Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
MSAs with 1 Million+ Population. I think I missed one. Please let me know if you figure out which 1 is missing.
MSAs by Number of Workers Using Public Transportation, 2019
3,000,640 New York-Newark-Jersey City
584,804 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
461,832 San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley
440,972 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria
353,924 Boston-Cambridge-Newton
310,932 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim
282,412 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington
224,965 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
88,881 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach
88,051 Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington
85,160 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro
83,142 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta
82,685 Baltimore-Towson
69,104 Pittsburgh
65,870 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land
48,552 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
47,745 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara
47,478 San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad
42,925 Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler
31,231 Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise
29,006 Cleveland-Elyria
28,450 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn
24,622 Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom
23,880 Milwaukee-Waukesha
23,672 San Antonio-New Braunfels
23,492 Providence-Warwick
23,134 Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown
22,987 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario
22,420 St Louis
21,386 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
18,214 Columbus
16,555 Cincinnati
16,285 Tampa-St Petersburg-Clearwater
16,014 Buffalo-Cheektowaga
15,040 Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown
14,526 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News
13,250 New Orleans-Metairie
11,764 Lousville-Jefferson County
11,352 Richmond
10,840 Nashville-Davidson-Mufreesboro-Franklin
9,821 Rochester
9,382 Jacksonville
9,183 Kansas City
7,551 Tucson
7,510 Grand Rapids-Kentwood
7,101 Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson
5,463 Raleigh-Cary
3,190 Oklahoma City
2,336 Birmingham-Hoover
2,116 Memphis
MSAs by Percentage of Workers Using Public Transportation, 2019
31.6% New York-Newark-Jersey City
18.9% San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley
13.3% Boston-Cambridge-Newton
13.0% Washington-Arlington-Alexandria
12.3% Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
10.6% Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
9.3% Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington
6.6% Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro
6.0% Pittsburgh
5.2% Baltimore-Towson
4.7% Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim
4.7% San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara
4.5% Denver-Aurora-Lakewood
4.4% Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington
3.4% Providence-Warwick
3.4% Salt Lake City
2.9% Buffalo-Cheektowaga
2.9% Milwaukee-Waukesha
2.8% Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise
2.8% Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach
2.8% San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad
2.7% Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta
2.6% Cleveland-Elyria
2.4% Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown
2.1% New Orleands-Metairie
2.1% Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom
1.9% Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown
1.9% Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land
1.8% San Antonio-New Braunfels
1.7% Louisville-Jefferson County
1.7% Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler
1.7% Rochester
1.7% St Louis
1.6% Columbus
1.6% Richmond
1.5% Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
1.5% Tucson
1.5% Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News
1.4% Cincinnati
1.3% Detroit-Warren-Dearborn
1.2% Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
1.2% Grand Rapids-Kentwood
1.1% Jacksonville
1.1 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario
1.0% Tampa-St Petersburg-Clearwater
0.9% Nashville-Davidson-Mufreesboro-Franklin
0.8% Kansas City
0.7% Raleigh-Cary
0.6% Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson
0.4% Memphis
0.4% Oklahoma City
0.3% Birmingham-Hoover
Source: data.census.gov
One that sticks out to me on this list is Atlanta. For as much as people talk about MARTA you'd think it'd be higher here.
I'm also surprised that DC and Chicago are below Boston. It feels like they should be competitive with or beyond SF. I think it goes to show that the geography of the metro is as important as the quality of the system. Do people in SF ride transit because BART and Muni are great, or because driving is even worse?
One that sticks out to me on this list is Atlanta. For as much as people talk about MARTA you'd think it'd be higher here.
I'm also surprised that DC and Chicago are below Boston. It feels like they should be competitive with or beyond SF. I think it goes to show that the geography of the metro is as important as the quality of the system. Do people in SF ride transit because BART and Muni are great, or because driving is even worse?
Your bolded question misses a key component to Bay Area commuter ridership: Bay Area politics and culture centers around environmentalism. The people I know in the Bay Area opted into, and went out of their way to live nearby, public transportation. They did this despite the convenience of, and their ability to, drive to work.
If you want to look at just the cities or metropolitan divisions, yeah Houston is definitely more dependent than Dallas. No one in Durant, OK (part of the DFW CSA) is using public transit.
But lets be real, every place not NYC is car dependent.
Lies!!! How can you so forcefully claim that Houston is DEFINITELY more car dependent than Dallas when over and over data shows otherwise.
Look they are both weak in the use of PT department but Dallas is weaker no matter how you spin the data.
You say it's only at the CSA level and not the MSA level but that's also not true. Look below, at the MSA level Houston does even better in relation to Dallas than comparing them on the CSA level.
