Another Look at Economic Benefits by Hudson-Bergen Light Rail: More Job Opportunities in Environmental Justice Neighborhoods

This paper analyzes how newly constructed Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) in New Jersey affects a job opportunity in Environmental Justice (EJ) neighborhoods around HBLR stations. Given a concentrated urban form in the region, enhanced transit accessibility by HBLR is likely to produce more work trips from the HBLR station neighborhoods to a regional job hub - New York City (NYC). The authors chose neighborhoods at which accessibility by public transportation were poor compared to other HBLR service areas. To see whether residents in those neighborhoods have enjoyed more job opportunities, time-series employment profiles and Journey to Work (JTW) flows to NYC were examined. The most up-to-date government official data, Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) between 2002 and 2009 is used for the study. This study is unique, for it investigates neighborhoods where home appreciation, a typical economic benefit indicator is already observed in a recent study. Results disclose that residents in HBLR EJ neighborhoods enjoy more job opportunities available in Manhattan. More importantly, this benefit is widespread in various age - and income - groups, implying that HBLR should not be considered merely as a force for gentrification but as a substantial access mode for employment opportunity in EJ neighborhoods. The study also discloses that neighborhoods of a priori poor public transportation option acquired relatively higher accessibility gain.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AP075 Light Rail Transit
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Kim, Kyeongsu
  • Lee, Jung-Beom
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 91st Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2012-1-22 to 2012-1-26
• Date: 2012

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 23p
• Monograph Title: TRB 91st Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers DVD

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accessibility; Economic benefits; Environmental justice; Equity; Job opportunities; Light rail transit; Neighborhoods; Transit oriented development
• Identifier Terms: Hudson-Bergen Light Rail
• Subject Areas: Economics; Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society; I15: Environment; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01369941
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 12-3920
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: May 16 2012 3:05PM