Transactions Newsletter

Transportation Frustration Tracks Economy

Source: Bay Area Poll, California Employment Development Department

In the latest Bay Area Poll, released by the Bay Area Council in December, a record 40 percent of respondents identified transportation as the region's most important problem. The past 16 years' survey results indicate that there is a close correlation between this opinion and the Bay Area economy, as measured by the percentage of workers employed. Put simply, when the economy grows, so does our dissatisfaction with transportation. Both perception and reality underlie this trend, believes Steve Heminger, MTC's deputy executive director "The reality is that a hot economy -- like the one we currently enjoy in the Bay Area -- means more workers, more commuting and more congestion. But also, during good times, when concern with bread-and-butter issues like jobs and the economy wanes, day-to-day headaches like traffic tend to rise to the top of people's worry lists."

-- Joe Curley

• Clean Air 101
• Classification Catch-22
• Air Quality Glossary
  Bay Area Air Quality Timeline
• Reduction in Emissions for
  Transportation Control Measures
• MTC Prepares Blueprint for Next Century
• Caldecott Tunnel Study Expands in Corridor
• Transportation Frustration Tracks Economy