This paper examines the impact of the opening of a light rail transit (LRT) line on commuting patterns in adjacent neighborhoods in a case study on Charlotte, North Carolina. The results show a reduction in commuting distance experienced by higher-wage workers, while it is increased for lower-wage workers after the opening of the city’s first LRT line. These results are expected as the alignment of the LRT line connects higher income neighborhoods to the areas with significant shares of higher-wage jobs. Low- and medium-wage workers in the LRT accessible neighborhoods did not seen a significant improvement in the spatial separation between their work place and place of residence after the opening of the LRT, which may conflict with goals of increasing accessibility for the transit dependent population.

本文以北卡罗来纳州夏洛特市为例，研究了轻轨交通（LRT）线路的开通对相邻社区通勤方式的影响。结果表明，高薪工人通勤距离的减少，而城市首条轻轨线开通后，低薪工人的通勤距离增加了。预期这些结果是因为轻轨线的连接将高收入社区与高薪工作份额较大的地区联系在一起。轻轨开通后，轻轨无障碍社区的中低工资工人在其工作地点和居住地点之间的空间隔离方面并未看到显着改善，这可能与增加依赖过境人口的可及性的目标相抵触。 。