10 Cities Where Workers Most Use Public Transit: Census

In such an urbanized country as the United States, it surprises how few of the nation's workers depend on public transport to make their daily commute. For some cities, however, subways and buses still play a critical role.

Only 4.9 percent of all workers in the United States used public transportation in 2010, down from 5 percent in 2009, according to the U.S. Census bureau. And while not all cities invest in public transportation -- defined by the Census as subway, bus, railroad, ferry, streetcar, trolley or elevated rail -- the system remains a central part of the city's economy for many of those that do.

In New York City, for example, nearly a third of the workforce uses public transportation, creating a subway environment in which more than 5 million people ride each day. Smaller towns too find themselves relying on public transit, especially ones with a large college population, such as Ithaca, New York, the smallest town represented in this list, where 8.9 percent of workers use the metro.

But for many unemployed urbanites, proximity to public transport sometimes isn't enough. The Brookings Institute recently found that while seven-tenths of metropolitan residents live within in a three-quarter mile radius of public transit, only 30 percent of jobs are accessible within 90 minutes by using it. Perhaps that's a factor in commuter crankiness hitting an all-time high.

By any measure, an hour and a half is well above the average commute time to work, according to the Census. The national average commuting time was closer to 25 minutes last year.

Here are the 10 cities where workers most used public transportation last year, according to the U.S. Census:

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Comments

[topher01]

06:18 AM on 10/08/2011

I am embarrassed that Portland, OR isn't on the list, especially after so many years of laughing at cities like Seattle for their train wreck transit system. Hats off to Seattle. You've come a long way, baby.

[luziannagirl]

12:00 PM on 09/28/2011

Pre-Katrina, New Orleans, Louisiana might have made the top 10.

[Trevor Lahey]

10:56 PM on 09/27/2011

I love me a designated train driver on the weekends

[quicks9]

05:57 PM on 09/27/2011

90% of the people riding don't pay for the cost of the system!!!!

[wilray]

09:08 PM on 09/27/2011

Have you calculated all the cost. Have you calculated the cost of the carbon footprint of a bus rider on a natural gas powered bus as opposed to a private vehicle. A transportation expert once said that public transportation should be free. He said that you're only collecting that last 50 cents or so, so why even bother. He said that the benefits of public transportation far exceed the cost of the system. He said that any thing that can get more people out of their cars and onto public conveyance was a boon, and anything that put more people on the road was a detriment. The idea that you have to actually have the system pay for itself is the idea that puts more people in cars with more pollution, more congestion, and more time loss. The overall societal cost of not using mass transit is a lot worse than worrying about whether someone got away with a few nickels.

[ecrichert12]

10:33 PM on 09/27/2011

Making value judgements without numbers is pointless. Using your logic, we could justify ANY public works project. Every street in America could have its own subway stop, because when cost benefit analysis is out the window we don't have to worry about the marginal cost of adding an additional rider to the public system.

Its the same logic that people use to demand a nonsensicle "jobs bill"... spending $200k per "job created" is irrelevant to someone who doesn't feel like he/she is personally paying the subsidized amount.

[Teresa Young]

05:41 PM on 09/27/2011

I know Medford Oregon will never make the list, their buss system runs 6am to 6:30pm Monday through Friday, no week ends ever. makes looking for work difficult to obtain, but there are no jobs to really apply for anyway.

[DanoX]

03:08 AM on 09/27/2011

Lead in title should be: Most public transport liberated cities.

[SaveWillowpark]

12:14 AM on 09/27/2011

Why would they title this public transit "dependent," as if that is a bad thing?

Cars are the biggest bondage we have now. Most if not all of us are pouring every last cent into our gas tanks. If the government was smart they would allow all American's willing, to take part in an electric car "trial." With a lease to own program at 0% interest or maybe 1%. It would be money well spent. WE would all get electric cars, keep money in our pocket to spend which would increase demand on all other products and the car manufacturers and that supply chain would also be pouring money into the economy in the form of wages which would further stimulate our economy. It would also help us to ween ourselves from our oil dependent ways.

[islandification]

08:58 PM on 09/26/2011

I am proud to be an American
where at least I know I'm free
so I always vote straight Republican
and I drive an SUV

[SaveWillowpark]

12:15 AM on 09/27/2011

Then you'll love this. Do you have Netflix? Watch "Sick, Fat & Nearly Dead"

Cheers

[DanoX]

03:09 AM on 09/27/2011

Don't forget your flag magnet to show your support for the troops!

[JScott]

12:48 PM on 09/26/2011

I think during some parts of the day in Honolulu the public transportation is free (aka no charge).

[DanoX]

03:13 AM on 09/27/2011

Downtown Seattle is during weekday working hours.

[DennyCrane]

11:32 AM on 09/26/2011

If it were up to Republicans, we would have no public transportation. In their minds, that's an example of wasteful spending. But sending money to Afghanistan or giving it to big banks and oil companies is OK.

