How to spend the newly dedicated public transportation funding: investigating transportation access among individuals experiencing homelessness

ABSTRACT

The current study explores perceived difficulty accessing transportation among persons experiencing homelessness in two communities, one with and one without a public bus system. Researchers administered a survey (N = 164) containing nine items measured on a 5-point Likert scale; higher scores indicated greater difficulty with transportation access. The scale, with the omission of one item, was found to demonstrate adequate validity and reliability in this sample. In addition, a higher percentage of participants reported finding it difficult or very difficult to cover the cost of transportation, get places quickly, find transportation, and find transportation at night and on the weekends. Residents in the community lacking public transit scored statistically significantly higher difficulties than the community with public transit. Findings can inform federal and state spending focused on transportation equity and disadvantaged communities.

KEYWORDS:

• transportation accessibility
• transportation disadvantage
• homelessness
• social exclusion
• measurement

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the City of Arlington, Texas, Office of Community Development, the Arlington Housing Authority, and the Volunteer Ministry Center of Knoxville, Tennessee for their support in recruitment and data collection.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data available on request because of privacy/ethical restrictions.

Additional information

Funding

The City of Arlington supported the data collection in Arlington, Texas. The Knoxville, Tennessee, site was not supported by funding.

Notes on contributors

Melody Huslage

Melody Huslage is a PhD student in the College of Social Work at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. With a bachelor's degree in computer science and an MSSW, Ms. Huslage employs interdisciplinary collaborations toward the goal of empowering marginalized communities. Utilizing an intersectional framework, her research spans reproductive health, immigrant communities, gender-based violence, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Courtney Cronley

Dr Courtney Cronley is an Associate Professor in the College of Social Work at the University of Tennessee (UT). Her research spans homelessness and housing and transportation equity, feminist geography, intersectionality, and access to opportunities, with a focus on women and children experiencing housing insecurity. She is faculty liaison for the National Center for Excellence in Homeless Services and a Faculty Fellow in the UT Center for Transportation Research. Dr Cronley utilizes mixed methods and participatory and community-based research methodologies. Her synergistic research includes urban planning and transportation systems as they relate to land use, mobility, and environmental justice for underserved populations.

Erin M. Roark

Erin Roark, LMSW, is an Assistant Professor at Augusta University. Her research centers on elevating the voices of older adults with lived experience of homelessness and the role of participatory arts in the formation of creative communities to combat social isolation.

Kristel Scoresby

Kristel Scoresby is a PhD student in the College of Social Work at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is an experienced licensed clinical social worker with at risk adolescents and adults. She conducts mixed methods research that centers inequities and barriers to mental health care, universal design, and access to research. She is also a graduate research assistant in the veterinary social work program and leads collaborative research projects to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the veterinary field.