Creating an individual-level data set
A primary individual-level data set is needed to test whether or not public transportation, even if substantially modified, will actually take the bulk of the newly working poor to jobs, back home, and everywhere else within a reasonable period of time without having to sacrifice childcare, shopping, safety, and more in a medium-size American city like Knoxville, Tennessee. Individual-level travel data can be compared to job location, support networks, and transportation availability in order to test whether individuals’ patterns follow those predicted by theory.