Ride A Ferry In San Francisco, Take the Subway In NYC: Big City Commutes
Ride A Ferry In San Francisco, Take the Subway In NYC: Big City Commutes
(Bloomberg) -- Commuting in a big city probably isn’t a joy ride -- but some workers have found transit options that may be more enjoyable than others.
Among the fifteen most populous U.S. cities, a ferry ride to work is most common among San Francisco residents. Still, it’s a rare form of transportation -- only 1.1% of all San Francisco residents take the ferry, according to U.S. census data. Riding a ferry to work in San Francisco lags riding a bike, street car or trolley.
But landlocked cities with warmer temperatures don’t have the luxury of such methods of transport. Instead, driving alone is greatest among dwellers in Forth Worth, Texas, a city neighboring Dallas. About 378,000 area residents -- or 84% of the area’s total workers -- drive themselves alone to and from their job. Intense road traffic in Fort Worth has prompted policy makers to turn to partnerships with the private sector to try to reduce congestion.
Other cities with high concentrations of commuters by car include Columbus, Ohio; Jacksonville, Florida; San Antonio, Texas and Houston, Texas. In all five of these cities, residents who drive alone to work made up more than 80% share of all workers.
Austin, Texas had the largest share of residents who avoid commuting all together -- opting instead to work from home. Nearly six percent of all workers in Austin worked from the comfort of their home office.
To no New Yorker’s surprise, the subway was most common in NYC. Gridlocked streets and never-ending traffic often means the subway is the fastest form of transit in the city. NYC also had the greatest share of walkers. Given NYC’s relatively small geographic area, 8.5% of its residents were able to walk to work.
Taking the train was most common in Chicago, which has an extensive rail system. About nine percent of Chicago residents, or 343,598 workers, commute by railroad.
--With assistance from Marie Patino.
To contact the reporter on this story: Shelly Hagan in New York at shagan9@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alex Tanzi at atanzi@bloomberg.net
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