A recent study shows that U.S. transportation systems fall short on social equity, with seniors, rural residents, low-income, disabled, and carless populations facing the biggest barriers in accessing everyday amenities by public transit and walking.
Imagine needing to see a doctor, buy groceries, or just enjoy a park — but you can’t get there because buses don’t run in your area, sidewalks are unsafe, or you don’t own a car. 🚶♀️🚍🚫 For many Americans, that’s the reality.
Transportation isn’t just about moving people from A to B. It’s about access to opportunities: jobs, schools, healthcare, recreation, and daily essentials. When access isn’t equal, social equity suffers.
That’s exactly what a new study published in Urban Science set out to investigate. Researchers from North Dakota State University analyzed how well people across the U.S. can reach “non-work amenities” — things like grocery stores, healthcare facilities, retail shops, and entertainment spots — through public transit and walking.
Their findings? 🧐 Transportation equity in the U.S. is far from balanced. Let’s unpack what they discovered.
The team used data from the 2017 National Community Livability Survey, which captured people’s perceptions of access in their communities. They built logistic regression models (a type of statistical model) to compare disadvantaged vs. advantaged groups across different demographics.
Disadvantaged groups included:
👵 Older adults (75+)
🚶 People without a driver’s license
🧑🦽 Physically disabled individuals
💰 Medicare/Medicaid recipients (often low-income, elderly, or disabled)
🏡 Non-metro (rural) residents
👩 Women
🎓 Students & unemployed individuals
The goal was simple but powerful: Are these groups getting fair access to essential daily destinations compared to others?
The results showed clear inequities in public transit access across the U.S. Here’s what stood out:
Compared to young adults (18–34), seniors had far lower odds of reaching non-work amenities by public transit. Young adults were 2.7x more likely to reach retail shopping and nearly 4x more likely to reach healthcare by bus .
Why? Seniors often face physical challenges, limited driving ability, and reduced car ownership. Yet, transit systems don’t fully meet their needs.
If you live in a metro area, you’re in luck: odds of reaching grocery stores, healthcare, or recreation by bus are about 2x higher than in non-metro areas .
Rural residents face fewer buses, longer distances, and lower funding. Policymakers are urged to prioritize rural transit improvements to close this gap .
No car? You’re more likely to depend on buses. The study found households with zero vehicles had significantly higher odds of using transit for daily needs compared to those with multiple cars .
This shows just how vital public transit is for carless households — and why weakening transit networks directly harms them.
People covered under Medicare/Medicaid (often low-income seniors or disabled) had lower odds of reaching recreation and entertainment venues by transit.
Worryingly, access to hospitals by transit wasn’t significantly better for these groups. For populations who rely most on healthcare, that’s a red flag 🚨.
Interestingly, men and women showed similar odds of accessing non-work amenities by transit. However, women’s greater reliance on transit (due to caregiving and household duties) still makes equity a concern .
The study didn’t stop at buses — it also examined walk access. After all, walking is the most affordable, eco-friendly mode of transportation. But equity gaps showed up here too:
Older adults had much lower odds of walking to grocery stores, healthcare, or recreation . Fear of falls, unsafe crossings, and long distances are major barriers.
Physically disabled individuals were significantly less likely to walk to amenities compared to non-disabled groups. This underscores the need for wheelchair-friendly sidewalks, ramps, and safer crossings.
Women were less likely than men to walk to retail shops. Studies show worries about harassment, crime, and traffic safety strongly affect women’s walking patterns.
Just like with transit, people in non-metro areas had worse walking access. Car-focused designs and long distances make walking impractical.
Unlike other categories, race didn’t show big disparities in public transit. Surprisingly, non-white populations had more equitable walk access to amenities than white groups. Researchers suggest cultural and neighborhood differences may explain this.
The study paints a clear picture:
In short: the very groups who depend most on transit and walking are the ones facing the steepest barriers.
This inequity doesn’t just affect mobility. It impacts healthcare access, food security, employment opportunities, and overall quality of life. Transportation isn’t just infrastructure — it’s a lifeline.
The authors didn’t just highlight problems — they suggested ways forward:
Transportation is often seen as concrete, steel, and schedules. But at its core, it’s about people and fairness.
This research shows that our current system unintentionally disadvantages those who need it most. Seniors struggle to get groceries, rural residents can’t reach healthcare easily, disabled individuals face unsafe walking routes, and low-income groups risk being cut off from essentials.
By embracing social equity in transportation system planning, we can build not just smarter cities — but kinder, fairer communities. 🏙️❤️🌍
🚌 Public Transit - Shared transportation like buses, subways, or trains that anyone can use, usually run by the city or regional agencies.
🚶 Walkability - How easy, safe, and pleasant it is to move around a neighborhood on foot — sidewalks, crossings, and distance to destinations all matter. - More about this concept in the article "🚶♂️ Walking the Talk: How Engineers Measure City Walkability".
⚖️ Social Equity - Fairness in how opportunities, services, and resources are distributed across different groups in society. In transportation, it means everyone should have equal access to essential places.
🏙️ Metro vs. Non-Metro - “Metro” areas are cities and their suburbs with dense populations and services. “Non-metro” refers to rural or small-town areas with fewer people and often fewer transportation options.
📊 Logistic Regression - A statistical method researchers use to predict the odds of something happening (like reaching a grocery store by bus) based on different factors such as age, gender, or income.
🚫 Regressive Equity - When disadvantaged groups (like seniors or low-income households) end up with worse access compared to advantaged groups — the opposite of fairness.
🛣️ Accessibility - The ease of reaching important places (like work, healthcare, or shopping) using available transportation. It’s not just about speed — it’s about whether you can get there at all.
🧑🦽 Mobility Needs - Different levels of ability people have to move around. For example, someone in a wheelchair has different mobility needs than someone who can drive.
⚕️ Non-Work Amenities - Everyday places people go that aren’t related to their jobs: grocery stores, banks, parks, hospitals, or shopping centers.
Source: Khan, M.A.; Godavarthy, R.; Mattson, J.; Motuba, D. Public Transit and Walk Access to Non-Work Amenities in the United States—A Social Equity Perspective. Urban Sci. 2025, 9, 392. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci9100392
From: National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Pakistan; North Dakota State University.
