Survey says… September 23
The Census Bureau’s latest American Community Survey has released its findings for 2008, and there are some interesting findings about how Americans are getting to work. USA Today reports on some of the big national trends.
Nationwide, there are more households that own only one car, or no cars at all. And the percentage of workers who are driving themselves to work alone, with no other riders, dropped half a percentage point in the last two years.
That means that the number of cars on America’s roads during rush hours has dropped by more than ten million vehicles.
I just looked into the Maine data, which shows even bigger changes.
- The percentage of Mainers driving to work alone dropped from 79.2% in 2007 to 77.3% in 2008.
- The percentage of carpooling workers in Maine spiked from 9.7% in 2007 to 10.9% in 2008.
Also noteworthy: the percentage of “Occupied Housing Units With Fuel Oil, Kerosene, Etc. as Principal Heating Fuel” in Maine dropped substantially, from 77.7% in 2007 to 75.1% in 2008. It looks like we’re finally making a dent in our state’s reliance on oil.
More statistics are available here, from the Census Bureau’s web site.
San Diego Lasik Sep 25
I drive 85 miles a day on my commute and in the last 3 years I have seen traffic almost vanish. I had attributed it to job losses, or people moving from San Diego, but maybe cars are actually being taken off the road.
FileHorse Oct 16
great news and post! thx!
Detox Recipes Nov 23
“That means that the number of cars on America’s roads during rush hours has dropped by more than ten million vehicles.” This is great news! I am from Canada and I take public transit to work daily and it’s geat to hear significant positive changes.