[CTPP] Get ready-- 2005 ACS data coming soon-- August 15 and 29

http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Special/Alerts/Latest.htm#News1 In case you are not subscribed to the ACS-Alert, just a reminder to be prepared: 1. August 15. This will include population totals, race, Hispanic origin, age, sex. 2. August 29. This will include economic characteristics at Place of Residence including work status and journey to work. 3. October. First Place of Work tabulations. NEW as standard ACS product. Previously Place of Work tabulations were only available from CTPP. The reasons that 2005 ACS is important is because 2005 is the first year of "full implementation." This means that surveys were conducted in ALL counties in the United States. Previous ACS samples were in test phase and included about one-third of the counties in the U.S. MSA statistics were not often available in earlier ACS, because all of the counties in the MSA were not included in the sample. Also, in 2005, the Census Bureau implemented different non-response follow-up rates, depending on expected mail-back return rates. For example, lower income neighborhoods often have lower mail-back returns, so the telephone and in-person follow-up rates were increased in those neighborhoods. As you know, the media gets access to the data a few days early as "embargoed data." This means that they can get articles ready in advance but cannot release any data until the embargoed date/time is met. For the August 15 release, they will get access to the data on August 8. In addition to the media, the State Data Centers are also included as recipients. Here is the link to find YOUR SDC, http://www.census.gov/sdc/www/ They will NOT be able to release the data to you in advance, but you can communicate with them in case they can develop some materials that will make your life easier when August 15 arrives. What is Elaine (FHWA Office of Planning) working on? Elaine is working with Nanda Srinivasan (Cambridge Systematics) and Ed Christopher (FHWA Resource Center) to develop a profile similar to the State profiles completed for CTPP 2000 as the starting point. These are posted on the AASHTO webpage. Here is the link to the VA profile from CTPP 2000. http://ctpp.transportation.org/home/va/VA.htm We plan to include: 1990 Census, 2000 Census, and 2005 ACS data. Geographic coverage: National total (will include 2000 ACS (aka C2SS)) in the table States (all 50) MSAs over 1 million population (using Census 2000 to figure out which ones to include--this is about 50 MSAs- see our JTW Trends report) Cities over 1 million population (using Census 2000) Topics to include: 1. Total Population 2. Total workers 3. Travel mode to Work 4. Travel time to work a. distribution b. mean travel time 5. Vehicles available 6. Income Other reminders: The geographies that will show the greatest differences from decennial census are areas that have high seasonal population shifts. The ACS is collected over all 12 months of the year, not "April 1". My product goal is SPREADSHEETs. We know that the TRANSIT share for MODE TO WORK is going to be one of the KEY ITEMS of interest. I will be vacation in Japan starting Aug 12 and will not return to work until Sept 5, so I will be relying on Nandu and Ed C to get things done in my absence. Also, Ed and Nandu are working on some web-based training to get people familiar with using American Fact Finder to access the 2005 ACS tables. But, I don't think we have the dates set yet. Of course, you can go to American Fact Finder on your own and review the 2004 ACS tables as a starting point. If I have made any mistakes in this email about Census Bureau products, I hope that someone from the CB will post corrections to the listserv! Elaine Murakami 206-220-4460