ctpp-news October 2002

ctpp-news@mailman.chrispy.net

17 participants
21 discussions

Federal Appeals Court ruling on Census Bureau statistically adjusted data

by Chuck Purvis

Census Told to Show Adjusted Count Wed Oct 9, 4:08 PM ET By WILLIAM McCALL, Associated Press Writer PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A federal appeals court Wednesday ruled that the Census Bureau must release its statistically adjusted count for every state, county and neighborhood in the United States. Billions of dollars in government funding that is distributed according to population is potentially at stake in the dispute. The Census Bureau has refused to release the adjusted numbers, contending the figures are unreliable and would cause political battles over federal funding. The bureau has instead been releasing only the population counts arrived at through census takers and questionnaires. But a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that the public is entitled to see the adjusted figures, too, under federal open-government law. Congressional Democrats, minorities and big-city mayors have been pressing for the release of the numbers on the suspicion that large numbers of people were missed and that their districts were shortchanged federal, state and local funding because of it. A 1999 U.S. Supreme Court ruling bars the use of adjusted numbers for reapportioning congressional seats, but such data can be used for local districting purposes and for distributing federal grants. A spokesman for the Justice Department, which represented the Census Bureau, did not immediately return a call for comment. After census takers and census questionnaires were sent out in 2000, the Census Bureau used mathematical formulas to estimate how many minorities, renters and other groups might have been missed in inner cities, rural areas and other places. Those figures are often called the "undercount." Oregon state Sens. Susan Castillo and Margaret Carter, both Democrats, filed a Freedom of Information Act request to see the adjusted population figures. But the Census Bureau asked for an exception to the law. In its ruling Wednesday, the appeals court upheld U.S. District Judge James A. Redden of Portland, who last November ordered the government to release the undercount. The case marked the first time a federal judge had ruled that the adjusted 2000 counts for the entire country must be released.

21 years, 6 months

Travel Surveys Training

by Ben Williams

I have had a request from an MPO for the FHWA course on travel Surveys. Agencies developing request for proposals for consultant surveys find this course is the most valuable. Course Number: 151034A Course Title: Development and Implementation of Travel Surveys -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Length (Days) CEU FEE 3 Days 1.8 Units $ 345 Per Participant -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Class Size: Minimum 20; Maximum 30 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Description: The course provides transportation planners with information on the development and implementation of the most common types of travel surveys, including: household travel and activity, vehicle intercept, transit on-board, commercial vehicle, work place and establishment, special generator, hotel/visitor, and parking surveys. Much of the course material includes information from 'Travel Survey Manual,' published by the FHWA. The course is oriented toward those responsible for survey work and those who use the data collected such as modeling practitioners, however, it will not address travel demand modeling explicitly. In addition, the course provides guidance for avoiding common problems encountered in performing travel surveys. The goal of the course is to increase the quality of travel survey results and to promote the efficient utilization of data collection resources. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Objective: Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to: Recognize various types of travel surveys and identify principles behind each. Define the relationship of each survey to the travel forecasting process. Develop and manage a process for implementing surveys in their local area. Develop high quality request for proposals (RFP) for survey efforts, and effectively evaluate the proposals. Identify emerging survey techniques and new technologies related to travel surveys. Target Audience: Metropolitan Planning Organization, State DOT and FHWA planning practitioners. Since there are a limited number of MPOs conducting travel surveys at any given time it is hard to find a sponsor or enough students for a workshop. We are looking to find other potential students for the workshop. If there are enough, the Southern Resource Center may host a session. Please let me know if you are interested, how many staff might attend and if there are geographic constraints to where you can go for it. Ben Williams, P.E. Metropolitan Planning Specialist Federal Highway Administration Southern Resource Center V (404) 562-3671 F (404) 562-3700 ben.williams(a)fhwa.dot.gov Web Site www.fhwa.dot.gov/resourcecenters/southern

21 years, 6 months

Revised FHWA Position on Census Urban Boundary Changes

by Kazimi, Zia

In case you all haven't heard, FHWA has revised their position on Census Urban Boundaries. States now have the option of using either the Census urban place or the Census urban cluster. As you know, there could be some cases where an area might have 5,000 population using one definition but less than 5,000 if they used the other. Whichever option is chosen, it should be applied consistently throughout the state.

