The impacts of first/last-mile mobility pricing solutions on job accessibility

Wisthuff, Isaac N

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120109 Copy

Description

Title

The impacts of first/last-mile mobility pricing solutions on job accessibility

Author(s)

Wisthuff, Isaac N

Issue Date

2023-05-05

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Christensen, Peter

Committee Member(s)

• Xu, Yilan
• Lee, Bumsoo
• Osman, Adam

Department of Study

Agr & Consumer Economics

Discipline

Agricultural & Applied Econ

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Urban Planning
• transportation
• fixed effects
• applied economics
• ridesharing
• micro transit
• last-mile problem

Abstract

In the past few years, many cities in the Unites States have adopted mobility-on-demand (MOD) and ride to transit (R2T) services to address the mobility needs of their disadvantaged, typically carless populations. When integrated with public transit, these services can help to increase accessibility and alleviate the last-mile problem by reducing travel times to important destinations like employment centers, however, their ability to do so has not been properly evaluated in the transportation planning literature using experimental methods. This study attempts to shed light on the efficacy of an R2T in promoting low-wage job accessibility by combining Census tract-level accessibility scores with data from a state-of-the-art randomized control trial (RCT) that provides subsidized R2T Uber trips in the Chicago Metropolitan Area. By analyzing the interaction between the subsidy treatment and participants’ accessibility, I attempt to answer the following questions: First, how large is the disparity between transit- and auto-based low-wage job accessibility in the Chicago Metropolitan Area? Then, to what extent can transit-linked Uber trips alleviate any accessibility gaps? And lastly, how do the accessibility gains one achieves through FLM connectivity play a role in determining their take up of a subsidized R2T program? My results serve to help planners in determining where and for whom R2T program usage is highest and whether job accessibility is a useful metric for predicting program uptake.

Graduation Semester

2023-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2023 Isaac Wisthuff

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