[garystartswithg]

02:22 PM on 09/26/2011

I live in Atlanta, and our state govt attacks our public transit every chance they get -- the bus system is a wreck, i would hate to depend on it, they just reduced bus service again thanks to state corruption. love the trains though.
All I can think of is Floriduh refusing the high speed rail, and the side story everyone missed -- the people in Tampa and Orlando continuosly vote against improving public transit. its embarassing how stupid this country can be.

[blackranger]

03:09 PM on 09/26/2011

We don't even have a national ground transportation system. The trains were meant to provide that service, but the movement of goods makes the train companies more money so we lost our ground transportation as a way to move people. I think it is a national disgrace. Americans seem to think it is logical to use individual cars to move people. It does not take a lot of arithmetic to disprove that theory, We seem to think that "individualism" is more important than our natural dependence on how we work together, transportation is just one example of how misguided the "individualism" idea can be. For one thing it pits people against each other, not very wise when we need to function as a group to be successful (meaning survive and thrive, NOTHING to do with money)

[Gurinder Dhillon]

11:15 AM on 09/26/2011

I've thought for a long time and it is overdue, that it should be mandatory for every bus, cab, and cop car to be a hybrid if it wants to do its business in a major metropolitan area. I mean why not, these vehicles are on the road nearly 24 hours a day, why shouldn't it be a law that they pollute as little as possible on their uncounted trips through the city.

[garystartswithg]

02:34 PM on 09/26/2011

Most city buses I know of run on natural gas, and you forget for every bus trip means considerably fewer cars on the road. Private vehicles pollute a whole lot more than a bus. Conversion to natural gas started more than a decade ago and there was much talk about hyrbrid natural gas buses, however with the fiasco of the 21st century things seem to be treading water, most additional public transit projects are being cut, not budgeted.

[MMRDO]

12:25 AM on 09/27/2011

the cop engines run on flexfuel tech. Buses, usually natural gas/electric, cabs vary keep in mind that they need to do highway driving.

[Hickspy]

11:01 AM on 09/26/2011

Minneapolis isn't on this list?

Everything is ridiculously far away from anything else.

[jenoradio]

09:05 AM on 09/26/2011

Public transportation! What a concept! Must be nice. However, I live in Wisconsin, where public transportation barely exists and is already being cut because of our wonderful Republican Union-busting Governor. I used to live in Seattle, where I used public transpo ALL THE TIME. It was cheaper than having a car, and easier to find a job. But *gasp* the big, bad government gave WI money to upgrade our public transpo, and our beloved Governor gave it BACK because it was the popular thing to do. Dear Scott Walker: I'm glad that you went from having a job in Milwaukee to having a job in Madison, but there are a LOT of people in Milwaukee who would be able to work in Madison if we had a light rail system.

[DanSc]

11:15 AM on 09/26/2011

Or people could move to Madison and save the energy required to take them back and forth.

[gavrielle]

12:14 PM on 09/26/2011

True, but it's really all about how much you feel your time is worth. If someone finds it's cheaper or more convenient to live in one area, and just as cheap or cheaper to commute to work by train than to drive, and the wages they earn support their lifestyle better in the one location that the other, then they may find it more cost effective to commute.

I did that when living just over the border on Long Island and working in Manhattan. Originally my commute time would have been as much as 2 hours with no increase in pay, which for me was not worth the effort. Then I was offered a higher rate of pay and realized if I left just half an hour earlier I could shave that time down to 45 minutes. And when I got into the city I had plenty of time to sit down at a cafe, read the paper, have a cup of coffee and thus begin my day quite enjoyably.

Btw, the cost of living in Manhattan versus living in Floral Park, LI was phenomenally different. In the early 90s I could have a 2 bedroom apartment for $750 a month, which in Manhattan would have gotten me a studio the size of living room, plus higher food costs - and I'd still have to pay the same amount to commute to my job, because nobody not making a six figure salary could afford to live where my office was.

[vespachild]

08:58 AM on 09/26/2011

Well in Athens Greece people tend to use public trasportation, especially the really good metro.
Unfortunately, too many strikes make things really bad, and people are returning to the use of the car

[compduck]

07:19 AM on 09/26/2011

The only answer is to work 3 miles from home. this way you do not have to support the public workers-union bloated-far left political agenda of the democrats. Yes, just like every other aspect of life, your freedoms are taken away and you are cattle cared by them at your expense. The people are the fools, doing what the govt demands, beat them to it and don't

[anandakos]

10:14 AM on 09/26/2011

Ducky,

You won't be singing the same tune when China imports twice the oil the US now does and your gas is $10/gallon. You'll be whining that you don't have "choices" of ways to get to work.

When that time comes (sooner than you think and COMPLETELY out of the control of Rick "All Hat No Cattle" Perry or any other president) you may be fortunate enough to live near someone who also works at your employer on the same schedule, but the majority of people don't. That's mostly because of our sprawling "convenient" cities.

[rbchilds]

06:50 AM on 09/27/2011

$10.00/gal of gas will bring the manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., even $5.00/gal will curtail the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs.

[Marchant2]

10:23 AM on 09/26/2011

You Right Wingers say the most ridiculous things. Where do you come up with this stuff? Oh, that's right, Right Wing propaganda media posing as news.