New York Metropolitan Transportatin Council (NYMTC)
North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA)
For Information:
NJTPA David Behrend, Public Affairs Manager, 973-639-8423
The Regional Travel - Household Inverview Survey provides the media with a data resource for articles on transportation and other topics impacting the region, including the following article ideas. More detailed data is available for the overall region and individual counties, along with a press package. A summary of the study can be downloaded at www.nymtc.org and www.njtpa.org. Comments on the summary can be heard at www.videonewswire.com/ARCH/040500.
NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY TRANSPORTATION GROUPS FORGE PARTNERSHIP TO EASE COMMUTE
With commuters crossing regional and state lines on a daily basis, cooperative initiatives were launched by transportation agencies in New York and New Jersey to improve transportation planning efforts in order to ease travel, discourage unnecessary auto use and encourage more efficient commuting.
The Regional Travel-Household Interview Survey is a major cooperative effort among transportation organizations in the region. The study provides an extraordinary depth of information, resulting in data that will be used in transportation decision-making that will affect the region for decades.
The Regional Travel-Household Interview Survey was completed at a cost of $1.5. It is a significant step toward addressing regional strategies for reducing travel-related air pollution and enhancing mobility.
BIG SURVEY, BIGGER GOALS
The data will improve the region’s ability to evaluate transportation investments. The survey results provide an essential foundation for future planning in the region. Once integrated into computer models of regional travel, planners will be able to assess current and future demand for travel over specific routes. This will help planners estimate the effectiveness of proposals, such as widening a highway segment or expanding transit services.
LARGEST SURVEY OF REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION IN THREE DECADES YIELDS INFO FOR THE FUTURE
Data was collected over an 18-month period from 27,369 individuals in 11,264 households, tracking the direction, purpose, frequency and method of their movement. The study has generated a common database that will provide enhanced transportation decision making in the metropolitan New York/New Jersey region, creating a partnership for information sharing among area Metropolitan Planning Organizations.
WHERE IS EVERYONE GOING?
The 19 million residents of the New York metropolitan region made 59.6 million trips on an average weekday in 1997-98, or 3.2 trips per person on average. We don’t sit still on weekends either, when we’re making 57.6 million trips on an average Saturday or Sunday, or 3.1 trips per person.
* More than 3 out of 4 weekday trips take place within a single county
* Fewer than one in five trips are between home and work
* Residents of Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Hudson County, NJ make fewer trips on an average weekday than residents elsewhere in the metro area
TRANSIT PLAYS A KEY ROLE
While residents of the region are still largely auto-dependant, transit plays a key role. Dependence on autos increases as the population’s density in the area decreases.
* Transit serves up to 63% of all weekday trips and 75% of all work-related trips to Manhattan
* 85% of the trips made anywhere are made by car
* 73.5% of those trips involve single-occupancy vehicles
* 68% of weekday trips are by car
* 37% of the weekday trips by Manhattan residents are by car.
WHERE DO WE TRAVEL—NOT WHERE YOU THOUGHT!
Manhattan’s pull varies—it is felt most strongly in New York City’s outer boroughs and in Hudson, Nassau and Westchester counties. Elsewhere in the metro area, fewer than one in 20 travelers are destined for Manhattan. Most weekday trips, more than three in four, are made locally within a single county.
Metropolitan residents spend 77 minutes per day traveling. Travel times average 33 minutes for work-related trips and 20 minutes for non-work related trips.
* Inter-county travel primarily involves a neighboring county.
* Transit serves up to 75% of all work-related trips destined for Manhattan
* 85% of work trips for Manhattan residents are destined for Manhattan
* 23% of work trips for Westchester and Nassau residents are destined for Manhattan
* 11% of work trips for Essex and Union residents are destined for Manhattan
* 7% of work trips for Fairfield County, CT residents are destined for Manhattan
WHO TRAVELS THE MOST?
Women who work part-time and have two or more children make more trips than nearly any other demographic group.
| |
Both work
full-time |
Male works
full-time, Female works part-time |
Male works
full-time, Female not employed |
Couples: Trips per day on weedays |
male |
female |
male |
female |
male |
female |
No kids |
3.3 |
3.5 |
3.6 |
4.2 |
3.5 |
3.3 |
1 child |
3.7 |
3.8 |
3.6 |
4.4 |
3.5 |
3.4 |
2+ kids |
4.4 |
4.0 |
3.5 |
5.6 |
3.6 |
4.7 |
Employment, income and car ownership also affect travel frequency.
* Employed persons average 3.6 trips per day on weekdays compared with 2.9 trips per weekday by adults who are not employed.