You would probably have to really gerrymander the data to show Dallas beating out Houston. Probably comparing Dallas metro division to Houston. But since the Houston system is largely confined to Harris county then you might as well compare Harris county to the Dallas metro division and the Houston lead would probably be double
Quote:
Originally Posted by 18Montclair
CSAs by Number of Workers Using Public Transportation, 2019(20,000+)
Your bolded question misses a key component to Bay Area commuter ridership: Bay Area politics and culture centers around environmentalism. The people I know in the Bay Area opted into, and went out of their way to live nearby, public transportation. They did this despite the convenience of, and their ability to, drive to work.
Pre-COVID I was in the Bay Area for work on a monthly basis.
In SF, the population density is very high, parking is extremely expensive, and driving is anything but convenient. In the SJ metro, I think driving isn't really too bad, but people often have very long commutes due to the high cost of living. So options like Caltrain and company shuttles are attractive because they at least allow you to use the commuting time to sleep, read, check emails, etc.
I don't think that's true at all. Sunbelt cities are just sprawling and built for cars. Taking public transportation is painful and slow in comparison to driving. In that sense, it is for poor people because otherwise why put yourself through that?
Us sun belt-ers are fully aware of the convenience of taking the subway in NYC or Europe. That knowledge doesn't make our bus systems here any faster. If anything, the parts of sunbelt cities that are built with enough density to have a walkable transit-oriented life tend to be quite expensive.
It depends on the situation. LA is in the sunbelt and isn't as sprawling as much as it's just huge. But we definitely have that attitude about public transport, especially buses. Obviously someone that lives way out in a suburb has already ruled out many, if not all, realistic public transportation options but such sentiment persists even in urban areas of sunbelt cities.
I live in downtown LA and I had a neighbor a couple years ago that worked in Century City that complained about her driving commute and the fact that the train was years away from completion. I mentioned that there was an express bus stop right across the street and she looked at me like I suggested that she eat garbage.
I guess my point is that even in sunbelt cities, buses can work for more people than use them and that nearly everyone that complains that they won't has never even tried to ride.
It depends on the situation. LA is in the sunbelt and isn't as sprawling as much as it's just huge. But we definitely have that attitude about public transport, especially buses. Obviously someone that lives way out in a suburb has already ruled out many, if not all, realistic public transportation options but such sentiment persists even in urban areas of sunbelt cities.
I live in downtown LA and I had a neighbor a couple years ago that worked in Century City that complained about her driving commute and the fact that the train was years away from completion. I mentioned that there was an express bus stop right across the street and she looked at me like I suggested that she eat garbage.
I guess my point is that even in sunbelt cities, buses can work for more people than use them and that nearly everyone that complains that they won't has never even tried to ride.
My point exactly (in a previous post in this thread.)
It actually CAN be more convenient to use the bus than to fight traffic in your own car. People in sunbelt cities just think it’s for the poor or undesirables.
wow, Nashville, Indianapolis and KC below 1%?!?! that's almost not even believable. they must look at you like you have two heads if you take public transit there! It wouldn't be shocking for smaller metros, but I think those are generally considered major metros.
Lies!!! How can you so forcefully claim that Houston is DEFINITELY more car dependent than Dallas when over and over data shows otherwise.
Look they are both weak in the use of PT department but Dallas is weaker no matter how you spin the data.
You say it's only at the CSA level and not the MSA level but that's also not true. Look below, at the MSA level Houston does even better in relation to Dallas than comparing them on the CSA level.
You would probably have to really gerrymander the data to show Dallas beating out Houston. Probably comparing Dallas metro division to Houston. But since the Houston system is largely confined to Harris county then you might as well compare Harris county to the Dallas metro division and the Houston lead would probably be double
I think the car dependence point was based on a lot of the job centers have more housing and are more walkable for workers nearby. Dallas has decent rail infrastructure and it continues to expand. There's also a cultural element that people like the freedom of their vehicles and a bit of snobbery toward public transportation.
My point exactly (in a previous post in this thread.)
It actually CAN be more convenient to use the bus than to fight traffic in your own car. People in sunbelt cities just think it’s for the poor or undesirables.
In congested cities, perhaps. But in many (most) Sunbelt cities, the cities were built out when urban decay pushed jobs and houses out of a centralized downtowns. When average driving commutes are 20 minutes, the desire to ride transit that comes every 30 minutes and takes 30 minutes to get you somewhere and most crucially fails at the “last mile” threshold, there really isn’t a competition. You’d have to spend a few decades reimagining most Sunbelt cities before you could begin to approach a system that works almost exclusively in cities built around actual horse power a couple centuries ago.
You’d have to spend a few decades reimagining most Sunbelt cities before you could begin to approach a system that works almost exclusively in cities built around actual horse power a couple centuries ago.
Many of the Sunbelt cities are actually older, more established and more populated than some of the more transit friendly cities like say Seattle or Portland. So I don't think that argument fully flies.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
