center city reports: getting to work: transit, density & opportunity

1CENTER CITY DISTRICT & CENTRAL PHILADELPHIA DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION WWW.CENTERCITYPHILA.ORG

CENTER CITY REPORTS

JUNE 2016

1: Greater Center City, from Girard Avenue to Tasker Street, river to river, holds 286,427 salaried jobs; another 8,500 individuals are compensated either as partners or work freelance.

2: Transit-accessible University City holds another 11% of the city’s jobs.

3: 81% of the region’s commuters use a car, truck or van to get to work, 90% driving alone. Accounting for the 10% of those who carpool, there are approximately 0.77 vehicles involved in commuting for each worker in the region.

Center City Philadelphia, located at the center of the region’s transit network, holds the largest concentration of employment anywhere in the metro area, with 295,000 jobs.¹ More than 1 million residents of surrounding suburban counties live within one mile of a rail station, connecting them directly to downtown’s employers, retail shops, restaurants, educational, medical, arts and cultural institu-tions. Fifty percent (50%) of city residents can commute by transit to Center City in 30 minutes or less; 61% of those who live in Greater Center City can get to City Hall (the geographic center of downtown) in 15 minutes or less. Center City's transit connectivity is particu-larly important to the substantial number of lower-income Philadel-phia residents who do not own cars.

JOB DENSITY AND TRANSITTransit is not just a convenience; it is essential to the density that enables Center City to provide 42% of all jobs in Philadelphia.² If downtown workers relied on cars to the same degree as commut-ers across the region, then 295,000 workers would arrive each day in 227,150 cars.³ At 330 square feet per parking space, we would

need a giant, surface parking lot of 2.6 square miles – larger than William Penn’s original plan for the city (2.2 square miles river to river, Vine to South) – leaving little room for the office buildings, ho-tels, hospitals, universities, residences, cultural institutions, historic destinations, restaurants, retail shops and parks that define the diversity and create employment opportunities downtown. Instead, SEPTA rail, subway, trolley and bus lines converge with PATCO and NJ Transit from New Jersey to deliver 290,000 workers, students, visitors, shoppers and patients each weekday into Center City.

Center City employers benefit not just from a multi-modal transit system, but also from the rapidly growing, live-work neighborhoods that are expanding around the downtown core. While just 10% of downtown jobs are held by Greater Center City residents, the per-centage of downtown residents with a BA degree or higher is 58%, nearly twice the regional rate of 34%. This critical mass of talent is positively impacting business-location decisions. Another 41% of downtown jobs are held by residents of city neighborhoods, north of Girard Avenue, south of Tasker Street and west of the Schuylkill River; 39% are held by residents of the suburban counties surrounding Philadelphia.

CENTER CITY DISTRICT,CENTRAL PHILADELPHIA DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION &CENTRAL PHILADELPHIA TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION

FIND MORE REPORTS AT:

CENTERCITYPHILA.ORG

JUNE 2016

GETTING TO WORK: TRANSIT, DENSITY & OPPORTUNITY

Peter Tobia

2 CENTER CITY DISTRICT & CENTRAL PHILADELPHIA DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION WWW.CENTERCITYPHILA.ORG

