Men, Women, Job Sprawl, and Journey to Work in the Philadelphia Region

Abstract

The observation that increasing dispersion of employment opportunities leads to decreased travel times is reflective of a short-term phenomenon. Census-reported journey-to-work travel time is examined for the greater Philadelphia region, showing that more people are commuting by automobile, a mode usually associated with shorter journey times, but are reporting longer trip times. The finding is counterintuitive as it coincides with a period when new jobs were established in outlying areas and the region experienced a net loss in jobs. The study concludes that as job opportunities disperse into lower density areas, Philadelphia’s existing high-capacity systems are underutilized, and transportation systems throughout the region that were designed for relatively low demand are becoming overwhelmed in time. The net effect is a breakdown of both the urban mass transit systems and the suburban and rural highway networks, the latter because of overuse and the former because of underuse.

A Spatial Analysis of Precarious Forms of Employment in France

“…The models explaining the largest portion of variability in precarious forms of employment are given by the fixed‐term contracts and part‐time work spatial lag models. Those for temporary and subsidised work are less robust though it should be noted that it is not uncommon to find such low values for the coefficient of determination when working with census‐based data with a large number of observations (see, for instance, Song Lee and McDonald ; Weinberger ).…”

Modelling Journey to Work Patterns in South East Queensland, Australia

“…a longer trip would not be economically rational for low pay (Manning, 2003). In contrast, urban economists argue that wealthier people or those who have been remunerated better, will outbid poorer counterparts for housing locations nearer their places of employment, with a result of a shorter travel time (Weinberger, 2007). In regards to men and women's commuting patterns for work, men's travel time is generally greater than women's travel time.…”