Access to reliable transportation can affect families’ access to work, healthcare, and education, and is increasingly important in rural areas where public transportation can be sparse. In 2019, 70.9% of New Jersey residents relied on their own vehicle to get to work, 8.2% relying on a carpool, and 11.7% on public transportation (Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 2018). Lack of access to transportation is a problem for many in New Jersey, especially those in rural areas more common across Southern New Jersey. In New Jersey in 2019, the average travel time to work was about 33 minutes, making access to transportation an important driver of a family’s economic stability (U.S. Census Bureau, 2019). However, the number of people who have access to a car has gradually decreased over the past decade. 11% of families residing in New Jersey do not have access to a car (National Equity Atlas, 2019). When considering the breakdown of race and those who have access to a vehicle, 7% of people who are white do not have access to a car, which is significantly lower than 19% of people of color who do not have access to a car (National Equity Atlas, 2019).
