I think with climate change, pandemic obesity, and sustainability factors, ultimately, we will need more comprehensive and accurate data on the active transportation mode-share such as: Skates, Scooters, Skateboards, Electric-Scooters, Bike-Share, Wheelchairs, Electric Wheelchairs, and Ride-Shares. The question also makes it impossible to collect mode-split data which is critical to assessing the effectiveness of multimodal infrastructure networks. From: ctpp-news <ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net> On Behalf Of Reschovsky, Clara (OST) Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2018 2:02 PM To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net Subject: [External] [CTPP] Means of Transportation changes External email. Please use caution. CTPP community, As some of you may remember, or not since it has been a while, the Census Bureau is changing the Means of Transportation question categories for public transit options in 2019. This change is the result of a content test conducted in 2016 by the Census Bureau. Here is the current question as it appears on the form and the new version which will be implemented in January 2019. 2018 Version: [cid:image002.jpg(a)01D41DBE.4DCAE000] 2019 Version: [cid:image003.png(a)01D419FB.68C93710] So now that you see that change can happen even if it takes a long time, we have a new opportunity! Currently the Census Bureau is planning another Content Test for the American Community Survey. US DOT has the opportunity to propose a new change to the journey-to-work questions. At this point, we are thinking of proposing the addition of ride-hailing services to the Taxicab category in the Means of Transportation question. The initially proposed change is from 'Taxicab' to 'Taxi or ride-hailing services'. The Content Test will be conducted in 2021 and any changes that are deemed successful will be implemented in 2024. At this point, it is hard to know how technology will change in the next six years and how that will affect the ACS data, but this is a known emerging mode. However, we need to act now to have any changes considered. I am interested in hearing your input and hopefully support on this proposed change, but I must caution you on a few details. We cannot add a specific company name (such as Uber and Lyft) to the options. We also have very limited space available on the form, however, in consultation with the form design experts at the Census Bureau we can change Taxicab to be a two line choice like 'Long-distance train or commuter rail' on the 2019 form. I know that some of you would really like to see ride-hailing as a separate option and that is unlikely to be successful because of space of the form. If you have any thoughts on this topic, please let me know by July 31st, and for everybody, look forward to the new data detail on Means of Transportation from Census! Clara Clara Reschovsky Survey Statistician Office of Survey Programs Bureau of Transportation Statistics US Department of Transporation (202) 366-2857 clara.reschovsky(a)dot.gov<mailto:clara.reschovsky(a)dot.gov> This e-mail transmission (including any attachments) contains information that is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended for the use of the addressee only. If you received this e-mail in error, we request that you contact us immediately by telephone or return e-mail, and that you delete this message from your computer. If you are not the intended recipient, please be advised that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. [CoP]

It is difficult to know what might be prevalent in 2024 but given the emergence of scooters, hoover boards, etc. there may be some value in having some catchall category for electric personal mobility devices. In addition, I feel strongly that the biggest improvement in the data would be to transition away from the "usual mode" language in the question. All the evidence suggests that the means of travel are becoming more diverse with individuals blending telecommuting and various travel means. Unfortunately, the American Community Service doesn't capture that richness and may under represents infrequent modes. My preference would be to ask specifically about commuting on the most recent day one worked. [../../../../Desktop/Screen%20Shot%202018-01-17%20at%209.09.20%20] Steven E. Polzin, PhD Director Mobility Policy Research Center for Urban Transportation Research University of South Florida
