In the context of human geography, lateral commuting is commuting that occurs between suburban areas rather than towards the central city.
One effect that edge city growth has had in many large metropolitan areas is the large increase in lateral commuting between suburbs and edge cities.
In some cases, significant amounts of counter-commuting have been detected from downtown residencesto edge city locations.
Traditionally, transportation planners have worked from a hub-and-spoke model of commuting in and out of the old CBD (central business district).
Large amounts of lateral commuting and counter-commuting have made it necessary to construct transportation plans that have multiple hub-and-spoke traffic flow patterns centered on edge city locations in addition to the old CBD.
See Cracking the AP Human Geography Exam, 2015 Edition By Princeton Review to learn more.
Tip! View a list of vocabulary words for AP Human Geography on Quizlet.com.