The Role of Public Transportation in Youngstown

The Center analyzed the relationship between public transit availability and employment in the entry-level job hubs. Using a Poisson model for the Youngstown origin-destination matrix, we found that a 10-minute decrease in rush-hour travel times by public transit is expected to increase employment by almost 7%. This means that 224 more residents of each low-income census tract will have access to the entry-level job hubs in Youngstown. As transit agencies are experiencing major disruptions to normal operating procedures because of the COVID-19 pandemic, our findings show that without access to public transportation many people lose prospective employment.