Georgia On My Mind

Posted by Clark Williams-Derry

11/10/2006 10:15 AM

Progress in drive-alone commuting in Seattle, Portland...and Atlanta?!

Here's an interesting factoid from the Transportation Research Board's new Commuting in America study: of all the metropolitan areas the study looked at, Seattle posted the largest percentage decline in drive-alone commuting from 1990 to 2000. It was a small drop -- just 1.5 percent -- but it bucked the national trend. Portland also showed a slight decline, along with San Francisco, Phoenix, and Atlanta; and four other cities, including Los Angeles, Sacramento, Dallas and Las Vegas, held steady.

I don't know what to make of this, exactly. I know from our past work on sprawl that Portland, Seattle, and Phoenix (yes, Phoenix) actually grew more compact over the decade, with a larger share of people living at transit-friendly densities in 2000 than in 1990. The same happened in Sacramento and Las Vegas, and I suspect in San Francisco and Los Angeles too.

But I doubt it happened in Atlanta. Everything I've read about the city suggests that greater Atlanta went through a sprawl boom, and a net decline in urban and suburban density, during the 1990s. I haven't run the numbers, unfortunately; but the other southeastern cities that we studied, Nashville, TN and Charlotte, NC, saw a mind-boggling increase in sprawl.

So I'm not quite sure what accounts for Seattle and Portland's relative success in trimming drive-alone commuting over the 1990s. Good records in fighting sprawl may be part of the explanation; but given Atlanta's similar declines in drive-alone commuting, it seems like a city can still notch some progress in commuting trends even if its land use patterns are going in the wrong direction.

Sprawl & Transportation

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Comments

Posted by Steve Mooney 11/10/2006 11:36 AM

I don't have a reference for this, but I believe Atlanta built out its subway system a fair amount in the run-up to the 1996 Olympics. It seems possible that improved transit quality could increase ridership even in the face of loss of density.

Posted by Russell Houston 11/11/2006 05:42 AM

To be fair, everyone should know up-front that I am the communications officer for the organization that published the report on commuting in America. The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is part of the National Academy of Sciences and has produced a number of other reports in the past that address the issue of sprawl. The majority of TRB’s reports are available on the web for free. I would encourage those interested in the issue to visit TRB’s website at www.TRB.org, click on the e-newsletter link and search for past articles that addressed sprawl. You will not only find information produced by TRB, but by others as well. If you find this information useful, I encourage you to sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletter.

Posted by Russell Houston 11/11/2006 05:42 AM