Smart Commuters

A NY Times article on why the Smart Car makes sense.

Commuters Still Driving Alone

Published: June 14, 2007

Despite high gasoline prices, the share of commuters driving alone has increased slightly since 2000 while the proportion in car pools dropped and those using mass transit remained about the same, according to a Census Bureau analysis released yesterday.

Car poolers accounted for 15 percent or more of workers in just five cities; Phoenix and Mesa, Ariz.; Sacramento and Fresno, Calif.; and Honolulu. In Arizona and California, the higher numbers are attributable to immigrants going to work, census officials said.

Nationally, the share of people car pooling dipped, to 10.7 percent from 12.2 percent. Over all, people driving to work accounted for 88 percent of commuters. Those driving alone inched up to 77 percent, from 75.7 percent, with the highest proportions in the Midwest.

More than half of New York City commuters, nearly 55 percent, use mass transit, far more than in any other city. Washington ranked second, with 38 percent, followed by San Francisco, 33 percent; Boston, 32 percent; Philadelphia, 26 percent; and Chicago, 25 percent.

More people walk to work in Boston, 13 percent, than in any other big city. Portland, Ore., has the highest percentage of bicycle riders going to work, 3.5 percent.

After people who drive alone, car pool or use mass transit, the largest number of workers, 3.6 percent, do not commute at all. They work at home. San Francisco ranks first in that category, with 6.3 percent.