 4202 E. Fowler Ave., CUT100 | Tampa, FL 33620-5375 USA 813.974.9849 (o)or 813-416-7517(m) | Polzin(a)usf.edu | cutr.usf.edu From: ctpp-news <ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net> On Behalf Of Reschovsky, Clara (OST) Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2018 4:02 PM To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net Subject: [CTPP] Means of Transportation changes CTPP community, As some of you may remember, or not since it has been a while, the Census Bureau is changing the Means of Transportation question categories for public transit options in 2019. This change is the result of a content test conducted in 2016 by the Census Bureau. Here is the current question as it appears on the form and the new version which will be implemented in January 2019. 2018 Version: [cid:image002.jpg(a)01D41DBE.4DCAE000] 2019 Version: [cid:image003.png(a)01D419FB.68C93710] So now that you see that change can happen even if it takes a long time, we have a new opportunity! Currently the Census Bureau is planning another Content Test for the American Community Survey. US DOT has the opportunity to propose a new change to the journey-to-work questions. At this point, we are thinking of proposing the addition of ride-hailing services to the Taxicab category in the Means of Transportation question. The initially proposed change is from ‘Taxicab’ to ‘Taxi or ride-hailing services’. The Content Test will be conducted in 2021 and any changes that are deemed successful will be implemented in 2024. At this point, it is hard to know how technology will change in the next six years and how that will affect the ACS data, but this is a known emerging mode. However, we need to act now to have any changes considered. I am interested in hearing your input and hopefully support on this proposed change, but I must caution you on a few details. We cannot add a specific company name (such as Uber and Lyft) to the options. We also have very limited space available on the form, however, in consultation with the form design experts at the Census Bureau we can change Taxicab to be a two line choice like ‘Long-distance train or commuter rail’ on the 2019 form. I know that some of you would really like to see ride-hailing as a separate option and that is unlikely to be successful because of space of the form. If you have any thoughts on this topic, please let me know by July 31st, and for everybody, look forward to the new data detail on Means of Transportation from Census! Clara Clara Reschovsky Survey Statistician Office of Survey Programs Bureau of Transportation Statistics US Department of Transporation (202) 366-2857 clara.reschovsky(a)dot.gov<mailto:clara.reschovsky(a)dot.gov>

While in an ideal world it would be great to have even more information, I think it's very important that this change gets made and it seems the proposed "taxicab or ride-hailing services" seems like the close to our best option. My only thought is that if it would still fit in the two-lines, perhaps adding the word "apps" (so "taxicab or ride-hailing apps/services"). While perhaps it's not exactly proper English, I worry just a little bit if people outside transportation will recognize "ride-hailing services" as meaning Uber/Lyft. I think use of the word "apps" may help in this regard. Thank you for recognizing the opportunity, despite its limitations, and pushing to capitalize on it. Best, Vince ............................................................. VINCENT L BERNARDIN, PhD Director RSG 2709 Washington Ave., Suite 9 | Evansville, IN 47714 o 812.200.2351 | m 812.459.3500 www.rsginc.com<http://www.rsginc.com/> ............................................................. From: ctpp-news <ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net> On Behalf Of Reschovsky, Clara (OST) Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2018 3:02 PM To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net Subject: [CTPP] Means of Transportation changes CTPP community, As some of you may remember, or not since it has been a while, the Census Bureau is changing the Means of Transportation question categories for public transit options in 2019. This change is the result of a content test conducted in 2016 by the Census Bureau. Here is the current question as it appears on the form and the new version which will be implemented in January 2019. 2018 Version: [cid:image002.jpg(a)01D41DBE.4DCAE000] 2019 Version: [cid:image003.png(a)01D419FB.68C93710] So now that you see that change can happen even if it takes a long time, we have a new opportunity! Currently the Census Bureau is planning another Content Test for the American Community Survey. US DOT has the opportunity to propose a new change to the journey-to-work questions. At this point, we are thinking of proposing the addition of ride-hailing services to the Taxicab category in the Means of Transportation question. The initially proposed change is from 'Taxicab' to 'Taxi or ride-hailing services'. The Content Test will be conducted in 2021 and any changes that are deemed successful will be implemented in 2024. At this point, it is hard to know how technology will change in the next six years and how that will affect the ACS data, but this is a known emerging mode. However, we need to act now to have any changes considered. I am interested in hearing your