Paul:
The simple answer is no. No data from the ACS is currently available at
the block group or block level. You will need to use Census 2000 (SF1,
PL 94-171) to get any kind of data at the block level. For the block
group level, you can use almost any Census 2000 product (SF1, PL 94-171,
SF3, CTPP-Part 1).
The ACS will never, ever produce or publish data at the block level.
The ACS is a sample survey, and the Census Bureau will never release
sample data at the block level of geography. Block *group* data could or
should be published by the Census Bureau based on five-years of ACS data
(2005-2009) as early as Fall 2010(?). Then, the Census 2010 data will
start kicking in with the PL94-171 data released by the spring of 2011.
For aggregate travel model validation, on the other hand, the
mid-decade ACS data can be very, very useful. Right now, you can get
validation tables such as households by household size; households by
number of workers in the household; and households by number of vehicles
available in the household. I think these are quite useful for your
"demographic model" validation. Also, the journey-to-work data is being
published, so that you can produce "observed home-based work trip ends
by means of transportation" by area-of-residence as well as
area-of-work.
Depending on the size of your region, you may be stuck with county (as
long as the county's total population is > 65,000); or you may be able
to use the data published at the Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA) level.
These are the Census 2000 PUMAs, and are "standard census geographic
areas" that were defined by the state data center network, and are all
100,000+ in total population. If you're working with smaller counties
(20,000-65,000 population) then you'll have to wait for the 3-year ACS
data products, based on the 2005-2007 period, which will be released as
early as Fall 2008.
cheers,
Chuck Purvis
**************************************************************
Charles L. Purvis, AICP
Principal Transportation Planner/Analyst
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
101 Eighth Street
Oakland, CA 94607-4700
(510) 817-5755 (office)
(510) 817-7848 (fax)
cpurvis(a)mtc.ca.gov (e-mail)
www: http://www.mtc.ca.gov/
**************************************************************
>>> "Flavien, Paul H" <PHFlavien(a)pbsj.com> 10/18/07 12:27 PM >>>
Hi all,
We are about to undertake a model validation. As part of the
validation,
the socio-economic inputs (housing, population, etc.) will be updated.
We've searched the Census website for data, but so far we've only been
able to find ACS data at the county level. Is there any ACS data
available at the block group or block level?
Paul H Flavien
PBS&J
Planner- Transportation Planning
1901 Commonwealth Lane
Tallahassee, FL 32301
(850) 575-1800 ext: 7884
Fax: (850) 575-1083
phflavien(a)pbsj.com
Hi all,
We are about to undertake a model validation. As part of the validation,
the socio-economic inputs (housing, population, etc.) will be updated.
We've searched the Census website for data, but so far we've only been
able to find ACS data at the county level. Is there any ACS data
available at the block group or block level?
Paul H Flavien
PBS&J
Planner- Transportation Planning
1901 Commonwealth Lane
Tallahassee, FL 32301
(850) 575-1800 ext: 7884
Fax: (850) 575-1083
phflavien(a)pbsj.com
Terri Ann has sent along her latest Census News Brief (attached). It
discusses the status of funding for 2010 census preparations, the 2007
Economic Census, and other key milestones on the road to Census 2010.
Needless to say as long as Congress continues to put the federal
agencies (Commerce and the Census Bureau) under continuing resolutions
preparations for the next census will be threatened.
-----------------
Ed Christopher
Resource Center Planning Team
Federal Highway Administration
19900 Governors Drive
Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461
708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell)
708-283-3501 (F)
Like Ms. Bousefield in Chicago, I find the HUD vacancy figures running
very low. The ACS county-level vacancy data appear far more accurate in
our area, but they are not available at the tract level yet. However,
the HUD data do appear to reflect different characteristics of tracts -
they correctly identify areas of generally higher vacancy. Therefore, I
may be able to use the HUD figures to identify changes in vacancy by
tract over time.
The HUD figures do not separate businesses from residences. Therefore,
like so many other sources, they are useful but not fully compatible
with other data sets.
Jonathan Lupton
Metroplan - Little Rock AR
70 pages?? It takes only one sentence to say zone boundaries need to be
based on access to the network being modeled, period.