Evesham Medford

Bristol

Cherry Hill

Bensalem

Logan

Radnor

Lower Merion

Abington

Deptford

Mount Laurel

Tredyffrin

Marple

Whitpain

Upper Merion

Burlington

Camden

Voorhees

West Deptford

Moorestown

Whitemarsh

Greenwich

Middletown

Gloucester

Tinicum

Delran

Newtown

Worcester

Aston

Haverford

Upper Dublin

Middletown

Pennsauken

Edgmont

Plymouth

Easttown

Lower Providence

Ridley

Chester

Cheltenham

Willistown

Willingboro

Horsham

Upper Darby

Cinnaminson

Springfield

Hainesport

Springfield

Brandywine

Westampton

Berlin

Bethel

Upper Moreland

East Norriton

Lower Moreland

West Norriton

East Greenwich

Lumberton

Berlin

Delanco

Lower Gwynedd

Upper Chichester

Upper Providence

Burlington

Upper Providence

Bellmawr

Northampton

Palmyra

Upper Southampton

Haddon

Concord

Schuylkill

Paulsboro

Skippack

Pine Hill

Warminster

Darby

Trappe

Lindenwold

Lower Southampton

Norristown

Maple Shade

Bristol

Nether Providence

Haddonfield

Yeadon

Gibbsboro

Woodbury

Trainer

Edgewater Park

Chester

Folcroft

Gloucester City

Clementon

Hatboro

Bryn Athyn

Runnemede

Riverside

Audubon

Stratford

BarringtonLawnsideWestville

Eddystone

Darby

Brookhaven

Collingswood

Chester Heights

Thornbury

Somerdale

Collegeville

Media

Marcus Hook

Ambler

Riverton

Swarthmore

Beverly

National Park

Aldan

Lansdowne

Magnolia

OaklynDarby

Haddon Heights

Glenolden

Ridley Park

Upland

Norwood

Collingdale

Conshohocken

Pine Hill

Sharon Hill

Bridgeport

Woodbury Heights

Rose Valley

Mantua

Lower Chichester

Mount Ephraim

Narberth

Wenonah

Prospect Park

Penndel

Morton

Jenkintown

Brooklawn

Haddon

Langhorne

Pine Valley

West Conshohocken

Merchantville

Clifton Heights

Washington

Colwyn

Hulmeville

Langhorne Manor

Rockledge

Laurel Springs

Hi-Nella

Tavistock

Upper Gwynedd

Parkside

Woodlynne

Haddon

Rutledge

East Lansdowne

Audubon Park

Far Northeast

Near Northeast

South Philadelphia

Olney/Oak Lane

Southwest Philadelphia

North Philadelphia

West Philadelphia

Greater Center City

Germantown/Chestnut Hill

Bridesburg/Kensington/Richmond

Roxborough/Manayunk

University CityDELAWARE

MONTGOMERY

BURLINGTON

CAMDEN

BUCKS

PHILADELPHIA

GLOUCESTER

CHESTER

NEW CASTLE

SEPTA:

Broad Street Line

Market-Frankford Line

Norristown Highspeed Line

Regional Rail Lines

PATCO:

PATCO

FIGURE 1: REGIONAL JOBS AND TRANSIT LINES BY PHILADEPHIA AREA AND SUBURBAN MUNICIPALITY

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Local Employment-Household Dynamics, 2014

JOBS:

100,000 Total jobs by area within Philadelphia

Total jobs by municipalityin surrounding counties

AT THE CENTER OF THE REGION’S TRANSIT NETWORK, CENTER CITY IS ALSO THE METRO AREA'S LARGEST EMPLOYMENT NODE, WITH 295,000 JOBS.


City Hall

GIRARD AVE

VINE ST

PINE ST

VINE ST

MARKET ST

TASKER ST

BR

OA

D S

T

RACE-VINE2,290

CITY HALL31,995

LOMBARD-SOUTH2,644

WALNUT-LOCUST 6,460

8TH & MARKET5,578

5TH ST STATION3,306

11TH ST STATION9,090

SUBURBANSTATION25,049

2ND ST STATION3,307

JEFFERSONSTATION14,369

9TH/10TH & LOCUST1,608

22ND ST STATION1,741







CHINATOWN164

FIGURE 2: 2015 AVERAGE WEEKDAY RIDERSHIP IN CENTER CITY

PATCOTROLLEYREGIONAL RAILBROAD STREET LINEMARKET-FRANKFORD LINE

SEPTA: PATCO: 15,516 NJ TRANSIT: 4,084Subway Lines: 116,590; Bus Lines: 91,813; Regional Rail Lines: 39,418; Trolley Lines: 23,244

Source: SEPTA, NJ Transit, PATCONote: Ridership counts for 13th and 15th Street Stations include both Market-Frankford Line and Trolley riders.

GETTING TO WORK, GREATER CENTER CITYResidents of Greater Center City enjoy the most commuting alter-natives and rely the least on cars (Figure 6). Because 40% work in Center City (the highest live/work ratio in the city and region) and another 12% work in University City, 60% get to work without a car. By contrast, 60% of the residents of the balance of Philadelphia and 80% of the residents of surrounding counties depend on cars for their daily commute.

