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Employment Opportunities and Job Preservation

Job creation and preservation measures the capacity of transportation projects to generate new employment opportunities while maintaining existing jobs within project communities. This indicator encompasses both direct employment from transportation projects (construction, operations, maintenance) and indirect economic benefits that stimulate local job markets. Job preservation focuses on protecting existing employment from displacement due to construction impacts or gentrification pressures that may accompany transit improvements. Strong job creation and preservation strategies ensure that transportation investments benefit existing residents and workers, particularly those from equity focus communities who may face barriers to accessing new economic opportunities.

Understand Your Datasets

Job creation and preservation can be measured through employment density data, business establishment counts, local hiring program participation rates and transit accessibility to employment centers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) provides establishment-level employment data by industry and geography. The U.S. Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) program offers insights into where workers live and work, enabling analysis of local and external employment patterns.

Transit connectivity tools like AllTransit help assess how transportation improvements affect workers’ ability to access job opportunities within reasonable commute times (30, 45 and 60 minutes). For transit projects specifically, track local hiring percentages, apprenticeship programs and community benefits agreements. Economic impact studies should assess both temporary construction jobs and permanent operations positions. Additionally, monitor business displacement and retention rates in project areas, as well as procurement opportunities for local and minority-owned businesses. Consider how improved transit access may expand the geographic job market available to local residents, while also making the area more accessible to employers seeking workers.

This economic indicator should be used in conjunction with Metro’s other Equity Indicators to provide a comprehensive understanding of community dynamics. When conducting Equity Assessments and Guides, planners should:

Establish baseline conditions using multiple data sources before project implementation
Set specific, measurable targets for job creation and business preservation
Develop monitoring plans to track indicator changes throughout project lifecycle
Create mitigation strategies to address negative impacts identified through indicator analysis
Engage communities continuously to ensure indicators reflect lived experiences and priorities

Example Datasets:

1. OnTheMap (LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics): https://onthemap.ces.census.gov/

Instructions: Navigate to the OnTheMap website and select your area of interest using the map interface or address search. Choose “Work Area Profile” to see where people who work in your project area live, or “Home Area Profile” to see where residents of your project area work. Filter by worker characteristics including age, earnings, race, ethnicity and educational attainment. The analysis can be conducted at various geographic levels from census blocks to counties. To track employment changes over time, export employment counts and worker characteristic data (such as total jobs, earnings distribution and demographic composition) for multiple years using the “Download” button. This manual comparison process enables users to track trends like job growth, changing wage levels and shifting demographic patterns of the workforce before, during and after transit project implementation.

Data Considerations: OnTheMap uses data from the LEHD program, which links administrative records from state unemployment insurance systems with decennial census and American Community Survey data. Employment data are updated annually and represent jobs covered by unemployment insurance, capturing approximately 95% of private-sector employment. Data are available from 2002 forward, enabling trend analysis. Workers are assigned to their primary job, defined as the position with the highest total annual earnings from a single employer, for each year. Geographic assignment is based on the work location reported by employers.

2. AllTransit Performance Score: https://alltransit.cnt.org/

Instructions: Access the AllTransit mapping tool and search for your project area by address or neighborhood name. Review the “Jobs” connectivity score to understand current transit access to employment centers. Use the “Change over Time” feature to assess how transit improvements may affect job accessibility. Compare performance scores across different areas to identify employment accessibility gaps. The tool provides data on jobs accessible within 30, 45 and 60-minute transit trips, which can inform workforce development strategies and local hiring program design.

Data Considerations: Developed by the Center for Neighborhood Technology, AllTransit measures transit connectivity using GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification) data from transit agencies nationwide. The tool calculates performance scores (0-10) based on transit frequency, number of nearby destinations and connectivity to the broader transit network. Jobs accessibility data comes from LEHD and measures employment opportunities reachable within specific time thresholds. Data are updated regularly as transit agencies provide updated GTFS feeds.

Community Demographics Profiles Alignment

Employment by Industry
Unemployment by Race/Ethnicity
Median Household Income

Explore the Index of Indicators in Metro’s Community Demographics Profiles Dashboard here.

The information on this page is presented through an Employment Opportunities and Job Preservation lens. For other perspectives on this subject, visit Small Business and Organizational Displacement, Neighborhood Affordability, Transit Corridors, Commercial Corridor Vibrancy, Neighborhood Change.

Coordinate with Community Members

Engage with local workforce development organizations, labor unions and community-based organizations to understand existing employment patterns and barriers to accessing jobs created by transit projects. Conduct focus groups with residents about job preferences, skill levels and training needs. Partner with local hiring programs and apprenticeship organizations to ensure community members can access new employment opportunities in two key areas: (1) jobs directly created by transit project construction, operations and maintenance; and (2) jobs generated by new businesses and transit-oriented development that locate in communities due to improved transit access. Establish feedback mechanisms to monitor whether jobs align with community needs and skill sets. Consider implementing community benefits agreements that guarantee local hiring percentages, living wages and pathways to career advancement for project-affected communities.

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