UTC - Transportation Research for Low-Income Groups

Transportation Research for Low-Income Groups

The UIC project on worker accessibility explores trends and needs in the low-income labor market sector. Our objective is to identify user needs, evaluate new transit markets and also to couple empirical research in this area with transportation demand modeling and Geographic Information Systems. The project is sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration, the University of Illinois and the Illinois Department of Human Services.

Current activities include:

Evaluating the impact of transit services on low-income groups and the extent to which transit makes a difference in employment opportunities;
Monitoring national and local trends on low-income worker accessibility;
Exploring innovative partnership initiatives that offer cross-sectoral, holistic approach to accessibility;
Providing assistance to FTA, state and local agencies on job access issues;
Exploring decision making techniques and public participatory methods to facilitate cross-sectoral planning.