In Greater Center City, the closer one lives to the core, within the pre-automobile street-grid established in the 17th and 18th centu-ries, the lower the dependency on a car for commuting (Figure 5). In the neighborhoods of Rittenhouse Square, Chinatown, Washington Square, and Logan Square, more people walk to work than drive (Figure 4). In almost all of Greater Center City, the majority of com-muters get to work by means other than a car; the only exceptions are neighborhoods at the periphery, along I-76 and I-95, like Grays Ferry, Pennsport, the Waterfront and Northern Liberties. Overall, Center City has the lowest reverse-commute rate to the suburbs (24%) of any portion of Philadelphia. Source: US Census Bureau, Local Employment - Household Dynamics, 2014

10% 10%GREATER

CENTER CITY

41% ELSEWHERE INPHILADELPHIA

39%METRO AREA

OUTSIDEPHILADELPHIA

ALL OTHER

FIGURE 3: WHERE DOWNTOWN WORKERS LIVE

FAIRMOUNT/SPRING GARDEN

CHINATOWN OLD CITY

WATERFRONT

SOCIETY HILLWASHINGTON SQARE WESTRITTENHOUSE

SOUTH ST

TASKER ST

UNIVERSITY CITY CAMDEN

GRADUATE HOSPITAL

LOGAN SQUARE

CALLOWHILL/POPLAR NORTHERN LIBERTIES

BELLA VISTAQUEEN VILLAGE

PENNSPORTPASSYUNK SQUAREPOINT BREEZEGRAYS FERRY

GREATER CENTER CITY

CORE CENTER CITY

VINE ST

FIGURE 5: COMMUTING WITHOUT A CAR, GREATER CENTER CITY

Source: US Census Bureau,American Community Survey 2014 5-Year Estimates

81%–100%

61%–80%

41%–60%

21%–40%

0%–20%

NO DATA

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

CAR

63%

56%

56%

48%

47%

44%

40%

40%

38%

37%

37%

36%

35%

33%

28%

28%

25% 16%

17%

22%

17%

37%

22%

40%

21%

32%

21%

24%

21%

25%

37%

26%

23%

16%

42%

50%

39%

21%

42%

27%

10%

29%

14%

21%

22%

22%

16%

6%

8%

8%

10%

5%

2%

5%

2%

4%

4%

7%

5%

3%

3%

10%

7%

9%

5%

3%

6%

8%

2%

5%

4%

3%

6%

8%

8%

11%

6%

6%

3%

6%

6%

2%

10%

1%

9% 2%

1%

1%

1%

0%

2%

0%

2%

2%

2%2%

1%

2%

0%

2%

2%

1%

TRANSIT WALK BIKE OTHERHOMERITTENHOUSE

CHINATOWN

WASHINGTON SQUARE

LOGAN SQUARE

OLD CITY

BELLA VISTA

POINT BREEZE

GRADUATE HOSPITAL

PASSYUNK SQUARE

QUEEN VILLAGE

LOFT DISTRICT

SOCIETY HILL

FAIRMOUNT

GRAYS FERRY

NORTHERN LIBERTIES

PENNSPORT

WATERFRONT

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2014 5-Year Estimates

FIGURE 4: COMMUTING MODE BY NEIGHBORHOOD

4


GETTING TO WORK, CITY AND REGIONBeyond the downtown core, auto-free commuting is possible along subway and trolley lines that were extended in the early 20th century into Lower North, West, South, and Southwest Philadel-phia (Figure 7).⁴ In those areas, more than half of workers reach their job without using a car. The Regional Rail lines, particularly in Northwest Philadelphia, provide good connectivity as well to Center City and University City. Outside of Philadelphia, most of the car-free commuters are also living along regional rail lines – particu-larly the Paoli/Thorndale and Media/Elwyn Lines, the Norristown High Speed Line, and PATCO.

In the balance of the neighborhoods of Philadelphia outside Greater Center City, an average of 25% of workers commute to jobs in Center City; another 6% work in University City. In all these neigh-borhoods, more people work downtown than they do in the area in which they live (the citywide average live/work ratio is 12%, Figure 9). But 39% of city residents who live outside Greater Center City commute to jobs outside the city and are highly dependent on cars.

AN AVERAGE OF 25% OF THE WORK-ING RESIDENTS OF NEIGHBORHOODS OUTSIDE THE DOWNTOWN COMMUTE TO JOBS IN CENTER CITY; ANOTHER 6% WORK IN UNIVERSITY CITY. IN ALL THESE NEIGH BORHOODS, MORE PEOPLE WORK DOWNTOWN THAN IN THE AREA IN WHICH THEY LIVE.

4: Defined by Philadelphia City Planning Commission districts.

