Where Philly households are underserved by transit, mapped

Philly may be a majority car-owning city, but there are still thousands of people who rely on public transportation to get around. But depending where you live, it’s a lot easier to hop onto a subway, trolley, or bus than others.

According to an interactive map called Gap Finder, about 16 percent of Philadelphia households are underserved by public transit. Most of the communities in need of better public transportation options are located in South Philly. Brewerytown, Strawberry Mansion, and various neighborhoods in North Philly are also considered Transit Gap communities.

AllTransit, the team behind the Gap Finder, used information from public transportation systems around the country and U.S. Census data to create the map. They then determined the Transit Gaps, or Census blocks that present a strong need for public transportation but lack quality transit service.

Sections that are in blue are transit markets with adequate service. Those in red have inadequate service and yet have the strongest need for better public transportation options.

Overall, Philly scores high when it comes to its public transportation score, as it has an “excellent combination of trips per week and number of jobs accessible enabling numerous people to take transit to work.”

Still, there are a lot of areas that could benefit from increased frequency of service routes or adding new routes altogether. In addition, the map calculates that reducing the average wait time by 7 minutes for these underserved neighborhoods would help a lot, too. Currently, these areas wait on average 23 minutes for public transportation.

• Where Are the Gaps in Your Transit System? [StreetsBlog USA]
• Gap Finder [AllTransit]