Transit Commuting in America, 1990 to 2000

This set of maps is based on journey to work data from the 1990 and 2000 decennial U.S. censuses. Data is derived from the long form census questionnaire. One in six U.S. residents filled out the census long form. Transit commuting includes bus or trolleybus, streetcar or trolley, subway or elevated rail, railroad, and ferryboat (excludes taxicab).

Data is mapped at the county, metropolitan, largest metropolitan planning organization (MPO), region, and state levels and includes information for 3,219 counties, 280 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and consolidated metropolitan statistical areas (CMSAs), the 36 largest MPO regions (MPOs with a population greater than one million), and 52 states/state equivalents (includes the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico).

The purpose of these maps is to show changes in transit commuting within the United States between 1990 and 2000 at various geographic levels. The maps are useful in portraying the increase in transit commuting in “sunbelt” metropolitan areas contrasting with the decrease in transit commuting in “rustbelt” metro areas. These maps were also used to support a Transportation Research Board presentation entitled “Transit Ridership and Transit Commuting Trends: Are They Different?” It discussed the reasons for the census showing a 0.4 percent decrease in transit commuting between 1990 and 2000, compared to a 6.4 percent overall increase in transit ridership over this same period.