Published Mar-23-2009
If you've ever wondered how your choice of transportation to work compares to your neighbors or co-workers, the U.S. Census has a new survey that can help answer your questions. The annual American Community Survey (ACS), which began in 2005, provides a wealth of information, including data on how individuals travel to work. Survey respondents are grouped in several different ways, including by age, gender, poverty status, occupation, and commute time. There are also many different geographic levels of data available.
Oregon's transportation patterns in 2007 were very similar to the nation's. The only noteworthy difference was in the portion of the workforce that elected to drive themselves - 74 percent in Oregon versus 76 percent nationally.
Not surprisingly, impoverished Oregonians were the least likely to drive themselves to work in 2007. Only 57 percent of those below the poverty level drove themselves, while 75 percent of those who were at 150 percent or more of the poverty level drove themselves. The second-most-popular form of transportation among the impoverished was carpooling, which was used by 14.5 percent of such workers. They were about equally likely to walk to work as they were to work at home (nearly 9% and 8%, respectively). Less than seven percent of impoverished workers used public transportation, and the remaining 5.4 percent used some other means.
Young people were also less likely to drive alone to work (Graph 2). Only 61 percent of workers age 16 to 19 drove themselves to work in 2007, compared to 72 percent of those 65 and older (the oldest age group) and 78.5 percent of individuals 55 to 59 years old (the largest portion of any age group). Again, carpooling was the second-most-popular choice, as nearly 17 percent of young workers carpooled in 2007. About nine percent of young workers walked to work, six percent used public transportation, and seven percent used some other means or worked at home.
Of all age groups, the oldest workers in Oregon had the largest portion working at home (14.1%) and the smallest portion using public transportation (1.3%)
Transportation choices varied significantly by commute time. Oregonians with the shortest commute time (less than 10 minutes) were significantly more likely to walk to work than individuals with any other length of commute. Nearly 12 percent of those with the shortest commute time chose to walk. Less than one percent used public transportation - the smallest portion of any commute-time group. On the other end of the spectrum, workers with the longest commute time (60 or more minutes) were the least likely to drive alone. Only 57 percent of such workers drove themselves to work in 2007. About 20 percent of these workers carpooled and another 19 percent used public transportation. The remaining four percent used some other method.
The ACS data make it possible to examine commuting patterns of different occupational groups. Among most occupational groups, 70 percent or more of the workers drove themselves. Those in sales and office positions had a slightly higher portion of workers driving to work alone (77.2%) than any other occupation group. Construction, extraction, and maintenance workers had the second-highest portion, at 76 percent.
Oregon workers in farming, fishing, and forestry occupations were the least likely to drive alone to work and were significantly more likely to carpool than workers in other occupations. Around 11 percent of workers in this occupation worked at home. This is perhaps the influence of the farmers in this occupational group, who are more likely to work where they live.
Surprisingly, almost one-quarter of workers in the armed forces worked at home in 2007. There are a few possible reasons for this relatively high figure. Much like farmers, some military personnel live where they work. In Oregon, such workers are likely limited to the Tongue Point Naval Base in Clatsop County. It is also possible that active military personnel who are home in Oregon on paid leave and other active, non-deployed military workers are counted in this group, thus increasing the overall portion of the armed services counted as working at home.
Similar to the statewide average, Oregon's commuting patterns by demographic group were very similar to national averages.
But how does Oregon compare to its neighbors? Are Oregonians more or less likely to use certain forms of transportation to work than workers in Washington or California? Graph 3 compares the overall transportation choices of workers in Portland to those in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the national average.
Los Angeles is the most surprising among the areas. The transportation choices of its workers were virtually identical to those of Portland's workers, even though the Los Angeles MSA has roughly 5.5 times as many workers per square mile as the Portland MSA. Around 74 percent of workers in both areas drove alone to get to work.
On the surface it seems unusual that workers in L.A. - where employment density is relatively high - would choose to drive themselves. With so many people traveling to work, why not use an alternative form of transportation and cut down on congestion? This conundrum can likely be answered by several points, including infrastructure differences between Los Angeles and Portland. While most of Portland's major freeways are just two or three lanes each direction, L.A. has some freeways that are five, six, and even seven lanes in each direction. In other words, L.A.'s transportation system is larger than Portland's and thus able to handle the larger number of workers moving through the area. Thus it is possible that workers in Portland and Los Angeles experience somewhat similar congestion and other conditions while driving, making them equally likely to drive themselves.
The transportation choices of workers in Seattle were similar to Portland's, although a slightly smaller portion of Seattle workers drove themselves (71%), and a slightly larger portion used public transportation (8%, compared to Portland's 6%).
San Francisco was the most different of the four MSAs. Only 63 percent of the workers chose to drive alone. A surprising 14.5 percent of workers chose to use public transportation, nearly eight percent of which were individuals who took the bus. Ten percent of workers in the San Francisco MSA carpooled - which is about the same as the other areas - while six percent worked at home and the remaining seven percent used some other means.
