What is the Effect of Commute Time on Employment? An Analysis of Spatial Patterns in the New York Metropolitan Area

This study uses 1995 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS) data to determine the effect of commute time, a measure of accessibility, on employment for residents of the New York- Northern New Jersey-Long Island consolidated metropolitan statistical area (CMSA). The study uses two models to test the hypothesis that higher commute times are associated with lower employment probabilities, and considers both employed and non-employed individuals and private vehicle and public transit commute modes. In the first model, an ordinary least squares regression is used to predict commute time by auto and transit for all New York CMSA respondents (regardless of whether employed) on the basis of individual, household, neighborhood, and workplace characteristics. In the second model, a binary probit model estimates employment probability on the basis of individual, household, and neighborhood characteristics, as well as predicted commute time. The policy implications of the findings are discussed