunately, requires a regional collaboration that has been lacking for a long time.  Until communities start working together, the Milwaukee metro area will continue to decline in ensuring its residents have access to jobs, and without that, there will continue to be a poverty problem.