Peter Tobia


FIGURE 7: COMMUTING WITHOUT A CAR, CITY AND REGION


81%–100%

61%–80%

41%–60%

21%–40%

0%–20%

NO DATA

RAIL LINES

FIGURE 6: MODE OF COMMUTING TO WORK – GREATER CENTER CITY, PHILADELPHIA AND PHILADELPHIA METRO AREA


GREATER CENTER CITY PHILADELPHIA METRO AREAPHILADELPHIA

CAR

TRANSIT

WALK

BIKE

HOME

OTHER

59% 26%

8% 2%3% 1%

CAR

TRANSIT

WALK

BIKE

HOME

OTHER

80% 11%

6% 0%2% 1%

CAR

TRANSIT

WALK

BIKE

HOME

OTHER

39% 24% 25%

6%5% 2%

39% 59% 26%

80%

11% 6% 8%

24%

25%

6%

6


0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

6%

7%

7%

7%

8%

9%

11%

11%

12%

14%

16%

40%

Source: US Census Bureau, Local Employment - Household Dynamics, 2014

GREATER CENTER CITY

UNIVERSITY CITY

SOUTH PHILADELPHIA

FAR NORTHEAST

NEAR NORTHEAST

NORTH PHILADELPHIA

BRIDESBURG/KENSINGTON

GERMANTOWN/CHESTNUT HILL

SOUTHWEST PHILADELPHIA

WEST PHILADELPHIA

ROXBOROUGH/MANAYUNK

OLNEY/OAK LANE

FIGURE 9: LIVE/WORK PERCENTAGE BY AREA OF PHILADELPHIA

FIGURE 8: WHERE PHILADELPHIANS WORK

FIGURE 7: COMMUTING WITHOUT A CAR, CITY AND REGION


81%–100%

61%–80%

41%–60%

21%–40%

0%–20%

NO DATA

RAIL LINES

PERCENT OF WORKERSEMPLOYED IN

PERCENT WORKING IN GREATER CENTER CITY AND UNIVERSITY CITY

25% OR LESS

25.1% TO 35%

35.1% TO 45%

MORE THAN 45%

UNIVERSITY CITY

25,000

GREATER CENTER CITY

SAME AREA

REST OF PHILADELPHIA

OUTSIDE PHILADELPHIA

ROXBOROUGH/MANAYUNK GERMANTOWN/

CHESTNUT HILL

OLNEY/OAK LANENEAR NORTHEAST

BRIDESBURG/KENSINGTON/

RICHMOND

UNIVERSITY CITY

SOUTHPHILADELPHIASOUTHWEST

PHILADELPHIA

WESTPHILADELPHIA

NORTH PHILADELPHIA

GREATERCENTER CITY

FAR NORTHEAST


VOLUME OF WORKERS LIVING IN AREA

40%

26%38%

19%7%10%

22%

3%

19%

22%

24%40%

22%8%

6%

23%

46%

18%7%

6%4%6%

28%

40%

18%

14%2%

20%

46%

42%

11%

25%

3%

11%

26%

21%

16% 42%

21%

38%

16%13%

32%

33%

24%35%4%

27%

8%7%

20%

38% 28%9%

5%13% 14%

35%


REVERSE COMMUTINGFor Philadelphia residents who commute to work outside the city, the most frequent destinations are in adjacent Pennsylvania counties: Montgomery County is the locale for 13% (73,391 jobs) held by Philadelphia residents; Delaware and Bucks Counties, each account for 5% (33,462 jobs and 31,661 jobs, respectively). Despite proximity, Camden County holds only 2% of the jobs taken by Philadelphia residents.

Figure 10 shows the top 10 reverse-commuting destination municipalities for Philadelphians, ranked by number of jobs. Six out of 10 are in Montgomery County; Delaware and Bucks Counties are home to two each. The top two, Lower Merion, with 10,247 jobs held by Philadelphia residents, and Bensalem, with 9,333 held by city residents, directly border Philadelphia. Upper Merion, which contains the King of Prussia mall and office parks, is in the third position, with 8,402 of its total 57,960 jobs held by Philadelphia residents, despite its distance from the city.

The high position of Bensalem and Abington in the rankings is due largely to commuters coming from nearby Northeast Phila-delphia. The home neighborhoods for Philadelphians working in Lower Merion and Upper Merion are much more geographically diverse, with these townships ranking as the first or second top reverse-commuting destination for every other part of the City of Philadelphia. Despite having less than one-fifth of the population of Greater Center City, Upper Merion (home of the King of Prus-sia Mall) has almost three-quarters as many retail jobs – a sector which pays an average wage of $25,000 per year. To fill those posi-tions, Upper Merion needs to import labor from outside its borders, including many workers from Philadelphia. Fully 95% of Upper Merion’s work force commutes in from outside the municipality, with almost 15% of its jobs staffed by Philadelphia residents.