input and hopefully support on this proposed change, but I must caution you on a few details. We cannot add a specific company name (such as Uber and Lyft) to the options. We also have very limited space available on the form, however, in consultation with the form design experts at the Census Bureau we can change Taxicab to be a two line choice like 'Long-distance train or commuter rail' on the 2019 form. I know that some of you would really like to see ride-hailing as a separate option and that is unlikely to be successful because of space of the form. If you have any thoughts on this topic, please let me know by July 31st, and for everybody, look forward to the new data detail on Means of Transportation from Census! Clara Clara Reschovsky Survey Statistician Office of Survey Programs Bureau of Transportation Statistics US Department of Transporation (202) 366-2857 clara.reschovsky(a)dot.gov<mailto:clara.reschovsky(a)dot.gov>

Thank you, Clara. I think that having 3 different boxes for rail and none for ride-hailing is a bit antiquated. If need be, can you merge the 3 rails into two, and add a ride-hailing box? Of course, in a few years taxis may totally disappear, replaced by ride-hailing. Also noticed that we don't capture ADA compliant paratransit services, such as Access-A-Ride (NYC), but lump it in with other categories. Yes, people do commute to work on paratransit vehicles of various forms. Is it significant? How would we know if we don't ask? My two cents. Once again, thank you, Clara. Best, Abe Kohen, MS CS, MBA Transportation Analyst, Socio-Economics Demographics New York Metropolitan Transportation Council 25 Beaver Street, Suite 201, New York, NY 10004 +1.212.383.2534 | abraham.kohen(a)dot.ny.gov<mailto:isabel.mcloughlin(a)dot.ny.gov> www.NYMTC.org [NYMTC-logo - Copy-mail-1] From: ctpp-news [mailto:ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net] On Behalf Of Reschovsky, Clara (OST) Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2018 4:02 PM To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net Subject: [CTPP] Means of Transportation changes ATTENTION: This email came from an external source. Do not open attachments or click on links from unknown senders or unexpected emails. CTPP community, As some of you may remember, or not since it has been a while, the Census Bureau is changing the Means of Transportation question categories for public transit options in 2019. This change is the result of a content test conducted in 2016 by the Census Bureau. Here is the current question as it appears on the form and the new version which will be implemented in January 2019. 2018 Version: [cid:image002.jpg(a)01D41DBE.4DCAE000] 2019 Version: [cid:image003.png(a)01D419FB.68C93710] So now that you see that change can happen even if it takes a long time, we have a new opportunity! Currently the Census Bureau is planning another Content Test for the American Community Survey. US DOT has the opportunity to propose a new change to the journey-to-work questions. At this point, we are thinking of proposing the addition of ride-hailing services to the Taxicab category in the Means of Transportation question. The initially proposed change is from 'Taxicab' to 'Taxi or ride-hailing services'. The Content Test will be conducted in 2021 and any changes that are deemed successful will be implemented in 2024. At this point, it is hard to know how technology will change in the next six years and how that will affect the ACS data, but this is a known emerging mode. However, we need to act now to have any changes considered. I am interested in hearing your input and hopefully support on this proposed change, but I must caution you on a few details. We cannot add a specific company name (such as Uber and Lyft) to the options. We also have very limited space available on the form, however, in consultation with the form design experts at the Census Bureau we can change Taxicab to be a two line choice like 'Long-distance train or commuter rail' on the 2019 form. I know that some of you would really like to see ride-hailing as a separate option and that is unlikely to be successful because of space of the form. If you have any thoughts on this topic, please let me know by July 31st, and for everybody, look forward to the new data detail on Means of Transportation from Census! Clara Clara Reschovsky Survey Statistician Office of Survey Programs Bureau of Transportation Statistics US Department of Transporation (202) 366-2857 clara.reschovsky(a)dot.gov<mailto:clara.reschovsky(a)dot.gov>

