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Transit Commuting Figures for Bay Area Rise; Suburban Increases Outpace Growth in Urban Core

Bay Area census data analyzed on MTC Web site: <www.mtc.ca.gov>

Contact:

Chuck Purvis
510.817.5755

Randy Rentschler
510.817.5780

OAKLAND, Calif., May 29, 2002...Recently released data from the 2000 Census show that the number of San Francisco Bay Area residents who take public transit to work increased steadily in the 1990s, with a large proportion of the new transit commuters coming from the suburbs. (See Chart I, next page.)

The nine-county region gained 27,500 average daily transit commuters between 1990 and 2000, increasing from 293,600 transit commuters in 1990 to 321,100 transit commuters in 2000. This represents a 9.4 percent increase in the total number of daily transit commuters. These and other transportation statistics gleaned from the 2000 "journey-to-work" figures made available by the Census Bureau this month are being analyzed and put into context by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and posted on the agency’s Web site at <www.mtc.ca.gov/datamart/census.htm>.

Between 1990 and 2000, the total number of daily commuters in the region increased from 3,085,600 to 3,306,100. This translates to a 7.1 percent increase in the total number of workers using any means of transportation – drive alone, carpool, transit, walk, bicycle – as well as workers who usually work at home. (See Chart I, next page.)

Reversing a downward trend in the 1970s and 80s, the percentage of all commuters who use public transit increased slightly between 1990 and 2000, from 9.5 percent of commuters in 1990 to 9.7 percent in 2000. (See Chart I, next page.)

The jump in transit ridership is particularly striking among communities outside of the urban core. Transit commuting from "other urban" and suburban areas increased by 18.4 percent in the 1990s, increasing from 115,800 average daily transit commuters in 1990 to 137,100 in 2000. (See Chart III, next page.)

The majority of the Bay Area’s 321,000 daily transit commuters reside in seven communities comprising the urban core: San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Daly City, Emeryville, Albany and El Cerrito. Transit commuting from these communities increased by 3.4 percent in the 1990s, from 177,800 transit commuters in 1990 to 183,900 in 2000. (See Chart II, below.)

As a percentage of all commute modes used by residents of the central cities, however, public transit usage showed a slight decrease between 1990 and 2000, declining from a 26.6 percent transit share in 1990 to 25.6 percent in 2000. (See Chart II, below.)

While the transit share of total commute modes in these other urban and suburban communities is substantially lower than in their urban core counterparts, a moderate increase was registered – from 4.8 percent in 1990 to 5.3 percent in 2000. (See Chart III, below.)

The tables below summarize the trends from the 2000 Census described above.

Chart I. San Francisco Bay Area*

	1990	2000	% Change, 1990-2000
Transit commuters	293,600	321,100	+9.4%
Total commuters	3,085,600	3,306,100	+7.1%
Transit share	9.5%	9.7%	+0.2%

*Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma counties

Chart II. Bay Area Urban Core*

	1990	2000	% Change, 1990-2000
Transit commuters	177,800	183,900	+3.4%
Total commuters	667,700	718,000	+7.5%
Transit share	26.6%	25.6%	-1.0%

*Includes San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Daly City, Emeryville, Albany and El Cerrito (seven communities with highest transit share of total commute)

Chart III. Remainder of Bay Area (Other Urban & Suburban)

	1990	2000	% Change, 1990-2000
Transit commuters	115,800	137,100	+18.4%
Total commuters	2,417,900	2,588,100	+7.0%
Transit share	4.8%	5.3%	+0.5%

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