There is nothing unusual about commuting between counties within a region. In fact, the designation of a metropolitan sta-tistical area (MSA) by the Office of Management and Budget is based on economic interconnectivity – employee commuting and business-to-business patterns - within a cluster of counties. The

Peter Tobia


0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

MONTGOMERY COUNTY BUCKS COUNTY DELAWARE COUNTY

LOWER MERION BENSALEM UPPER MERION ABINGTON TINICUM HORSHAM CHELTENHAM PLYMOUTH UPPER DARBY MIDDLETOWN

Source: US Census Bureau, Local Employment - Household Dynamics, 2014

10,247 9,333 8,402 7,917 4,925 4,728 4,280 4,266 4,139 3,743

FIGURE 10: TOP REVERSE-COMMUTING MUNICIPALITIES FOR COMMUTERS FROM PHILADELPHIA

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington MSA includes Philadelphia and the four suburban Pennsylvania counties, four suburban counties in New Jersey, and one county each, in Delaware and Maryland. The Pennsylvania and New Jersey suburbs have the strongest connec-tions with Philadelphia. In those eight counties, 13% of workers commute to Philadelphia, with the highest percentages of workers coming from Delaware County (23%) and Montgomery County (17%). But Philadelphia’s reverse-commuting rate is more than twice the rate of New York City’s and this poses significant challenges for many lower-income residents.

The educational levels required for suburban jobs are not signifi-cantly different from the educational levels required for downtown jobs. A slightly higher percentage of downtown jobs require a BA degree. But across the city and region about a third of all jobs re-quire no more than a high school diploma; another 30% require an associate degree (Figure 11).

The suburbs simply have more jobs and in the last 25 years, surrounding counties have steadily added opportunity, while Philadelphia, despite success in Center City and University City, has 9.4% (72,803) fewer jobs than in 1990 (Figure 12).

The challenge comes into even sharper focus when Philadelphia is viewed in a longer time-frame and placed alongside East Coast peers. Boston, New York and Washington, D.C. have all surpassed the job levels they had in 1970 (Figure 13). But Philadelphia is still 28% below the employment number it had in 1970; this represents a loss of 274,449 jobs, which in 2016 terms is the equivalent of losing nearly every job in Greater Center City.

WITH LESS THAN ONE FIFTH OF THE POPULATION OF GREATER CENTER CITY, UPPER MERION HAS ALMOST THREE QUARTERS AS MANY RETAIL JOBS, HELPING TO DRAW 8,400 WORKERS FROM PHILADELPHIA IN SPITE OF THE LONG COMMUTE.


0

200

400

600

800

1990 2014

Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Total Full and Part-Time Employment

JOBS (THOUSANDS)

PHILADELPHIA, PA BUCKS, PA CHESTER, PA DELAWARE, PA MONTGOMERY, PA BURLINGTON, NJ CAMDEN, NJ GLOUCESTER, NJ

777,

888

705,

085

224,

259

175,

140

218,

894

238,

693

440,

714

514,

089

172,

971

219,

537

215,

212

210,

153

76,8

366

107,

374

264,

796

271,

591

PERCENT CHANGE -9.4% +21.1% +51.2% +9.0% +16.6% +26.9% -2.4% +39.7%

FIGURE 12: TOTAL WAGE & SALARY JOBS, 1990 VS. 2014, PHILADELPHIA AND ADJACENT COUNTIES

JOBS IN THE SUBURBS REQUIRE SIMILAR EDUCATION LEVELS AS THOSE IN THE CITY. BUT 39% OF PHILADELPHIANS REVERSE COMMUTE TO WHERE THE MOST JOB GROWTH HAS OCCURRED. MORE JOB GROWTH DOWNTOWN CAN BE PARTICULARLY BENEFICIAL TO LOWER-INCOME CITY RESIDENTS WHO DON’T OWN CARS.

