Press Releases

For Immediate Release

Report Puts Transportation Facts at Your Fingertips

Key Indicators Show Pressure Eased on Bay Area Transportation System in 2002, Yet Regional Travel Demand Remains Strong

CONTACT:

Joe Curley, MTC
510.817.5847

John Goodwin, MTC
510.817.5862

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 12, 2003...A sluggish economy took some of the pressure off the Bay Area transportation system in 2002, contributing to a 7 percent drop in freeway congestion, a 3 percent slide in transit ridership, and a 7 percent decline in the number of passengers flying into or out of Bay Area airports. Even so, travel demand remained strong in the region, as the number of vehicle miles driven on freeways and the average daily traffic volume on Bay Area bridges both inched up 1 percent over their levels in 2001.

These statistics and dozens of other key indicators can be found in Bay Area Transportation: State of the System 2003, a digest of data on the performance of the region’s transportation network and facilities. The second in an annual series of reports inaugurated last year by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Caltrans District 4, the State of the System 2003 collects in one place data on freeway, local roadway, transit and bicycle travel, as well as air travel and goods movement. Using easy-to-understand tables, graphs and maps, the report details and briefly comments on how the Bay Area transportation network performed in 2002 (the last full year for which data is available), and discusses trends going back up to five years. Taken together, the many pieces of data included in the State of the System 2003 paint a comprehensive picture of the state of transportation in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

Other 2002 statistics included in the just-released report show that, even with reduced freeway congestion, the time savings afforded by many of the most heavily used carpool lanes remained steady. However, peak-hour usage did decline somewhat on several of the most popular carpool-lane segments. And, in a closely watched measure of the physical health of local roadways, 2002 data showed scant change overall in the condition of Bay Area pavements, although wide disparities continue to exist among individual jurisdictions.

In welcome news, the State of the System 2003 includes data showing a reduction in the number of motor vehicle collisions that involved injuries or fatalities in 2002 — even as the number of total collisions increased slightly. And, for the fifth year in a row, motor vehicle collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists also were down in 2002. The report contains a complete list of pedestrian- and bicyclist-involved collisions by jurisdiction, greatly expanding the detail provided on this important measure of transportation safety.

This year’s report also adds data on transit travel times for selected commutes to the region’s three largest cities: San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland. Last year’s report featured freeway drive times only. This addition makes for interesting comparisons between the two modes on some of the region’s most popular commute trips.

The State of the System 2003 report may be ordered for free (please see note below) from the MTC Library by e-mail (library@mtc.ca.gov) or by phone (510.817.5836). The report also can be found on the MTC Web site at: www.mtc.ca.gov/library/state_of_the_system.
MTC is the regional transportation planning, financing, and coordinating agency for the San Francisco Bay Area. Caltrans District 4 is the operating arm of the California Department of Transportation for the same nine-county region.

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Note to Editors and Reporters: Copies of the State of the System 2003 report are being mailed to transportation reporters, editors and other media contacts in the Bay Area. Members of the media desiring additional copies can of course request them from the MTC Library, as detailed above.

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