Sam Granato
Ohio DOT, Office of Technical Services
1980 W. Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43223
Phone: 614-644-6796, Fax: 614-752-8646
"You will be flogged for being right and flogged for being wrong, but it
hurts less when you're right." - Hunter S. Thompson
The Florida DOT has just posted a 70 page report discussing TAZs and
their construction. While the information is for the model users
community in Florida there is a wealth of information in the report that
those who think about such things will find of interest. The document
is well worth adding to any list of TAZs references that you may have.
The report can be found on the Florida Transportation Modeling web site
at http://www.fsutmsonline.net/index.php?/site/directory/model_docs
The direct link to the report is
http://www.fsutmsonline.net/images/uploads/reports/FDOT_TAZ_White_Paper.pdf
The Florida DOT has just posted a 70 page report discussing TAZs and
their construction. While the information is for the model users
community in Florida there is a wealth of information in the report that
those who think about such things will find of interest. The document
is well worth adding to any list of TAZs references that you may have.
The report can be found on the Florida Transportation Modeling web site
at
http://www.fsutmsonline.net/index.php?/site/directory/model_docs
The direct link to the report is
http://www.fsutmsonline.net/images/uploads/reports/FDOT_TAZ_White_Paper.pdf
If other States or Regions have similar documents I wouldn't mind
learning about them and adding them to our ever growing list of data
related resources.
--
Ed Christopher
FHWA Resource Center
19900 Governors Drive
Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461
708-283-3534 (v) 708-283-3501 (f)
708-574-8131 (cell)
FYI, via the Association of Public Data Users.
_____
From: Patty Becker [mailto:pbecker@umich.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 8:36 AM
To: APDUMEM(a)apdu.org
Subject: [APDU members] Impact of Congressional Continuing Resolution
Hi all,
At this point, it is clear that the Congress will not complete its
budgeting job this week in time for the new fiscal year, making a
continuing resolution (CR) inevitable. Below, please find a
communication from Terri Ann Lowenthal, APDU Board member, about the
impact of the CR on the Census Bureau:
Good afternoon, census stakeholders.
A quick update on the status of Fiscal Year 2008 funding for the Census
Bureau, and a call for IMMEDIATE help in convincing House and Senate
appropriators to provide adquate funds for Census in the short-term
Continuing Resolution before Congress this week. As you know, the
fiscal year ends this weekend. The House will take up a CR as soon as
Wednesday.
The CR would allocate funds at the FISCAL YEAR 2007 LEVEL through
November 16 (at the earliest; another CR might be necessary then).
This outcome would spell disaster for key Census programs.
The Census Bureau received $893 million in FY07. For FY08, the
Administration requested $202.8 million for Salaries & Expenses, and
$1,027.4 million for Periodic Censuses and Programs. The House bill
provides $196.8 million for S&E and $1,025.4 million for Periodics.
The Senate committee bill provides $226.2 million for S&E and $1,020.4
million for Periodics. Overall, the Administration requested a 37.7
percent increase for the Census Bureau, in recognition of final
preparations for Census 2010 and the 2007 Economic Census and Census of
Governments, among other important activities.
Unofficial word from known sources (no one in the Census Bureau is
allowed to speak about this publicly) is that proposed funding levels
in the CR would endanger conduct of the 2008 Dress Rehearsal
(preparations are in full swing and the DR takes place on a census
schedule next March - summer) or use of handheld computers for
non-response follow-up in the census. The handhelds are being
developed for deployment in the Dress Rehearsal. If they are not used
then, it is very possible/likely they will not be used in 2010.
Please make any immediate contacts you can with staff/Members on House
and Senate Appropriations Committees, or other influential Members of
Congress, in support of an exception to proposed funding levels for the
Census Bureau in the CR. The Census Bureau is on a major cyclical
funding upswing ... it cannot continue to function at last year's
funding levels for a few months. Keep in mind that the 2007 Economic
Census and Census of Governments are starting this fall, with forms
going out in December/January. That cannot be delayed either.
Please also share this message with others in your census network.
===============================
Patricia C. (Patty) Becker 248/354-6520
APB Associates/SEMCC/APDU FAX 248/354-6645
28300 Franklin Rd Home 248/355-2428
Southfield, MI 48034 pbecker(a)umich.edu
Here is the REAL message I meant to send! Apologies for hitting the
"send" button earlier.
