New subject: [CTPP] American Commuter Survey (ACS): The Means of Transportation Question

13 Dec 2012

I think the use of vans (Vanpools) needs to be separated from the other options since
their use is increasing so much.

Michael Harmon
Program Coordinator
San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG)
mharmon(a)slocog.org<mailto:mharmon(a)slocog.org>

From: ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net [mailto:ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net] On Behalf
Of Patricia Becker
Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2012 2:46 PM
To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
Subject: Re: [CTPP] American Commuter Survey (ACS): The Means of Transportation Question

This is going to be very difficult to test because so few ACS respondents have access to
any of these. Does the word "metro" mean the same thing in all metro areas, or
are there some where it refers to bus transportation? I'm not sure the term
"rail" resonates well everywhere, either. I would suggest that FDOT gather
information from the states and metros where rail commuting is a feasible option and find
out what people call it, or how it's referred to, such as "metro" in the
Washington DC areas.

Patty Becker
On Tue, Dec 11, 2012 at 4:23 PM,
<Ken.Cervenka(a)dot.gov<mailto:Ken.Cervenka(a)dot.gov>> wrote:
Hello,

As you may know, the Census Bureau's "means of transportation" question on
the current American Community Survey questionnaire (as well as the previous Census 2000
"long form") is as follows:

How did this person usually get to work LAST WEEK?  If this person usually used more than
one method of transportation during the trip, mark (X) the box of the one used for most of
the distance.
__ Car, truck, or van
__ Bus or trolley bus
__ Streetcar or trolley car
__ Subway or elevated
__ Railroad
__ Ferryboat
__ Taxicab
__ Motorcycle
__ Bicycle
__ Walked
__ Worked at home
__ Other method

Here at U.S. DOT, we (meaning FTA, FHWA, and BTS) are discussing whether updated
descriptions might make more sense for the three public transportation categories
associated with use of rail:
__ Streetcar or trolley car
__ Subway or elevated
__ Railroad

However, any changes to these three categories (or even collapsing these to a single
"rail transit" category) will, if ultimately approved for testing, require a
formal and carefully-controlled "ACS content change" test to be conducted by the
Census Bureau in 2013 and 2014.  So this is a very big deal.  If three rail-related
categories are maintained, here is one approach under consideration for future testing:
__ Streetcar or trolley rail
__ Subway, metro, or light rail
__ Commuter railroad or Amtrak

Or maybe a variation that makes it clear(er) each of these choices refer to a rail transit
mode:
__ Rail - streetcar or trolley
__ Rail - subway, metro, or light rail
__ Rail - commuter railroad or Amtrak

If you have any comments about what seems to make the most sense from the viewpoint of a
future ACS respondent and/or transportation data analyst, please send me an email and I
will summarize all comments received in a future email to this listserv (along with your
name as the author, unless you wish to be anonymous).  But feel free to reply directly to
this listserv with your observations!

Ken Cervenka
FTA Office of Planning and Environment
202/493-0512<tel:202%2F493-0512>

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--
Patricia C. (Patty) Becker
APB Associates/Southeast Michigan Census Council (SEMCC)
28300 Franklin Rd, Southfield, MI 48034
office: 248-354-6520
home:248-355-2428
pbecker(a)umich.edu<mailto:pbecker(a)umich.edu>