1. Home
  2. RIP
  3. View Record
https://trb-annual-meeting.nationalacademies.org/registration

Understanding Drivers of Change in Vehicle Availability and Ownership in North Carolina

Access to a safe, reliable car is, for many North Carolina households, a prerequisite for accessing employment, education, and meaningful social interaction. Without regular access to one or more working cars, households may find themselves ‘transportation-disadvantaged’ if suitable alternative travel options are not available. However, the relationship between car access—regular, unlimited access to a reliable car through lease or ownership—and transportation disadvantage (TD) is not straightforward. Whether a household has access to a car is based on a unique set of factors, including characteristics of the household and of the cultural norms, built environment, and transportation system in which the household is situated. For some households, a lack of access to a car may indicate disadvantage, while for others it may be a sign of relative advantage and a statement of preference. The relationship between car access (CA) and TD is further complicated by the growing availability of ride shares and micromobility options, increased overall costs of driving, and increased demand for location-efficient housing. NCDOT’s Transportation Disadvantage Index maps various sociodemographic attributes to identify communities in which households’ ability to access critical opportunities may be constrained. The index includes CA as an indicator of TD, while recognizing the increasing challenges in interpreting CA with respect to TD. Understanding the role of CA—its causes and its impacts—is critically important to ensuring that NCDOT’s policies and investments meet the needs of the state’s constituents, today and in the future. Thus, this research proposes to develop a knowledge base to support creation of updated metrics of household-level TD that capture the complex, dynamic relationships among household mobility pressures, CA decisions, and TD. The transdisciplinary, multi-institutional team will build this knowledge base through (1) a detailed review of the literature on and methods used to assess the relationship between CA and TD, (2) targeted community-based listening sessions with community stakeholders to collect exploratory data on the factors underlying CA and TD, (3) thematic content analysis and interpretation of exploratory data, (4) validation of findings with community stakeholders, and (5) dissemination of findings through a report and slide deck. This work will uncover critical new information about the forces behind household CA and of how CA relates to mobility and accessibility options for people across North Carolina’s various geographic and socio-demographic contexts. This new knowledge—and the recommendations that will accompany it—can then be used to develop longitudinal survey instruments and geospatial indicators that can be used to enhance NCDOT’s Transportation Disadvantage Index, the Complete Streets Policy, and other policies and tools.