Time-cost Expenditures in the Journey to Work Vary According to Socioeconomic Characteristics

How Do Time-cost Expenditures in the Journey to Work Vary According to Socioeconomic Characteristics?

Reeder (1956) subscribes to the hypothesis that each worker seeks to minimize the distance from home to work and that the distribution of industrial workers is a consequence of the principle of least effort (in other words, to maximize utility with the least amount of work). Ranyak (1952) modifies this hypothesis by suggesting that people tend to minimize their journey to work, maximize their employment benefits and maximize their residential amenities (Reeder, 1956).

Reeder's (1956) hypothesis that time-cost expenditures in the journey to work vary according to socioeconomic characteristics is supported by four transportation variables and four socioeconomic status variables. The first transportation variable is the mode of travel, which takes into account the time and cost involved in the journey to work. The remaining three transportation variables - which are measured in terms of the commuting variables mode of travel, time, and cost - are automobile ownership, distance to public transportation, and sex. The socioeconomic variables are income per week (again with respect to the commuting variables mode of travel, time, and cost) are occupational status, index of status characteristics (difference in status as determined by the ISC), and dwelling area rating (Reeder, 1956).