Job isolation in the US: narrowing the gap through job access and reverse-commute programs

Abstract

This chapter describes how a significant and troublesome form of environmental injustice in the United States (US) is the physical location of the inner-city poor to rising suburban job opportunities. Unlike many parts of the developed and developing world, the poor and “have nots” are principally concentrated in and near the urban centers of many US metropolitan areas, occupying working-class neighborhoods long abandoned by the middle class for “greener pastures.” The concentration of jobless individuals in the center and explosion of jobs on the fringe has given rise to “reverse commute”, both in terms of actual work trips for those fortunate enough to have a job and the latent demand for those who cannot find work, whether for reasons of poor mobility options or structural employment problems. The chapter describes how reverse commutes in the US have increased steadily over the past two decades and how they continue to capture a growing share of the total journey-to-work. Reverse commute has been especially pronounced in large, heavily urbanized areas like California. Between 1980 and 1990, Southern California recorded the second largest-relative increase in reverse commuting in the nation. The location-liberating effects of cyberspace and telematics, along with rising affluence, have compiled to create a new geomorphology for economic production across the US; sprawling corporate enclaves, business parks, power centers, and other non-nodal forms of development. The chapter describes how, today, all US metropolitan areas (with the exception of New York and Chicago) have the majority of office space outside of the traditional city centers. Reverse commute public transport services have over the years been viewed as an important means of enhancing the mobility and job prospects for inner-city residents. However, the chapter describes how relatively little empirical research has been carried out on the reverse-commute marketplace.