Access to job opportunities declined in large U.S. cities as economic and transportation conditions have continued to evolve in the COVID era, according to new research from the Accessibility Observatory at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies.
Since 2014, the annual Access Across America (AAA) study has used comprehensive walking, biking, transit and auto travel data to analyze the sustainability of transportation options for residents of major urban areas. The study defines accessibility as the number of jobs that a typical worker can reach, on average, within 30 minutes. Typically, land use and transportation networks only change gradually from year to year, but — following the trend from 2021 — the 2022 report illustrates some of the ways that Americans are still dealing with aftershocks from the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.