ORCID Identifier(s)

ORCID 0000-0001-5216-9607

Graduation Semester and Year

Fall 2024

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Planning and Public Policy

Department

Urban and Public Affairs

First Advisor

Qisheng Pan

Second Advisor

Jianling Li

Third Advisor

Julene Paul

Abstract

Auto-oriented urban development patterns in the United States have intensified competition for essential opportunities, such as jobs and groceries, exacerbating the uneven distribution of transportation infrastructure benefits among different population groups and amplifying transportation equity and poverty issues in American cities. The spatial mismatch hypothesis, which tests the relationships between spatial disconnection from employment and adverse job outcomes for minorities (including racial groups, low-income communities, etc.), offers a promising framework for addressing these disparities and enhancing justice in transportation decision-making by considering factors like transportation performance and services, which crucially influence accessibility and mobility. The spatial mismatch hypothesis can also be extended beyond employment to incorporate access to other kinds of opportunities (e.g., grocery, health), and can be influenced by various spatial and aspatial factors. Given the trends of suburbanization, many scholars believe that spatial mismatch has changed. A re-examination of the topic incorporating these components would provide valuable insights into the evolving dynamics of spatial mismatch and its implications for transportation equity and access to essential opportunities in urban areas.

This dissertation investigates three interconnected questions, each examining a different aspect of transportation equity. The first chapter presents the overarching conceptual framework, introduces the topic, poses research questions, and provides an outline of the dissertation.

The second chapter focuses on the equity component and introduces a novel gravity-based accessibility measure that incorporates grocery store pricing and income potential of individuals into spatial accessibility measures. This measure recognizes that individuals' ability to access resources is influenced by their specific circumstances and the opportunities available to them. Additionally, a new equity assessment framework is proposed, featuring a unique metric—the Accessibility Share to Population Share Ratio—alongside the commonly used Gini Coefficient, to evaluate horizontal and vertical inequities in grocery store accessibility across the eight counties of the Houston-Galveston Area Council. The analysis revealed that (1) accessibility to high-price stores by driving was greater than to low-price stores, (2) walking to grocery stores was more inequitable than driving, (3) African Americans, Hispanics, the elderly, and carless households were more burdened than white populations, and (4) food deserts overlapped with minority communities. The metrics and findings derived from this study give fresh insights into disparate outcomes faced by different groups, which will help policymakers identify target populations and ensure equitable development patterns in traditionally underserved areas.

The third chapter of this dissertation focuses on how zoning regulations affect transportation equity and job accessibility in Houston and Dallas. Zoning regulations significantly influence unequal transportation equity outcomes by reinforcing segregation, restricting access to resources and amenities, and exacerbating environmental injustices among different population groups. The analysis employs multimodal job access measures to generate Modal Access Gaps (MAGs), which consider job competition, job matching, and transportation modes, serving as the dependent variable. To account for spatial autocorrelation in both the dependent and independent variables, Spatial Durbin Models (SDM) are utilized. The study finds that (1) Houston exhibits greater inequity in MAG compared to Dallas, (2) transit impacts MAGs more locally, and (3) the spatial spillover effects of zoning variables (single-family housing units, commercial land uses, and industrial land uses) are ten times greater than their direct impacts, indicating that zoning variables have extensive spatial impacts on transportation equity. These findings will guide policymakers in developing integrated land use and transit development policies that provide both immediate and long-term benefits to marginalized groups.

The fourth chapter recognizes the changing geography of poverty and employment in the United States, and explores spatial mismatch, measured as reduced job access by transit for blue-collar job seekers, under the umbrella of suburbanization. The models show that disadvantaged groups face higher rent-burdens in central city, while skill-related mismatches limit job access creating significant accessibility disparities by transit in the inner-ring suburbs. The models also show that the dynamics between land use, transit infrastructure, and rent play a critical role in worsening this mismatch. These findings will assist policymakers in creating targeted skill-development programs for underserved communities while simultaneously coordinating equitable and affordable land use and transportation planning to enhance their access to essential resources.

The final chapter summarizes the policy implications based on the research findings in this study and discusses some future research opportunities.

Keywords

Transportation Equity; Multimodal Accessibility; Food Deserts; Transit Planning; Land Use Planning; Rent Burden; Accessibility Share to Population Share Ratio (AS/PS); Spatial Durbin Models; Multigroup Structural Equation Models

Disciplines

Econometrics | Economic Policy | Food Studies | Geographic Information Sciences | Growth and Development | Income Distribution | Labor Economics | Physical and Environmental Geography | Regional Economics | Social Justice | Spatial Science | Transportation | Urban Studies | Urban Studies and Planning

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