Mapping mobility gaps: geospatial analysis of accessibility and equity from socioeconomic perspectives

This study explores social inequities in urban mobility by examining the accessibility, spatial distribution, and equity of subway systems. Using a multifaceted geospatial network analysis, the research integrates various methodologies to illuminate the complex role of socioeconomic factors in transportation inequalities. A notable result is that methodological choices significantly influence the assessment of transportation equity. The analysis spans both time and urban contexts, encompassing comparisons between four cities and different subway station buffer zones over a ten-year period. Key findings reveal a structured pattern of socioeconomic disparities, with systematic gradients across computational methods. Specifically, (1) income inequality is consistently influenced by the computational approach, with notable gradients across all cities; (2) workforce accessibility displays an urban-centric bias, with urban workers tend to experience longer commutes in practice compared to idealized models; and (3) gender-based workforce segmentation remains a persistent issue but is less sensitive to methodological variations.