The Transportation Research Board has released its third annual report on Commuting in America. The news is pretty much all bad. Kevin Drum summarizes:
… the number of workers has increased by 31 million since 1980 while the number of workers who drive alone to work has increased by 34 million. Despite the population increase, carpooling is down (except in the West), transit use is down (except in the West), walking is down, and motorcycle use is down. The only bright spot is an increase in people like me, who work from home.
Here’s the report’s top ten list of commuting tidbits:
10. Proportion of workers in single-occupant vehicles is still increasing, but has slowed — some areas in the West have actually seen declines — a first.
9. National changes in carpooling and transit are product of new regional shifts; typically losses in the East and Midwest vs gains in West.
8. Very significant surges in African-American auto ownership.
7. Big roles of immigrants in some modes are transitional giving way to mainstreaming over time.
6. Signs of increases in older workers commuting with mode changes.
5. Sharp increases in proportion of workers traveling more than 60 and even more than 90 minutes to work.
4. Rise of the “donut” metro; big work flows in to and out to the suburbs.
3. Continued, pervasive, and substantial increases in working at home.
2. Significant increases in percentage of workers leaving for work before 6 am.
1. Dramatic increases in those workers leaving their home county to work.
