science environment

Northwest Urban Areas Among Trendsetters For Commute Transportation

By Toni Tabora-Roberts (OPB)
Dec. 4, 2013 5 p.m.
A new report on U.S. transportation trends shows Portland had the biggest increase in percentage of workers who biked to work.

A new report on U.S. transportation trends shows Portland had the biggest increase in percentage of workers who biked to work.

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If urbanites’ behavior is any indication, American workers' commutes are changing. A new transportation study of the biggest U.S. urban areas shows a decline in driving and an increase in biking to work.

The report, Transportation in Transition: A Look at Changing Travel Patterns in America's Biggest Cities, comes from consumer advocacy group U.S. PIRG Education Fund and the Frontier Group. The report looks at government data for the country's 100 most populous urban areas, which account for more than half of the U.S. population.

The authors of the report give this background on U.S. driving trends:

During the second half of the 20th century, the total number of miles driven in America steadily increased. Between 1970 and 2004, the number of vehicle- miles traveled per capita increased by an average of 1.8 percent annually. Even more dramatically, and the total number of vehicle-miles traveled increased by an average of 2.9 percent annually. Then, the trend changed. Since the mid-2000s, the number of miles driven in America – both total and per capita – has fallen. From 2004 to 2012, the average number of vehicle-miles driven per capita decreased by 7.6 percent. And from 2007 – when Americans' total vehicle travel peaked – to 2012, the total number of miles driven in America fell by 3.1 percent.

They attribute the recent decline in driving in part to the recession, but also a saturation in driving, changing demographics, the rising cost of gas and availability of other modes of transport.

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Here are several stats I thought Northwest readers would especially appreciate:

  • The proportion of workers commuting by private vehicle – either alone or in a carpool – declined in99 out of 100 of America's largest urbanized areas between 2000 and 2007-2011.
  • The proportion of residents working from home has increased in 100 out of the 100 largest urbanized areas since 2000.
  • The proportion of residents bicycling to work increased in 85 out of 100 of America's largest urbanized areas between 2000 and 2007-2011.

Seattle and Portland’s urban areas were in the top ten for decline in private vehicle commuters:

10 Urbanized Areas with the Largest Decline in Proportion of Workers
Commuting by Private Car or Van

Portland’s urban region rose to the top for one data point -- largest increase in percent of workers who biked to work:

10 Urbanized Areas with the Largest Increases in Percent of Workers
WhoBiked to Work

The U.S. PIRG report notes between 2000 and 2007-2011, Portland’s bike commuters increased from 6,800 to 21,800 residents.

The news is probably not surprising to anyone who's been to Portland, with rush hour crowds in bike lanes and an official city bike plan. A fact sheet on the city website says 6 percent of the city's commuters go by bike, the highest of any U.S. city, and much higher than the national average of .5 percent.

Have you changed your commuting habits in the past decade? What precipitated the change?

-- Toni Tabora-Roberts

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