[CTPP] USA Today article on drive alone commute (long post)

TO: CTPP-News Here's the link to today's USA Today article on driving alone in America. Of course, the Census Bureau hasn't yet released data for nine states and Puerto Rico (which are due out next week.) My bet is that Michigan (data not yet released) is still the #1 state in terms of drive alone share of total commute! http://www.usatoday.com/money/covers/2002-05-30-driving-alone.htm By the way, my old web site has 1990 data on state-level commute-to-work shares, at: http://home.earthlink.net/~clpurvis/metrodat/ and, more specifically: http://home.earthlink.net/~clpurvis/metrodat/statec5.htm Reading this USA Today article reminds me of a book that I just read - - "Damn Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians and Activists" by Joel Best, UC Press, 2001. Recommended reading. Excellent for critical thinking about the statistics that media and others use. Which brings me to my point about lies and statistics in the USA Today article. I'll try to be brief. 1. USA Today states that the drive alone commute share in the San Francisco metro area declined from 73 percent in 1990 to 68 percent in 2000. The 2000 figure is accurate at 68.0 percent. On the other hand, our 1990 drive alone commute share was 68.2 percent. So, our overall drive alone commute share declined from 68.2 percent to 68.0 percent. (This is nice, but not "wow"!) 2. USA Today claims that "Many transportation officials, planners and environmentalists have concluded that carpooling lanes don't help reduce traffic." Well, this is pretty shaky journalism. Like, who or what's the source of this information? Alan, is this from you? You're cited in the next paragraph! I will agree that the USA Today article is entertaining, though the blending of factual information with anecdotal commutes is getting to be tiring. Some more quips and quotes from the USA Today article: 1. "Forty minutes in the car may be the equivalent of the bubble bath" 2. "There is more to life than quality time in your car, no matter how great your sound system is" 3. "The car is often the last refuge of smokers....California law prohibits all smoking in workplaces, including offices, stores and restaurants." (Note that California prohibits smoking in bars, as well. However, we do allow you to smoke inside your own home, even in your own bubble bath!) 4. "Consumers of audio books listen to them on average 4.4 hours a week in their cars, compared with 1.1 hours on mass transit, according to the Audio Publishers Association." (Gotta wonder who's answering these surveys!) On the plus side, the USA Today's graphics are pretty darned good. Chuck Purvis Cranky Because My Baseball Team is 24-27. *********************************************** Charles L. Purvis, AICP Senior Transportation Planner/Analyst Metropolitan Transportation Commission 101 Eighth Street Oakland, CA 94607-4700 (510) 464-7731 (office) (510) 464-7848 (fax) www: http://www.mtc.ca.gov/ Census WWW: http://census.mtc.ca.gov/ ***********************************************