There's a link between unreliable transportation and sustained poverty

A lack of reliable transportation is a huge problem in the United States.

The New York Times reports Thursday:

In a large, continuing study of upward mobility based at Harvard, commuting time has emerged as the single strongest factor in the odds of escaping poverty. The longer an average commute in a given county, the worse the chances of low-income families there moving up the ladder.

The problem seems to be the urban fringes and cities' near suburbs:

A separate report focusing on New York, from New York University's Rudin Center for Transportation, came to a similar conclusion. The study compared neighborhoods by accessibility to mass transit and the number of jobs within an hour's commute. It found that residents of the areas least well-served by mass transit relied on personal vehicles. Areas in the middle third - those with some, but insufficient, access to transportation - had the highest rates of unemployment and the lowest incomes, the study found.

Life - and work - is really hard with unreliable transportation.