New subject: mean income for bicycle vs walk

16 Nov 2005

Andy:

Ed is correct: the PUMS is the best source of data to differentiate
between the household income of bicycle vs walk commuters. Yes, the data
is free to download from the Census Bureau's website, but you really
need stat software like SAS to SPSS to make sense out of it all. The
PUMS DVDs are great if you don't have SAS or SPSS, and if you're
comfortable with Beyond 20/20 software. The Beyond 20/20 software on the
PUMS DVD is very, very fast and is very well done. Unlike the CTPP CDs
and DVDs, the Census PUMS DVD should not be copied, but as Ed suggests,
your state data center may have a regular copy that you can have or
borrow.

Here are the Census 2000 PUMS 5% sample data for the State of
California, by "grouped" means of transportation (separated for bicycle
vs walk):

Mean Household Income (1999 constant dollars):

Drive Alone: $85,088
Carpool 2: $73,558
Carpool 3+: $68,587
Transit: $67,315
Bicycle: $62,768
Walk: $52,420
Other: $73,179
At Home: $97,789
Total: $81,567

So, bicycle commuter income is significantly higher than walk-only
commuter income in California, in 2000. 

Sample size for the California PUMS:
bicycle, n=5,874 sample commuters
walk, n=21,419 sample commuters

It's also a good idea to examine the characteristics of commuters by
other traits, including sex, age, race/ethnicity, occupation and
industry. You may be able to find that the "typical bicycle commuter" is
young (20s), male, and either white or hispanic. The "typical walk
commuter" on the other hand may be middle age (40s-50s), female and
non-white. All of course depending on your regional context.

I went back and examined the 1990 CTPP data for the Bay Area, and this
trend where the "At Home" mean household income is higher than the
"drive alone" income still holds true. The best way to examine the
characteristics of "at home" workers is by industry and occupation.

cheers,

Chuck Purvis, MTC

...
 >> Ed Christopher &lt;edc(a)berwyned.com&gt;
11/10/05 11:53 AM >>> I was reminded by some of our friends at the Census
Bureau that I
mis-spoke
slightly.  The 5% PUMS data is available FREE of charge from the
Census
download site.  The Census 2000 PUMS download site, which includes
full
documentation, can be found at:
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/PUMS5.html 
Data Access Tools that are available through the Census Bureau's
website
are  described at: http://www.census.gov/main/www/access.html.

...
  >> edc
11/10/05 08:23 >>> 
 Andrew, if the cross tab you are interested in is not in the CTPP
 another place where you could get this would be from the PUMS data.  Of
...
  course the geographic area for the summary would be
quite large.  The
...
  PUMS data are available at $$$ from the census bureau
and also from your
...
  state data center.  You might be able to get a copy of
the DVD from them
...
  or maybe find someone who has one to run you a tab. 
Of course getting
...
  your own DVD of the PUMS data is well worth having. 
All in all keep in
...
  mind that the samples will be small and you could
working in the
 variability margins of the data.

 Andrew PICKARD wrote:

 > Is anyone aware of information on income for those who commute by
 > bicycle versus those who commute by walking?  Bicycle and walking are
...
  > grouped together in 2000 CTPP for mean income,
but I would like to
 > know if there is a difference.  Thanks. Andy Pickard, P.E.
 > Senior Transportation Engineer
 > Hampton Roads Planning District Commission
 > 723 Woodlake Drive
 > Chesapeake, VA. 23320
 > Phone: 757.420.8300      Fax: 757.523.4881
 > apickard(a)hrpdc.org 
 > www.hrpdc.org 
 > 

Re: [CTPP] mean income for bicycle vs walk