FIGURE 11: PERCENT OF JOBS BY LEVEL OF EDUCATION REQUIRED, WORKERS 30 AND OLDER


GREATER CENTER CITY PHILADELPHIA METRO AREAPHILADELPHIA

HIGH SCHOOL OR LESS

SOME COLLEGE/ASSOCIATE

BACHELOR’S DEGREE OR MORE

HIGH SCHOOL OR LESS



HIGH SCHOOL OR LESS



32.0%

29.6%

38.4%

34.7%

30.3%

35.0%

34.7%

30.9%

34.5%

32.0%

29.6%

38.4% 35.0% 34.7% 34.5%

30.9%

34.7%

30.3%


TRAPPED IN OLD TRENDS Across the country, the top 25 most populous cities have been growing jobs faster than the overall economy. Our Northeast peers have more than replaced their lost manufacturing jobs with new post-industrial opportunities. In many cities, the old story of decline has ended. But too many portions of Philadelphia are still living the post-World War II economic narrative that undermined American cities, as residents and employers left central cities for auto-de-pendent suburbs. As people and jobs decentralized, the average number of vehicle miles Americans traveled each year steadily rose, increasing by 78% between 1971 and 2016 (Figure 14).

Between 1970 and 2014, as Philadelphia was losing population and jobs, the city dropped from a 45% share of regional employment to just 24% of metro-area jobs (Figure 15). At the same time, the city and region experienced a significant shift from transit to driving: in 1970, the mode split in Philadelphia was 50% driving and 37% transit; by 2014, 59% were driving and transit dropped to 27%. In the region, the 1970 mode split was 69% driving and 19% transit; by 2014, 81% were driving and just 10% were taking transit.

For morning commuters taking SEPTA regional rail out of the city, more than a quarter ride the Paoli-Thorndale Line, which connects Philadelphia to employment centers in Montgomery, Delaware, and Chester Counties – including the numbers one and three re-verse-commuting destinations – Lower Merion and Upper Merion.⁵ The largest transit destination outside of Philadelphia for outbound commuters is Paoli Station, where riders can access three bus

routes (204, 205, and 206) that connect to suburban office parks and retail centers. For other outbound commuters, SEPTA suburban bus routes are supplemented by shuttle operators, either operat-ed by suburban agencies, like Rushbus in Bucks County, or by the employers themselves.

In the last 40 years, Center City and University City have emerged as vibrant, live-work clusters built around dense, post-industrial employment. Their success has brought Philadelphia’s declining share of regional jobs to an end. But their growth is neither strong enough, nor matched by enough other employment nodes in the city, to enable Philadelphia to regain regional market share. Thus, the farther one lives from the gravitational pull of Philadelphia’s two major, 21st century employment centers, the more likely one is to reverse commute to a suburban job. While 25% of the working residents of city neighborhoods outside downtown are commuting to Center City for work, 39% are reverse commuting to the suburbs. In the City Council Districts that border the suburbs, the rate climbs into the mid- to high-40% range (Figure 16).

There is probably no better predictor of out-migration from these neighborhoods than a reverse commute to the suburbs. Unless a working spouse is required to live in the city, reverse-commuters immediately get a 3.9% pay increase if they can find a home in the same county as their job and cease paying Philadelphia’s wage tax. There is a very strong statistical correlation between the municipalities to which Philadelphians reverse commute and the municipalities to which Philadelphians move.⁶

FIGURE 13: MAJOR CITIES TOTAL WAGE & SALARY EMPLOYMENT, 1970-2014

BOSTONWASHINGTON, D.C. PHILADELPHIANEW YORK CITY DETROIT

-40%

-30%

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

20%

2014201020052000199519901985198019751970

-28.0%

6.5%

19.7%

-34.5%

16.2%


PERCENT ABOVE/BELOW1970 EMPLOYMENT LEVELS

5: SEPTA, 2013 Rider Census

6: The correlation coefficient of 0.679 between out-commuting destination municipalities and out-migration destination municipalities demonstrates the strong connection between the two. While the statistic does not prove a causal relationship, experience suggests that people choose to live as close to their job as possible.


OPPORTUNITY AND EQUITY Automobiles are an integral part of modern life. But there are significant disadvantages to a complete dependency on driving that go beyond the frustration of traffic jams. Tailpipe emissions are a major source of pollutants and the EPA currently designates Philadelphia as a nonattainment area for ozone and a maintenance area for carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter. There are major equity implications as well.