21 years, 6 months

ACS funding

by ed christopher

The September 27 issue of the "Census 2000 News Alert" reported on the status to the American Community Survey as it relates to the current appropriation actions in Congress. According to the report "the bureau said it would be unable to implement the American Community Survey as planned in FY03". http://www.census2000.org/news/2002/sept27.html

21 years, 6 months

On the Road to Census 2010

by ed christopher

The Census Bureau will conduct field testing for the 2010 census in Colquitt, Thomas and Tift counties in Georgia, Lake County in Illinois and a portion of northwestern Queens County in New York. A major innovation that will be studied in 2004 is equipping field interviewers with hand-held computing devices to collect questionnaire data, navigate to assignments and update the Bureau's Master Address File. The devices also will include global positioning system (GPS) technology that can improve the process of assigning addresses to their correct geographic location. In addition to studying new technologies, the 2004 census test will examine a variety of methodological and operational improvements. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02cn172.html

21 years, 6 months

Re: [CTPP] Question about OMB initiative on combining statistical areas

by Nanda Srinivasan

OMB issued a Federal Register Notice for the new definition of MSAs in December 2000. This called for the creation of metropolitan, and micropolitan areas. More information can be found at: http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/masrp.html Thanks Nandu >>> elizabeth.hartmann(a)dot.state.mn.us 10/03/02 12:38PM >>> Does anyone have any information or resources on this topic: ********************************************* From: "William Hansen" <hansen(a)stcloudapo.org> What do you know about OMB's initiative to Combine Statistical Areas? They are looking for local input on combining, I need to get some info for the Board on impacts to us as an MPO. ********************************************* Thanks! Liz Hartmann Research Analysis Specialist Mn/DOT Office of Investment Management

21 years, 6 months

Question about OMB initiative on combining statistical areas

by Elizabeth Hartmann

Does anyone have any information or resources on this topic: ********************************************* From: "William Hansen" <hansen(a)stcloudapo.org> What do you know about OMB's initiative to Combine Statistical Areas? They are looking for local input on combining, I need to get some info for the Board on impacts to us as an MPO. ********************************************* Thanks! Liz Hartmann Research Analysis Specialist Mn/DOT Office of Investment Management

21 years, 6 months

Question about OMB initiative on combining statistical areas

by Elizabeth Hartmann

21 years, 6 months

Re: [CTPP] TAZ geography

by Chuck Purvis

Martha: Yes, the TAZ boundaries from the Census Bureau's web site are "generalized" boundaries, intended for mapping at a very small scale, say, 1:1000000. Where TAZ boundaries tend to zig-zag, the Bureau has removed both the zig and the zag. Again, this is OK for mapping at very small scales, but could be a problem when zooming into a particular county or community. The accurate boundaries can be derived from TIGER/Line files, and won't have the generalizations and "smoothing out" of boundaries. You can get these from ESRI's web site at: http://www.esri.com/data/download/census2000_tigerline/index.html (Note: the link from geographynetwork.com now points to this ESRI page.) Chuck Purvis, MTC >>> Martha Kile <mkile(a)mwcog.org> 09/30/02 03:26PM >>> Has anyone had problems using the shape files or E00 files for TAZ boundaries available on the Census website? We have noticed that some of our TAZ boundaries look strange, as if there is a problem with collapsing polygons. Do I need to create the TAZ boundaries myself from the TIGER files? Any guidance on this would be greatly appreciated.

21 years, 6 months

TAZ geography

by Martha Kile

Has anyone had problems using the shape files or E00 files for TAZ boundaries available on the Census website? We have noticed that some of our TAZ boundaries look strange, as if there is a problem with collapsing polygons. Do I need to create the TAZ boundaries myself from the TIGER files? Any guidance on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Martha Kile Principal GIS Analyst Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Suite 300 777 North Capitol St. NE Washington, DC 20002 voice: 202.962.3294 fax: 202.962.3202

21 years, 6 months

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ctpp-news October 2002