Nonwork Accessibility as a Social Equity Indicator

This study explains a method for deriving nonwork accessibility indicators and evaluates how nonwork accessibility varies among social groups in the Detroit metropolitan region. It finds that vulnerable social groups—including African Americans, Hispanics, low-income households, and households in poverty—experience an advantage in physical accessibility over more privileged groups for several trip purposes, including convenience stores, childcare facilities, religious organizations, and hospitals. However, vulnerable groups experience a distinct disadvantage in accessibility to shopping and supermarkets. These vulnerable social groups experience a substantially larger share of households with extremely low levels of accessibility, as a result of disproportionately low access to private vehicles.