Re: [CTPP] Table Content and STFS5

Nathan: Slow down and lighten up! ;-) It's way too early in the process to be nitpicking about table titles for a product that's four years off! This is the time we need to say to Census/USDOT: what tables do we have and we use; what tables do we have but we don't use; what tables *don't* we have but we could've used; and what tables *don't* we have and probably don't need. If you (and others) haven't already done so, go through every table and every part of CTPP/SE and CTPP/UE to figure these things out. Of course, you need to have your answers to Tom Mank at FHWA by July 10, 1998. (I think this early July 1998 date was needed to give a rough estimate of total price of the CTPP package to AASHTO, correct me if I'm wrong. I think "fine-tuning" of the elements of the 2000 CTPP will continue over the next year-or-so?) The example you provide is not at all difficult to figure out. There's a data universe (workers age 16+) and the numbers represent workers. Yes, a clearer title would be "workers by time leaving home etc..." *but* the analyst can obviously *CHANGE* these titles when reporting them to local audiences. I, frankly, *didn't* use peak period workers, so *my* tables might read "non-home workers by means of transportation to work" or some such. Or, more likely, I would merge in the work-at-home workers from part A to yield a matrix of zone-to-zone workers by means of transportation to work, including work at home. Let the Bureau get the data to us. Let them be as precise-as-they-need-to-be in fully-and-accurately describing the tabulation! And the analyst can mish-mash the table titles to his or her heart's desire. I still grimace when I remember the "cars, tucks [should be trucks] and vans" boo-boo in the 1980 UTPP documentation, but, hey, just deal with it. STFS-5 To Patty or Ed, or whomever brought up the issue of STF S-5. This was a simple file of county-to-county commuters, I believe issued on a state-by-state basis. It was released December 1992, according to my records. This file was about eight months after STF3A was released in earlier 1992, and about 3-6 months before the first CTPP statewide elements were released in '93. This STFS-5 was a special Census product that MPOs were desiring -- try to get county-to-county data *before* more detailed place-to-place and TAZ-to-TAZ was released. It worked and was very valuable. It was an itty-bitty file that fit on a floppy. No breakdowns by means of transportation, just total county-to-county workers. I would highly recommend that the Census Bureau develop a similar STFS-5 file from the Year 2000 Census. And I want it by Christmas of 2002 ;-) cheers, Chuck PS [For others on this listserv -- Nathan and I *do* know each other fairly well, so my rather strident and argumentative e-mail is my way of working with my colleague from Albany! I will sometimes respectfully disagree with Nathan and others. I'm just not 'dissin' Nathan, because he's a really good analyst and a really good person and is very conscientious. And he's wrong and I'm right ;-) E-mail is a very useful communication tool -- and sometimes it helps to know the author behind the e-mail. ******************************************************* e-mail: cpurvis(a)mtc.ca.gov Chuck Purvis, AICP Senior Transportation Planner/Analyst, Planning Section Metropolitan Transportation Commission 101 Eighth Street, Oakland, CA 94607-4700 (510) 464-7731 (voice) (510) 464-7848 (fax) WWW: http://www.mtc.ca.gov/ MTC DataMart & InfoMart: http://www.mtc.ca.gov/facts_and_figures/datamart.htm MTC FTP Site: ftp://ftp.abag.ca.gov/pub/mtc/planning/ Personal WWW: http://home.earthlink.net/~clpurvis/ *******************************************************