Seattle Business Journal
SEATTLE In Seattle, 17 percent of workers use public
transportation to get to their jobs, which is above the U.S.
average and ranks the city No. 10 nationally, according to
the U.S. Census.
New Yorkers lead the nation in using public transportation,
with 55 percent using mass transit, according to the Census
Bureau's 2002 American Community Survey. Last week, the Census
released data that indicated it took the average Seattle worker
23.8 minutes to get to work, which was less than the U.S.
average of 24.4 minutes.
Following New York was Washington, D.C., where 37 percent
used public transportation. The next highest users of public
transportation in the U.S. were: Boston and San Francisco
(31 percent); Chicago and Philadelphia (27 percent); Newark,
N.J. (26 percent); Baltimore (25 percent); and Pittsburgh
(22 percent). Seattle tied with Minneapolis at 17 percent.
Washington state ranked No. 10 nationally, tied with California
and Pennsylvania, with 5 percent of the state's workers using
public transportation to get to work. The national average
is also 5 percent.
The Washington county ranking the highest in public transportation
usage was King County, at 9 percent.
The Census data indicated that 70 percent of Seattle workers
commuted by car, truck or van; that 59 percent drove alone
(Minneapolis ranked the highest of the nation's top 10 cities
at 61 percent driving alone, and Seattle was No. 2); 11 percent
carpooled and 3 percent worked at home (San Francisco led
this category, with 7 percent working from home). Nationwide,
77 percent of workers drove alone to work and 10 percent carpooled.
The other Washington city noted in the Census survey was
Yakima, where 4 percent of the city's residents use public
transportation to get to work.