ACCESS TO JOBS. REVERSE COMMUTING FROM CITY TO SUBURBS

The 13.1 percent unemployed Chicagoans could fill positions in suburban Cook County and in Lake and DuPage counties if transportation were available. This report focuses on problems associated with getting unemployed residents in the Near South and West Side area to 5 suburban areas where nearly 20,000 Near South and West Side residents already commute. Major findings concerning these city-to-suburb commutes state that 43 percent of the households in the study area have no autos (twice the regional rate); transit travel time to suburban employment centers range from 28 to 107 minutes compared to 22 to 53 minutes by car; carpools account for 30 percent of commutes (twice city rate), but considered unreliable by employers; city transit and suburban buses have fare parity (economical but time consuming); and service and fare changes are needed to make commuter rail service an alternative. This study recommends that efficient access to suburban employment is a regional problem that requires a coordinated regional solution. It recommends shortening wait time, integrated regional fare structures, and development of information about city-to-suburb commuting.

• Corporate Authors:

  Chicago Department of Public Works

  320 North Clark Street, Room 411
  Chicago, IL  United States  60610

  Urban Mass Transportation Administration

  400 7th Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Hazlett, R
• Publication Date: 1990-10

Media Info

• Pagination: 41 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Access; Employment; Modal split; Railroad commuter service; Reverse commuting; Suburbs; Unemployment
• Geographic Terms: Chicago (Illinois)
• Old TRIS Terms: Auto travel; Reverse commute; Umta section 8; Work-trip patterns
• Subject Areas: Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00603454
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: UMTA-IL-08-0081-90-1
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Feb 28 1991 12:00AM