Transport equity assessment based on accessibility disparities in terms of multi-job opportunities across Beijing

Evaluating equal access to opportunities across social groups is an important aspect of transport equity research, but existing schemes rarely focus on accessibility to specific opportunities for specific groups. This study distinguishes between different education groups and job sectors which come from Nation Census Statistics and National Economic Census, respectively, with the aim of evaluating transport equity in Beijing by examining the disparity between high- and low-education groups in accessing job opportunities of specific sectors with different education requirements. Using the bivariate local spatial autocorrelation model to reveal the relationship between provision of accessibility and the population quantity of different groups in regions based on different transport modes. Regions with low accessibility level but high groups numbers may rise to inequity of transport. It was found that high-education groups had more equal accessibility to high-education job opportunities than low-education groups had in their access to low-education jobs. In terms of diversity of opportunity, the differences in job accessibility between low- and high-education groups tended to diminish, and equity in accessibility was also improved. Disadvantaged areas with high population demands for jobs exhibited lower accessibility levels by public transport compared to car travel, and more of the low-education groups were located in disadvantaged areas and obtained fewer opportunities, particularly for the groups without Hukou status. Diversity of opportunity helped to reduce the difference between car travel and public transport in disadvantaged areas, and also decreased the inequities in accessibility among different educational groups. To improve transport equity, it is recommended to prioritize public transport in fringe areas and disadvantaged areas, and the development of multi-job sectors in these areas should be undertaken to cater to the demands of different education groups.