RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN THE COMMUTING BEHAVIOR OF WOMEN IN BUFFALO, 1980-1990

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Abstract
Disagreement persists about whether or not African American workers in U.S. metropolitan areas are more distant from centers of employment opportunities than European American workers are. But few studies on employment accessibility focus on racial differences among women. Analyses of 1980 and 1990 census Public Use Microdata Samples for Erie County (Buffalo), New York show that, by 1990, African American and European American women who use private vehicles generally spend about the same time commuting. However in both years, work trips to destinations outside the central city penalize African American women relative to European American women. If employment opportunities, especially service jobs, continue to expand in suburban locations and not in central-city locations, the African American women who have to reverse commute (even when they use a car) are unlikely to enjoy the relative convenience of short commutes that characterize the journey-to-work behavior of European American women with suburban employment.