Getting Around When You’re Just Getting By: Transportation Survival Strategies of the Poor

Abstract

Researchers argue that transportation expenditures impose a heavy burden on low-income households, many of whom experience difficulty managing their travel costs. However, relatively little research explores how low-income households manage their mobility needs. To address this issue, this study uses qualitative data from interviews with 73 low-income people living in and around San Jose, California. The interviews reveal the resiliency of low-income families in creatively managing their transportation costs. However, the transportation survival strategies of the poor can come at a high price—fewer miles traveled and, therefore, reduced access to opportunities that may lift them out of poverty.

KEYWORDS:

• expenditure burden
• transportation
• survival strategies
• mobility
• public transit
• automobiles

Notes

1. These data were collected as part of a larger research project exploring multiple aspects of how transportation costs affect low-income households’ mobility (Agrawal, Blumenberg, Abel, Pierce, & Darrah, 2011).

2. Interviewers replaced the names of the interviewees with pseudonyms to protect the interviewees’ confidentiality.

3. A single ride ticket is $2.00—so four rides (two per person) would be $8.00. As the interviewee states, a day pass is $6.00. So if the two riders shared a pass, each rider would pay $3.00.

4. On average low-income adults travel fewer miles than higher-income adults. Under a flat fare structure, they, therefore, pay higher fares per mile than higher income, longer distance travelers (Cervero, 1981).