RE: [CTPP] Has anyone examined the PUMA tabulations from 2005ACS?

Hi Chuck and CTPP-listserv members: First, thank you to Chuck for his long post, and issues relating to counting workers using different sources. At the end of his email he wrote: " We would love to have data by PUMA-of-work, but I don't think that's coming this year....)" He is correct. The "Place of Work" tabulations to be released on October 3 will NOT have PUMA-of-work, because the standard workplace coding does not extend to detailed geography, but stops after STATE/COUNTY. That is, if sufficient information is provided by a respondent, the automated geocoding will include geocoding to census block. However, due to many factors, mostly attributable to "incomplete" responses, only about 75% of workplaces are sufficiently coded to small geography. (Since many PUMAs use census tract boundaries, the geocoding would need to be at least to tract geography.) Until a new workplace allocation program is developed and implemented, more detailed workplace geography will not be available for the remaining 25%. So, until that occurs, PUMA-of-work cannot be tabulated in the ACS. At the end of FY06, I was able to get a small research project (with FHWA funds) to work with the Census Bureau to explore improvements to the workplace allocation program that was implemented for CTPP2000. I don't know if the contract between the 2 agencies has been signed yet! However, this is exploratory research, and IMPLEMENTATION to the ACS data files would need to be covered by a future CTPP (assuming there is a new pooled fund for CTPP!). Elaine