Transportation as a Barrier to Employment:
​A 2018 Survey of Employers in the Iowa City-Coralville-North Liberty Region

A survey of 53 employers in the Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty region was conducted in May 2018 to assess perceptions of public transportation adequacy and its impact on workforce retention. Results indicate that a majority of employers (50%) rate existing transit options as fair to poor, and half report losing employees at least sometimes due to transportation issues. Challenges were most acute for businesses located in North Liberty and Coralville, and for those in the hotel, manufacturing, and construction industries. A key finding is the disparity in satisfaction between businesses operating on standard weekday schedules and those requiring evening, night, or weekend shifts. These findings suggest that inadequate public transportation poses a significant barrier to employment and economic stability, highlighting a critical area for community intervention. However, the study's limitations, including a small sample size and reliance on employer perceptions, necessitate cautious interpretation and further research.

Introduction

Reliable transportation is a cornerstone of economic vitality, directly influencing an individual's ability to secure and maintain employment. For communities aiming to foster a robust and inclusive economy, understanding the intersection of transit infrastructure and workforce dynamics is essential. In 2018, the Community Transportation Committee sought to investigate this intersection within the Coralville, Iowa City, and North Liberty region. This report presents the findings of a survey administered to local employers, designed to gauge satisfaction with public transportation options and to evaluate the perceived impact of transportation on employee retention. The objective was to identify potential gaps in service that may be hindering both business operations and resident employment opportunities.

Methods

In May 2018, the Community Transportation Committee surveyed 53 hiring managers from a cross-section of employers in the Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty area via an emailed survey. Participants represented a mix of large and small businesses across key industries, including retail, manufacturing, construction, technology, restaurants, and hotels. Employers were asked to rate the quality of public transportation options available to their employees on a scale from very poor to very good. They were also asked to indicate how frequently they lose employees (through declined job offers, voluntary resignation, or termination) due to transportation issues, with options ranging from rarely to frequently.

Results

Overall Satisfaction with Transit Options

Employer satisfaction with public transportation was generally low. Aggregating responses from all three cities, 50% of employers rated options as "Fair" to "Poor," with 20% selecting "Very Poor." Significant geographic variation was observed. Employers in North Liberty expressed the highest level of dissatisfaction, with 71% rating options as "Very Poor." In contrast, responses from Iowa City and Coralville were more mixed, though the plurality in both cities (38%) rated options as merely "Fair." By industry, hotels, construction companies, and manufacturers reported the most significant challenges.

Impact on Workforce Retention

Transportation issues were frequently cited as a factor in workforce turnover. Half of all surveyed employers reported losing employees "Sometimes," "Often," or "Frequently" due to transportation problems. Geographically, retention challenges were most pronounced in North Liberty and Coralville. From an industry perspective, hotels, manufacturers, and retail employers reported the most trouble with turnover linked to transportation. The data also revealed a notable disparity based on operating hours; businesses active during second, third, or weekend shifts reported greater turnover related to transportation than those with standard weekday-first-shift schedules.

The survey results strongly indicate that employers in the region perceive public transportation as inadequate and directly linked to challenges in hiring and retention. The concentration of dissatisfaction in North Liberty and Coralville suggests specific geographic gaps in service. Furthermore, the heightened challenges faced by shift-based and hospitality-industry employers point to a critical mismatch between transit availability and the needs of a large segment of the local workforce. These findings align with broader literature on transportation barriers, which shows that limited service hours and routes can exclude entire populations from economic participation. For the community, this implies that unreliable transit is not merely a social inconvenience but a material constraint on economic growth and employment equity.

​Limitations and Avenues for Future Research

While this survey provides valuable initial insights, future research should build upon these exploratory findings with a larger sample size and additional outreach strategies.

Conclusion

The 2018 employer survey serves as an alert, highlighting significant perceived deficiencies in the regional public transportation system and its negative impact on the workforce. The results clearly identify geographic areas and industry sectors requiring urgent attention. However, the limitations of the study underscore the need for further, more comprehensive research to validate these perceptions and pinpoint precise solutions. Addressing the transportation barriers identified in this report is a necessary step toward building a more accessible, equitable, and resilient local economy.