Daily Travel by Persons with Low Income

Abstract

Persons in households with low incomes are much less likely to have a vehicle, largely in part because a greater proportion of their income is spent on shelter and food. About a quarter (26%) of low income households do not have a car, compared to 4% of other households These low income households often are without regular telephone service because it is an additional expense. Thus, monthly payments for a car or car insurance would be very difficult to meet. When these households have a car, the car is quite old. The average car is 10 years old in low income households, compared to 7.3 years for other households. However, in low income households, there is on average, only .7 vehicles per adult, compared to over 1 vehicle per adult in other households. Despite having fewer vehicles, people in low income households still make most of their trips in private vehicles. These trips are much more likely to be made in a vehicle owned by someone else, like a friend or relative (8 percent for low income, compared to 1 percent for other income groups). The biggest difference in travel mode is in the proportion of walking trips. People in low income households are nearly twice as likely to walk as people in other income groups. For example, for work (and work-related) trips, low income households report 5 percent by walk, compared to 3 percent for other income groups. Low income households are also more likely to use transit to work (5 percent compared to 2 percent). Because so many trips are made by walking, the space in which people in low income households travel is more constricted than for others. About 60 percent of their trips are 3 miles or less, compared to 50 percent for other households. For low income single parent households, about 66 percent of trips are 3 miles or less.

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