GRTC expansion improved job access, study concludes

The redesigned Greater Richmond Transit Company network of bus routes has provided walking-distance access to about 11,400 jobs in the region – most of them in Henrico's West End – that weren't as easily accessible before, a VCU study concluded.

GRTC overhauled its bus routes in the summer to correspond with the launch of the Pulse rapid transit bus line, which runs on a constant loop between Rocketts Landing and Willow Lawn.

More than 195,000 jobs in the region now are accessible within a quarter-mile of the GRTC service area – a six-percent increase from the prior routes, the study found. And nearly 240,000 jobs are accessible within a half-mile of the new routes – an 11-percent jump from the old routes, it found.

VCU's Center for Urban and Regional Analysis conducted the study, which also concluded that although job access has improved with the changes, access to the public transit itself for low-income households may actually have worsened.

“The Pulse and the reroute have made significant changes to the city’s transit network system,” said Sarin Adhikari, research economist with the Center for Urban and Regional Analysis. “While GRTC has taken a forward-thinking approach to improving jobs accessibility, there is still room for improvement related to improving transit access to affordable housing and increasing high- connectivity nodes near low-income neighborhoods.”

The study found that the number of residential units within one-quarter mile of transit stops decreased by about 22 percent after the reroute. About half of residential units in low-income neighborhoods are not served by transit stops with high connectivity.

The study determined high connectivity by measuring variables such as frequency, average speed on the route, average distance to destination and the number of available routes that serve the stop.

The redesigned transit network was the first major update to the region's system since the 1940s. It included significant expansion of bus lines as far west as Short Pump, opening up a number of opportunities for employees and potential employees to reach an area of dense retail and commercial job opportunities.

“While the city is pursuing a path of further economic development and growth, it is our collective responsibility — and, in particular, of policy and decision makers — to ensure the whole community reaps the benefits of this Richmond economic expansion,” said Fabrizio Fasulo, director of the Center for Urban and Regional Analysis. “This is especially important for the marginalized and disadvantaged communities in the region that have felt, and rightfully so, left behind in past developments.”