Thank you to Celia Boertlein and Kin Koerber at the Census Bureau for
the original materials and the recent updates related to 2006 ACS
tabulations. September 27 is the scheduled release date for the
remainder of 2006 ACS data standard products. Also, comments to the
Federal Register Notice on ACS Data Products (Docket 070725407-7408-01)
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo
.gov/2007/E7-16850.htm
are due September 28.
ACS TABLE NAMING AND NUMBERING
The first character in the table is a key to the type of the table.
Subject "S" Several tables compiled together addressing a specific
subject. Limited
to areas with 1+ million population.
Base or Detailed "B" These tables are used to create the Subject
tables, but can be used
independently.
Collapsed "C" These tables are a smaller version of the Base tables
with a reduced
number of categories to reduce suppression. However, some tables may
still be suppressed if the coefficient of variation among the cells is
too high.
Ranking "R" These tables sort the results based on individual values,
for example,
average travel time, or percent using transit as means of transportation
to work. For 2005, these are given for State totals.
Data Profiles: There are 4 profile sheets: demographics, social,
economic, housing, and
1 narrative document. The economic profile includes workers and
commuting.
Selected Population Profiles: These are tables by race, ethnicity and
ancestry.
All the JTW and Place of Work tables begin with "08". As for the
detailed (base) tables, there is somewhat of a pattern. Those beginning
with B080 or C080 support the Subject Table S0801. Also included in
that set are the Place of Work by metro/micro/non-metro or -micro tables
(B08016-B08018/C08016-C08018). The latter are included with the others
since S0801 uses the other Place of Work tables. However, S0801 does
use some JTW tables. The workplace-based tables that parallel those
detailed tables start with B084 or C084. The last two digits are the
same for corresponding residence-based and workplace-based tables.
The detailed tables that are used for the Means of Transportation
Subject Table (S0802), are numbered starting with either B081 or C081.
The workplace-based tables that parallel those detailed tables start
with B085 or C085. The last two digits are the same for corresponding
residence-based and workplace-based tables.
The household data detailed tables that were requested by DOT and not
used in any other products are numbered starting with either B082 or
C082. These are:
B08201: Household Size by Vehicles Available
B08202: Household Size by Number of Workers
B08203: Number of Workers by Vehicles Available
For the 2006 ACS, new one-dimensional JTW detailed tables have been
added, and start
with either B083 or C083. The workplace-based tables that parallel
those detailed tables will start with B086 or C086. The last two digits
will be the same for corresponding residence-based and workplace-based
tables.
B08301 Means of Transportation to Work
B08302 Time Leaving Home
B08303 Travel Time
There will be holes in the numbering where tables are removed.
The links to the topic search results:
The link for Journey to Work is -
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/acs-php/2006_experienced_users_guide.php?a
cs_topic=Journey+to+Work
for Place of Work --
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/acs-php/2006_experienced_users_guide.php?a
cs_topic=Place+of+Work
for Vehicles Available --
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/acs-php/2006_experienced_users_guide.php?a
cs_topic=Vehicles+Available
Another resource is the ACS 2006 Data Users Handbook --
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/Handbook2006.pdf
The CB's Journey to Work and Migration branch was asked to reduce the
number of ACS standard tables for 2006 and beyond.
Here's the list of what was removed.
1) Subject Table S0803. Worker characteristics crossed by sex. These
subject
tables are only produced for areas with 1 million+ population.
2) Mean travel time in S0802. Delete the mean travel time to work
column from subject table S0802. Some tables with travel time
distributions remain e.g.
B08012, B08134.
3) Means of Transportation by Marital Status : This change deletes all
the marital
status by means of transportation data.
4) Means of Transportation by Educational Attainment: This removes all
the educational
attainment by means of transportation data.
5) Means of Transportation by Household Type: This removes all the
household type by means of
transportation data.
Don't forget that we created our own profiles using the 2005 ACS
results. These are available at:
http://ctpp.transportation.org/home/default.htm and include some data
from 1990 and 2000.
We do not plan to prepare new profiles using the 2006 ACS results, as
the differences are likely to be small except for areas with large group
quarters population, and due to limitations in staff resources.
Elaine Murakami
FHWA Office of Planning
206-220-4460 (in Seattle)