* Persons with household incomes over $75,000 average 3.6 trips per weekday compared with 2.6 for persons with household incomes under $25,000
* Car owners average 3.6 trips vs. 2.6 for those not owning cars
HOW YOUR COUNTY STACKS UP*
| |
|
|
Weekday trips, by county of residence |
Means of travel, trips2
by county of residence |
Work trips, by county of residence |
| |
Trip origins1
average weekday |
Trips within County, by county of origin |
Daily trips per person |
Average trip time (minutes) |
Trips by auto |
Walking trips |
Trips using transit |
Using transit |
Destined3 for Manhattan |
| New York |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Manhattan |
7,198,000 |
69% |
3.3 |
26 |
10% |
48% |
32% |
45% |
85% |
| Queens |
4,357,000 |
72% |
2.8 |
32 |
51% |
22% |
25% |
45% |
52% |
| Bronx |
2,575,000 |
73% |
2.7 |
29 |
39% |
28% |
28% |
44% |
40% |
| Brooklyn |
5,048,000 |
80% |
2.5 |
31 |
37% |
31% |
28% |
48% |
46% |
| Staten Island |
1,044,000 |
80% |
3.1 |
26 |
73% |
11% |
11% |
21% |
28% |
| Nassau |
4,240,000 |
79% |
3.5 |
22 |
81% |
9% |
6% |
15% |
23% |
| Suffolk |
4,450,000 |
91% |
3.5 |
22 |
87% |
4% |
2% |
5% |
8% |
| Westchester |
2,969,000 |
84% |
3.6 |
21 |
78% |
10% |
7% |
16% |
23% |
| Rockland |
793,000 |
81% |
3.3 |
21 |
84% |
5% |
2% |
5% |
11% |
| Putnam |
256,000 |
63% |
3.5 |
23 |
85% |
5% |
4% |
8% |
8% |
| Orange |
933,000 |
87% |
3.4 |
21 |
85% |
6% |
2% |
5% |
6% |
| Dutchess |
801,000 |
88% |
3.4 |
22 |
88% |
4% |
2% |
3% |
2% |
| New Jersey |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Bergen |
3,056,000 |
79% |
3.7 |
19 |
86% |
8% |
3% |
10% |
18% |
| Passaic |
1,269,000 |
70% |
3.3 |
20 |
87% |
8% |
3% |
8% |
6% |
| Hudson |
1,272,000 |
70% |
2.8 |
26 |
53% |
27% |
18% |
29% |
29% |
| Essex |
2,121,000 |
71% |
3.0 |
23 |
76% |
13% |
8% |
17% |
11% |
| Union |
1,592,000 |
73% |
3.5 |
20 |
86% |
7% |
5% |
15% |
11% |
| Morris |
1,666,000 |
71% |
3.6 |
20 |
89% |
4% |
2% |
4% |
5% |
| Somerset |
1,018,000 |
70% |
3.7 |
19 |
89% |
4% |
1% |
3% |
3% |
| Middlesex |
2,103,000 |
73% |
3.3 |
22 |
85% |
6% |
4% |
7% |
9% |
| Monmouth |
1,960,000 |
84% |
3.7 |
20 |
84% |
6% |
3% |
8% |
10% |
| Ocean |
1,279,000 |
87% |
2.9 |
22 |
83% |
6% |
1% |
3% |
1% |
| Hunterdon |
363,000 |
70% |
3.4 |
23 |
90% |
4% |
1% |
3% |
2% |
| Warren |
307,000 |
73% |
3.3 |
22 |
88% |
6% |
0.4% |
1% |
2% |
| Sussex |
394,000 |
73% |
3.4 |
23 |
88% |
4% |
0.4% |
1% |
1% |
| Mercer |
1,051,000 |
80% |
3.6 |
19 |
86% |
7% |
2% |
5% |
4% |
| Connecticut |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Fairfield |
2,862,000 |
88% |
3.4 |
21 |
87% |
4% |
4% |
7% |
7% |
| New Haven |
2,291,000 |
93% |
3.3 |
19 |
89% |
6% |
0.4% |
1% |
– |
*NOTE: These general findings should be examined carefully for use in other contexts. Use of these statistics must account for sampling error (at least +/–5%) and the precise definitions of information collected. Please contact NYMTC or NJTPA for further information.
1. All trips originating in a county, going anywhere.
2. Percentages of all trips made by county residents. Numbers do not add to 100% as other travel modes are not included.
3. All trips made by county residents (from anywhere) to work in Manhattan. Statistics for trips directly between home and work in Manhattan may vary.
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