There have been a lot of thoughtful comments and good suggestions on this thread. Here a couple more to bear in mind. Too radical a change to the Means of Transportation question could lead to a break in series, where we would have to wait for five years before getting access to small area data again, which is likely to be 2029 based on the schedule Clara laid out. This could affect ongoing planning operations throughout the US and could upset the timing of future updates to the CTPP data set. This consideration points to endorsing an incremental change that meets our needs for the near future and allows the ACS to continue to publish data in way that we can continue to have access to small area data. If this scenario seems unlikely, just this situation appears to have happened to the ACS language question this past year. The language question situation leads to the other caution I want to point out. My understanding is that any change in the wording of ACS questions triggers a review of data privacy implications. If a modified question creates a large quantity of small number values there is a danger that the change would trigger enhanced privacy protections, and we could end up with less data rather than more. An example of how this might happen would be if ridehailing was split into a separate option. While those of us in metro areas where Uber and Lyft both operate might find this an unlikely scenario, market penetration by ridehailing companies is probably very uneven. Adding a separate ridehailing option is likely to produce a lot of small area values in the low numbers. To protect the identity of ridehailing users in outlying suburban and rural areas we could lose access to data for urban users. As an example, in the case of languages we have gone from having detailed small area data available for 41 language groups (Table B16001) to only having 13 available (C16001). Those may not matter too much in many places but it matters a great deal in ethnically diverse urban centers. Cliff Cook Clifford Cook Senior Planning Information Manager Cambridge Community Development Department 344 Broadway, Cambridge, MA. 02139 [cid:image001.png(a)01CF4355.A65408C0] <https://www.facebook.com/CDDat344> [cid:image002.jpg(a)01CF4357.3478C720] <https://twitter.com/cddat344> [cid:image008.jpg(a)01CF4357.3478C720] <http://cddat344.tumblr.com/> [cid:image010.jpg(a)01CF4357.3478C720] <http://instagram.com/cddat344> www.cambridgema.gov/CDD<http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD.aspx> ccook(a)cambridgema.gov<mailto:ccook(a)cambridgema.gov> M: 8:30-8:00 T-Th: 8:30-5:00 F: 8:30-Noon 617/349-4656 617/349-4669 FAX 617/349-4621 TTY From: ctpp-news [mailto:ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net] On Behalf Of Reschovsky, Clara (OST) Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2018 4:02 PM To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net Subject: [CTPP] Means of Transportation changes CTPP community, As some of you may remember, or not since it has been a while, the Census Bureau is changing the Means of Transportation question categories for public transit options in 2019. This change is the result of a content test conducted in 2016 by the Census Bureau. Here is the current question as it appears on the form and the new version which will be implemented in January 2019. 2018 Version: [cid:image002.jpg(a)01D41DBE.4DCAE000] 2019 Version: [cid:image003.png(a)01D419FB.68C93710] So now that you see that change can happen even if it takes a long time, we have a new opportunity! Currently the Census Bureau is planning another Content Test for the American Community Survey. US DOT has the opportunity to propose a new change to the journey-to-work questions. At this point, we are thinking of proposing the addition of ride-hailing services to the Taxicab category in the Means of Transportation question. The initially proposed change is from 'Taxicab' to 'Taxi or ride-hailing services'. The Content Test will be conducted in 2021 and any changes that are deemed successful will be implemented in 2024. At this point, it is hard to know how technology will change in the next six years and how that will affect the ACS data, but this is a known emerging mode. However, we need to act now to have any changes considered. I am interested in hearing your input and hopefully support on this proposed change, but I must caution you on a few details. We cannot add a specific company name (such as Uber and Lyft) to the options. We also have very limited space available on the form, however, in consultation with the form design experts at the Census Bureau we can change Taxicab to be a two line choice like 'Long-distance train or commuter rail' on the 2019 form. I know that some of you would really like to see ride-hailing as a separate option and that is unlikely to be successful because of space of the form. If you have any thoughts on this topic, please let me know by July 31st, and for everybody, look forward to the new data detail on Means of Transportation from Census! Clara Clara Reschovsky Survey Statistician Office of Survey Programs Bureau of Transportation Statistics US Department of Transporation (202) 366-2857 clara.reschovsky(a)dot.gov<mailto:clara.reschovsky(a)dot.gov>