For many, living without a car is a lifestyle choice made possible by neighborhoods with multiple transportation options that connect to nearby employment. Walking, biking, taking transit or summoning

cars via mobile apps are central to the new urban experience. But for many, being car-less is not a choice but rather a significant bur-den and a barrier to accessing dispersed employment opportunities. While 93% of suburban households have access to a vehicle and 61% have access to more than one, 33% of Philadelphia households lack access to a vehicle (Figure 17). For city households below the median income ($37,460), 50% have no access to a car.⁷ For them, connecting to employment opportunities in auto-oriented centers can be a considerable challenge, including commute times of more than an hour, requiring several changes of mode.⁸ Even those with limited means who own cars experience a considerable financial burden. AAA estimates the annual cost of owning and operating a vehicle at $8,500,⁹ clearly a stretch on a $37,000 annual income.

FIGURE 14: VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED PER CAPITA, 1971-2016

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

Source: Federal Reserve Economic Data

VMT PER CAPITA (THOUSANDS)

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978

1978

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

JUNE 2016

7: Calculation from Public Use Microsample of American Community Survey 2014 5-Year Estimates

8: Two thousand residents from North Philadelphia and Olney work in the King of Prussia area. For those without a car, the commute entails a subway or bus ride to 13th and Market to connect with the 124 or 125 bus to King of Prussia. Alternative routes pass through the Wissahickon Transportation Center, 69th Street, or 30th Street. All can take more than an hour.

9: http://newsroom.aaa.com/2015/04/annual-cost-operate-vehicle-falls-8698-finds-aaa-archive/

50% OF HOUSEHOLDS IN PHILADELPHIA WHO EARN BELOW THE MEDIAN INCOME DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO AN AUTOMOBILE. FOR THEM, BEING CARLESS IS NOT A CHOICE BUT A SIGNIFICANT BUR DEN AND A BARRIER TO ACCESSING DISPERSED EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES.


25%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

44.6%

24.4%

2014

2012

2010

2008

2006

2004

2002

2000

1998

1996

1994

1992

1990

1988

1986

1984

1982

1980

1978

1976

1974

1972

1970


PHILADELPHIA SHARE OF METRO-AREA JOBS

FIGURE 15: PHILADELPHIA SHARE OF REGION’S JOBS AND WORKERS

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

36.1%

23.0%

Source: US Census Bureau 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000 Decennial Census; ACS 2010 and 2014 1-Year Estimates

PHILADELPHIA SHARE OF METRO-AREA COMMUTERS

2014

2012

2010

2008

2006

2004

2002

2000

1998

1996

1994

1992

1990

1988

1986

1984

1982

1980

1978

1976

1974

1972

1970

FIGURE 16: PERCENT COMMUTING TO JOBS OUTSIDE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, BY CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT

RESIDENTS OUTSIDE OF CENTER CITY ARE REVERSE COMMUTING TO THE SUBURBS AT A VERY HIGH RATE. FOR THOSE WITHOUT CARS, THIS POSES A SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE.


DISTRICT 6

DISTRICT 7

40.7%

40.8%

46.1%

35.3%

DISTRICT 1

35.1%

DISTRICT 5

34.2%

DISTRICT 2

DISTRICT 3

DISTRICT 4

38.5%

DISTRICT 8

40.4%

DISTRICT 9

DISTRICT 10

41.3%

38.1%

GREATER CENTER CITY


PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE Philadelphia today benefits greatly from the legacy transportation system it has inherited from the early 20th century. But continuing reinvestment is crucial to keep transit competitive as technology and the economy evolve. The rollout of the highly-anticipated, new fare system, SEPTA Key, has begun. Once completed, SEPTA Key will leapfrog many other cities’ transit payment technologies and enable riders to pay using credit or debit cards, smart phones, and SEPTA smart cards. By the end of 2019, SEPTA vehicles will also be outfitted with cellular modems to provide accurate real-time arrival information accessible by smartphone. These are just the tip of the iceberg of more than $7.3 billion in capital projects that SEPTA has in the pipeline over the next 12 years, including: increasing the number of hybrid buses to 95% of SEPTA’s total fleet, purchasing 55 double-decker regional rail cars, and completing the installation of computerized safety controls on Regional Rail lines. In addition, SEPTA is enhancing the experience of downtown transit users with significant renovations to the Center City Concourse.

PATCO recently completed $103 million in improvements to Ben-jamin Franklin Bridge rail tracks and plans to upgrade its 120-car fleet by 2017.

SEPTA HAS MORE THAN $7.3 BILLION IN CAPITAL PROJECTS IN THE PIPELINE. CONTINUING REINVESTMENT IN THE REGION’S TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IS CRUCIAL TO KEEP TRANSIT COMPETITIVE AS TECHNOLOGY AND THE ECONOMY EVOLVE.

