How the US commutes (except for cars)

[dldance]

Bus 62%
Heavy Rail 29%
Commuter Rail 4%
Light Rail 3%
Trolleybus 1%

Source IEEE-USA Dec 2004

dd

[Anonymous]

That just surface transportation I assume.

I'd like to see how the numbers change when airlines are added into the equation.

[dldance]

They are measuring passenger trips - don't know how transfers are included.

Macguy - this is just communting not travel in general. Yes - few commute by air but I don't think that will impact the numbers much.

dd

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dldance

They are measuring passenger trips - don't know how transfers are included.

Macguy - this is just communting not travel in general. Yes - few commute by air but I don't think that will impact the numbers much.

dd

I suppose there aren't that many that commute by air, I know there's a good number that do it in California.

How does it compare once cars are added in?

[dldance]

one person in a car accounts for about 76% of passenger commuting trips in the US in 2003. public transport only accounts for 5% of total passenger trips. thus the table in the previous post shows how that 5% breaks out by mode.

dd

[TH&B]

I sometimes walk to work.

Just so they can't include me in their statistics.

[Anonymous]

Commuter Rail Numbers should be higher because there is less transfers as opposed to Heavy Rail...Hey what about bikes..

[dldance]

Transfers in commuting occur because of differences in system density or access points. Thus one would expect Light Rail (with more stops) to have fewer transfers than Heavy Rail. But system route patterns also make a difference. Austin TX runs buses on an roughly East/West and North/South grid route structure -- so even though there are lot's of stops, most destinations require 1 or 2 tranfers as you negotiate the route grid.

dd

ps - my own commute involves negotiating 16 carpeted steps. No, I don't think that my trip is factored into the before cited statistics.

[oltmannd]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Clevelandrocks

Commuter Rail Numbers should be higher because there is less transfers as opposed to Heavy Rail...Hey what about bikes..

Lot of people transfer between commuter rail and heavy rail. In NYC, I'll bet a good % of NJT, LIRR and MNRR passengers finish up on the subways.