The Impact of The Great Richmond Reroute on the city’s distressed neighborhoods

This presentation was part of the Showcase, Part 3 session at the October 2018 NNIP Partners’ Meeting.

These 5-minute presentations give a lightning-quick overview of our NNIP Partners and their work.

The Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) recently redesigned the entire public transit network in the City of Richmond and neighboring counties to improve the service efficiency and to enable easier accessibility to jobs, retail businesses, and other public services across the region. The redesign, also known as ‘The Great Richmond Reroute’ coincides with the inauguration of the city’s first Bus Rapid Transit System – the Pulse. The Pulse and the Reroute are significant changes to the city’s transit network considering the potential to connect low income communities with major job centers in Richmond city as well as in the surrounding counties of Henrico and Chesterfield. The current study seeks to analyze the impact of this transit redesign on the selected neighborhoods primarily focusing on the following outcomes:

• Improvement in accessibility of low-income neighborhoods to the moderate-wage jobs in the city and the surrounding counties.
• Impact of the Pulse system in attracting new businesses and encouraging affordable housing development along the corridor.