Suburban office park workers have no viable transit option for the 1-3 mile gap between the nearest train station and their workplace, making car ownership mandatory

Millions of U.S. workers commute to office parks, warehouses, and corporate campuses located 1-3 miles from the nearest rail station or major bus route. This 'last mile' gap is too far to comfortably walk (especially in extreme weather or with no sidewalks), too short for a cost-effective rideshare trip, and not served by any connecting shuttle or bus. The result is that even workers who live near excellent rail lines must own and drive a car for the final segment, or skip transit entirely and drive the whole commute. So what? Workers who cannot afford a car -- or choose not to own one -- are effectively locked out of employment at these locations. So what? Employers in suburban office parks face a smaller labor pool, particularly for lower-wage service and shift-work positions. So what? Companies respond by offering free parking (subsidizing driving) rather than solving transit access, which entrenches car dependency. So what? Entrenched car dependency drives up household transportation costs (average $12,000/year per vehicle), disproportionately burdening workers earning under $40,000. So what? The geographic mismatch between where affordable housing exists and where jobs are accessible by transit widens economic inequality at the metropolitan level. The structural root cause is that U.S. zoning laws and suburban development patterns from the 1950s-1990s placed commercial development along highway interchanges and arterial roads, deliberately separated from residential areas by design. Transit agencies plan fixed routes around ridership density, and these low-density office parks will never generate enough riders per acre to justify a fixed bus route, creating a permanent gap that neither the transit agency nor the employer considers their responsibility to fill.