NTL Record

Title Public Transit in America: Analysis of Access Using the 2001 National Household Travel Survey
Record ID 26568
Personal Name
Creator
Polzin, Steven E.; Maggio, Edward
Source 50p. in various pagings
Corporate
Contributor
University of South Florida. Center for Urban Transportation Research; Florida. Department of Transportation; University of South Florida. National Center for Transit Research (U.S.)
Publisher University of South Florida. Center for Urban Transportation Research
Publication Date 20070200
Language English
Abstract Understanding transit ridership has become a critical research interest and policy goal. This paper presents the results of an analysis of the NHTS data specifically focusing on the appended variables that measure access or distances to public transportation. Statistically significant distance intervals were chosen for analysis respective of a chosen variable. This document augments the report titled “Public Transit in America: Results from the 2001 National Household Travel Survey.” The analysis reveals strong differences in household and workplace access to transit as a function of race, income, auto ownership, and urban area size. Additionally, a very high sensitivity to access exists suggesting that the share of transit accessible trips is smaller than previously acknowledged. Approximately 53 percent of national households are within a mile of bus service and 40 percent within a quarter-mile. Approximately 10 percent of the population lives within one mile of rail. Over 50 percent of nationwide workplaces are within a quarter mile walk radius of a bus line. Not surprisingly, work is more closely concentrated near transit than are residences. Furthermore, mode share for transit declines approximately two thirds beyond the first interval (up to 0.15 miles) from a bus route. These observations imply a high value to services in close proximity to residential areas. The analysis suggests that access is even more critical than might have previously been acknowledged by the transit planning profession. .
Rosap ID dot:5568
Rosap URL https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/5568
TRT Terms Public transit; Mode choice; Trip length; Travel time; Access; Travel surveys
General Subjects access; bus; demographic; distribution; mode share; National Household Travel Survey; public transportation; ridership; transit; trip
Classification NTL - PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION - PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION;
NTL - PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION - Transit Planning and Policy;
NTL - PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION - Bus Transportation;
NTL - PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION - Multimodalism;
NTL - PLANNING AND POLICY - Travel Demand;
NTL - PLANNING AND POLICY - PLANNING AND POLICY;
NTL - PLANNING AND POLICY - Access Management
Geographical
Coverage
United States
OCLC 85765848
Report Number NCTR 576-02, FDOT BD-549-30
Resource type Research Paper
URL https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/26000/26500/26568/576-02.pdf
Format PDF
Database NTL Digital Repository