SOCIOECONOMICS OF URBAN TRAVEL: EVIDENCE FROM THE 2001 NHTS

The 2001 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) confirms most of the same travel trends and variation among socioeconomic groups documented by its predecessors, the Nationwide Personal Transportation Surveys of 1969, 1977, 1983, 1990 and 1995. The private car continues to dominate urban travel among every segment of the American population, including the poor, minorities and the elderly. By comparison, public transportation accounts for less than 2 percent of all urban travel. Even the lowest-income households make only 5 percent of their trips by transit. The most important difference in the 2001 NHTS is the doubling in modal share of walking trips in cities, due to a much improved survey technique that captured previously unreported walks. While the private car dominates travel, there are important variations in automobile ownership and travel behavior by income, race, ethnicity, sex and age. Overall, the poor, racial and ethnic minorities, and the elderly have much lower mobility rates than the general population. Moreover, the poor, blacks and Hispanics are far more likely to use transit than other groups. Indeed, minorities and low-income households account for 63 percent of the nation's transit riders. Different socioeconomic groups also have different rates of carpooling, taxi use, bicycling and walking. In addition, they travel different distances and at different times of the day. Many of these socioeconomic variations in travel behavior have important consequences for public policy.

• Record URL:
  https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015058773691?urlappend=%3Bseq=397
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/7938948
• Corporate Authors:

  Eno Transportation Foundation

  1250 I Street, NW, Suite 750
  Washington, DC  United States  20005
• Authors:
  • Pucher, J
  • Renne, J L
• Publication Date: 2003

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 49-77
• Serial:
  • Transportation Quarterly
  • Volume: 57
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: Eno Transportation Foundation
  • ISSN: 0278-9434

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aged; Automobile travel; Bicycle travel; Carpools; Low income groups; Minorities; Mobility; Modal split; Mode choice; Periods of the day; Public transit; Ridership; Socioeconomic factors; Taxicabs; Travel behavior; Travel patterns; Travel surveys; Trend (Statistics); Trip length; Urban transit; Urban travel; Walking
• Identifier Terms: National Household Travel Survey
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00960783
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-043 560
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 17 2003 12:00AM