Identifier
1096
Document Type
Discussion Paper
Date of Paper
Fall 11-2022
Abstract
We propose a theory-inspired measure of the accessibility of a city’s center: the size of the surrounding area from which it can be reached within a specific time. Using publicly-available optimal routing software, we compute these ”accessibility zones” for the 109 largest American and European cities, separately for cars and public transit commutes. Compared to European cities, US cities are half as accessible via public transit and twice as accessible via cars. Car accessibility zones are always larger than public transit zones, making US cities more accessible overall. However, US cities’ car orientation comes at the cost of less green space, more congestion, and worse health and pollution externalities.
Acknowledgements
We thank Nishi Felton, Matthew Murillo, and Ephraim Sutherland for outstanding research assistance. We also thank the audience at the NBER working group meeting on "Transportation Economics in the 21st Century" for insightful comments.
Recommended Citation
Conwell, Lucas; Eckert, Fabian; and Mobarak, Ahmed Mushfiq, "More Roads or Public Transit? Insights from Measuring City-Center Accessibility" (2022). EGC Discussion Paper 1096.https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/egcenter-discussion-paper-series/1096