How do you get to work? US commuting statistics

After seeing a post on carbon copy that a recent analysis showed that Boston tops the list of American cities in the percentage of people who walk to work (about 12.5%), I went looking for more information.

The data, gathered from the U.S. Census Bereau's American Community Survey in 2005 and released last month, show that:

• 9 out of 10 workers, or 87.7 percent, drive to work
• 77 percent, driving alone despite rising fuel costs.
• 4.7 percent of commuters used public transportation to get to work, an increase of about 0.1 percent over levels five years earlier.
• The top cities for commuting by public transport were Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.
• Portland, Oregon, was found to have the highest percentage of bicycle commuters among large cities with about 3.5 percent of its workers pedaling to work. This is about eight times the national average of 0.4 percent.
• Boston had the highest percentage among large cities of employees who walk to work with 13 percent.
• Nationally, 2.5 percent of Americans walked to work.
• 1 in 10 workers, or 10.7 percent, car pool and three-fourths of car poolers, or 77.3 percent, ride with just one other person. 

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Comments

[Linda]

I love all your resources. I linked your site to mine.

[Marlene Affeld]

Excellent Info - Together we can make a difference.