TRANSPORTATION

Peter Tobia


CONCLUSION It is easier, more efficient and more economical to add jobs in a transit-oriented employment center than it is to extend rail or bus lines to auto-dependent settings. The concentration of employment in the core of downtown is already 203 jobs per acre. That density is of benefit to both employers and employees in that it enables face-to-face communication, the cross-pollination of ideas and diversifies choice. Across the suburbs, employment is dispersed at 0.6 jobs per acre.

Philadelphia’s legacy transit system is a gift from the past to the present, not readily replicated at reasonable cost. Reinvesting in existing transit systems, concentrating development and facilitating job growth where it can take advantage of already built infrastruc-ture is also the most equitable way to give lower-income workers and residents true transportation choice. Some suburban job clusters, particularly Jenkintown, Radnor, and Conshohocken are built on the rail network. So, too, are University City and Temple University’s campuses. But the highest social returns can come from development in Center City. For those low-income, inner-city residents who are piecing together multiple transit rides to reverse

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

NO VEHICLE TWO OR MORE VEHICLESONE VEHICLE

59%

53%

41%

40%

39%

36%

33%

33%

31%

29%

17%

12%

10%

7%

31%

35%

45%

44%

44%

44%

43%

46%

43%

44%

47%

45%

44%

32%

10%

12%

14%

16%

17%

20%

24%

21%

26%

27%

36%

44%

46%

61%


UNIVERSITY CITY

NORTH PHILADELPHIA

GREATER CENTER CITY

SOUTHWEST PHILADELPHIA

WEST PHILADELPHIA

BRIDESBURG/KENSINGTON

PHILADELPHIA AVERAGE

SOUTH PHILADELPHIA

OLNEY/OAK LANE

GERMANTOWN/CHESTNUT HILL

NEAR NORTHEAST

FAR NORTHEAST

ROXBOROUGH/MANAYUNK

SUBURBAN AVERAGE

FIGURE 17: HOUSEHOLD VEHICLES AVAILABLE BY AREA

Peter Tobia


commute to the suburbs, a job in Center City could reduce their commuting time by at least half, closer to average commute time for all city residents (33 minutes).10

Sixty-one percent (61%) of all Philadelphians can take transit to a downtown job in less than 30 minutes. The areas of Philadelphia that have the highest rates of poverty also have some of the best transit access to downtown with the quickest commutes for those living closest to the Market-Frankford and Broad Street Lines (Figure 18). Along these transit lines, 33.2% of those within half a mile of a subway station live in poverty. Overall, forty-three percent (43%) of Philadelphia’s population living below the poverty line are within a half mile of a subway stop. More downtown jobs and more neighborhood jobs would dramatically reduce the time and financial burden of reverse commuting to the suburbs.

The region’s transit and housing investments from the late 19th and early 20th centuries have been re-infused with value by employment, demographic and cultural trends of the early 21st century that favor dense, diverse and transit-oriented job centers. Land use and de-velopment patterns in the third quarter of the 20th century created an environment that not only required a car for the most essential trip a person regularly undertakes – the journey to work - they also disconnected many lower-income workers from easy access to employment opportunities. By reinvesting in existing infrastructure and concentrating development around transit-oriented nodes, Philadelphia can decrease congestion and air pollution, reinforce the competitiveness of our employment centers and create new opportunities for disadvantaged workers.

PERCENT OF POVERTY

Low (0%) Average (26.7%) High (94.7%)

TRANSIT TRAVEL TIMETO CITY HALL (MINUTES / 8:30AM DEPARTURE)

City Hall

0–5

6–10

11–1

5

16–2

0

21–2

5

26–3

0

31–3

5

36–4

0

41–4

5

46–5

0

51–6

0

61–1

25

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey2014 5-Year Estimates (left); Google travel times via Econsult Solutions, Inc (right)

Note: Average Transit Commute time to City Hall by block, based on 8:30am departure

FIGURE 18: PHILADELPHIA POVERTY AND TRANSIT ACCESS TO DOWNTOWN

THE AREAS OF PHILADELPHIA WITH THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF POVERTY ALSO HAVE SOME OF THE BEST TRANSIT ACCESS TO CENTER CITY. GROWING JOBS DOWNTOWN CREATES OPPORTUNITIES EASILY ACCESSIBLE TO THE AREAS THAT NEED THEM MOST.

10: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2014 5-Year Estimates.

center city reports: getting to work: transit, density & opportunity

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