Leading Indicators

Greater Philadelphia’s Public Transportation and COVID-19 – PART 2

In this week’s Leading Indicator, we continue our analysis of public transportation ridership in Greater Philadelphia. Last week, we detailed overall ridership trends across the U.S, in Greater Philadelphia, and within the City of Philadelphia. This week, we focus on the demographics and socioeconomic status of riders in the region to better understand the impact of proposed recession-driven service cuts. 

 

Key Takeaways 

  • Although women represent just over 51 percent of the Philadelphia’s working population, they comprise 58.2 percent of public transit commuters in the city. 
  • People of color represented 56.8 percent of Greater Philadelphia’s workers who primarily commute via public transportation in 2018. In the city, 66.4 percent of public transit commuters are people of color. 
  • Workers from the Education, Health Care, and Social Assistance sector were most highly represented among public transit users both in the city (30.3%) and the surrounding suburban counties (25.6%). 
  • As of 2018, the median annual earnings of Greater Philadelphia public transit riders was $7,673 below the overall median annual earnings of the region. In the city, the difference was less pronounced at $4,958. 
  • Approximately 35 percent of all Philadelphia workers living in poverty count on public transportation as their primary commuting mode. 

 

The Urban Suburban Divide 

As we noted last week, 9.5 percent of Greater Philadelphia’s workers 16-years-or-older primarily commute to work via public transportation with residents of the City of Philadelphia accounting for 37.7 percent of the region’s public transit commuters [1]. This high concentration of ridership in the city reflects the greater accessibility of public transit due to a legacy infrastructure. Suburban public transit relies heavily on commuter rail lines and major bus routes that are less accessible to many residents. Thus, many of the characteristics of Greater Philadelphia’s public transit riders are more reflective of city residents. However, it is important to explore the differences in city and suburban riders to better understand who will be most affected by proposed service reductions. 

 

Women and Riders of Color 

Although women represent just over 51 percent of the city’s working population, they comprised 58.2 percent of public transit commuters in the City of Philadelphia. Women workers in the city were 1.4 times more likely to commute via public transit in 2018 than males, and some differences are more pronounced by transit mode. In the city, bus ridership among female commuters exceeded male ridership by over 19 percent [1]. The split between male and female public transit commuters in the suburban counties remained relatively even. While numerous theories exist as to why urban women use public transit more than men, the predominant theory is that these women are “captive users” resulting from a milieu of economic barriers. Previous studies have also shown that most female public transit riders are people of color [2].

 

People of color represented 56.8 percent of Greater Philadelphia’s workers who primarily commuted via public transportation in 2018. In the city, their representation grows to 66.4 percent [1]. Figure 1 shows the breakdown of Greater Philadelphia’s public transit ridership in 2018 by race while Figure 2 shows the same relationship for people of Latinx/Hispanic ethnicity. Both graphs compare ridership distributions with each racial group’s total working population distribution. Thus, a higher percentage in the “Public Transit Riders” column than the “Total Workers 16+” column would indicate a higher concentration of public transit commuters for that racial group. Even representation across columns would indicate proportional representation.

 

Graph instructions

FIGURE 1

NOTE: Data were obtained from five-year estimates of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2014-2018 American Community Survey. Each racial group includes individuals of Latinx/Hispanic ethnicity.

 

 

FIGURE 2 

NOTE: Data were obtained from five-year estimates of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2014-2018 American Community Survey.

 

In Greater Philadelphia, Black workers were highly represented among public transit commuters in 2018. Both in the city and the surrounding counties, their ridership representation exceeded their total worker representation by over 16 percent. For white workers, the relationship was flipped. White public transit commuters were underrepresented by 14.2 percent in the city and 20.5 percent in the surrounding counties. For other racial groups, a similar trend existed. Most were underrepresented among the city’s public transit commuters but overrepresented in the surrounding suburban counties. Asian workers, for example, saw a city ridership representation 1.9 percent less than their overall city representation, but their suburban ridership representation exceeded their overall suburban representation by 3.4 percent. Figure 2 shows that Latinx workers were only slightly underrepresented among public transit commuters in both the city and the surrounding suburban counties. 

 

An Industry Breakdown 

Figure 3 compares the distribution of public transit users in the City of Philadelphia and the surrounding counties by industry in 2018. Interestingly, workers from the Education, Health Care, and Social Assistance industry had both the highest representation among public transit users and showed even representation in both the city and the surrounding counties. These workers are making proportional use of public transit both within the city and the surrounding counties. For many in the service sector industries, representation among public transit riders exceeded overall representations in the workforces in the city and the surrounding counties. Arts, Entertainment, Accommodation, and Food Services workers, for example, had a public transit concentration in the city that surpassed their overall distribution by 2.9 percent. The more goods-focused industries—like Manufacturing, Transportation and Storage, Wholesale Trade, and Construction—saw underrepresentation among public transit users. Interestingly, many of the pandemic’s frontline industries were highly represented among both the city’s and surrounding counties’ public transit users.

 

 

FIGURE 3 

NOTE: Data were obtained from five-year estimates of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2014-2018 American Community Survey.

 

Impoverished Riders 

As of 2018, the median annual earnings of public transit riders in Greater Philadelphia was $7,673 less than the region’s overall median. In the city, the difference was less pronounced at $4,958 [1]. Public transportation is often a vital resource for poorer commuters. In fact, 35 percent of all city workers living in poverty count on public transportation as their primary commuting mode [1]. Figure 4 shows the spatial relationship between public transit ridership, poverty, and race and ethnicity. As mentioned, Philadelphia residents make up a majority of the region’s public transit riders because of greater accessibility. The city also suffers from concentrated poverty to a greater extent than the region; smaller cities and towns within the region that have similar socioeconomic characteristics exhibit the same patterns of transit use. Pockets of regional poverty rely on buses and rail connections for their vital services and employment. As transportation authorities—like SEPTA—continue to readjust their services to align with available funding, these communities are likely to be the most vulnerable. 

 

Graph instructions

FIGURE 4 

NOTE: Data were obtained from five-year estimates of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2014-2018 American Community Survey. Each racial majority group excludes individuals of Latinx/Hispanic ethnicity. 

 

The Impact of COVID-19 and Service Reductions 

In the final installment of this transit-focused series, we’ll take a closer look at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the region’s transportation service and examine how proposed service reductions would impact the most vulnerable riders and communities.

 

Works Cited 

[1] U.S. Census Bureau. 2019. 2014-2018 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Retrieved from: (https://www.census.gov/data.html).

 

[2] Anderson, Monica. 2016. “Who relies on public transit in the U.S.” Pew FactTank, April 7. Retrieved from: (https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/07/who-relies-on-public-transit-in-the-u-s/).