Who Lives Near Rail? Demographic Characteristics of Workers Living near Metrorail in the Washington, DC Area

• In Event: 095 - Section on Community and Urban Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 11. Transportation and Spatial Mismatch

Abstract

Rail transit stops have helped define informal neighborhood boundaries and shape the population profiles of the areas that surround them. This research explores the extent to which the demographic profiles of workers living near the Washington, DC region’s Metrorail stops differ from those of workers without rail access. Neighborhood characteristics are assessed for two multi-year periods, 2006-2008, and 2011-2013. The analysis benefits from the most recent (2013) data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) estimates. For several crucial measurements, the ACS microdata affords a fine-grained level of geographic specificity that is not attainable with public data. For measuring the distance between households and rail stops, microdata make it possible to link block-level transit access indicators to demographic characteristics for individual workers. This research addresses numerous questions about the relationship between urban transportation infrastructure and the population that surrounds it. For example, it explores the extent to which the racial/ethnic makeup of rail accessible neighborhoods differs from that of other neighborhoods, compares commuting patterns between rail-accessible workers and others, and addresses critical questions related to displacement near transit-rich neighborhoods.

Author

• Brian Scott Mckenzie, U.S. Census Bureau