As Will (in context) defines it, a jitney is one of those situations where you just need to make a quick run to the store:
Public transportation is particularly bad at serving many poor residential areas, working parents are likely to have domestic errands to run on the way to and from work, and an automobile is out of reach for many of the urban poor. Thus, the transportation suppression causes people to have to work worse jobs and spend more time getting to them, if they can manage to work at all.
I know from my own use of public transport, in a city where the public transportation is not claimed to be very good, that getting onto the transportation is one of the hardest things. Luckily, I don't have to make any transfers and I'm just on the train. If I had to use a combination of bus(es), trains, and walking then my transit time could be horrendous. It's worth it because I'm going to be in one location for more than just a trivial amount of time. If it took me thirty minutes to get to the store that's five miles away, I think I'd be out of luck.
However, I was happy to see that Dallas now has a public transportation service specifically for these sorts of jitneys. It is called DART On Call and is available at a low cost.
From what I can tell on their website, you just have to give a one hour notice (or up to a week in advance) and the shuttle (not a bus!) will come and take you to the store, to a sporting event, or to a transfer station that is nearby. My one issue is that the service has not yet moved into some of the lower income population centers of Dallas. It has been expanding though.
This seems to be a very wise thing that will help to mobilize the cities poor. And, as Will aptly points out, "transportation suppression causes people to have to work worse jobs and spend more time getting to them, if they can manage to work at all."
