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AusTexMurf

Member

From: South Austin

Registered: 2008-11-21

Posts: 439

Austin Leads Texas Cities In Shift Away From Vehicle Use

Dec 5, 2013, 7:51am CST
Austin Leads Texas Cities In Shift Away From Vehicle Use

Michael Theis
Digital Editor-
Austin Business Journal

     Mirroring trends seen elsewhere in the nation, Texans living in urban areas are driving less, according to a report from think tank TexPIRG.
The report’s authors say the decreased driving trend means that policymakers should be shifting infrastructure funding priorities away from road projects and into alternative modes of transportation.
     
     “There is a shift away from driving in our cities here in Texas and across the country,” said Sara Smith, Program Director for the TexPIRG Education Fund in a statement. “Policy makers need to wake up and realize the driving boom is over. Based on these national and local trends, we should be investing in public transit and biking for the future.”…

Read More Here
Report PDF Here

MichaelBluejay

Webmaster

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,466

Website

Re: Austin Leads Texas Cities In Shift Away From Vehicle Use

From the article:

"Between the year 2000 and 2011, 4.5 percent of Austin-area commuters stopped driving to work."  That's the third-largest decrease in the country, and the largest in Texas.

However, our increase in transit usage for 2000-2005 puts us only 21st for the 100 largest cities.  (By population, we're #12.)  And cycling is up only 0.3% from 2000 to 2010 (putting us in 16th place, meaning that here again, our results are poor, as we're #12 by population).

So most of the gains in non-car-commuting in Austin aren't due to more biking or more transit use, it's due to more telecommuting.  When people actually go somewhere, they're still about just as likely to drive as they've always been.

Significant progress still eludes us.

AusTexMurf

Member

From: South Austin

Registered: 2008-11-21

Posts: 439

Re: Austin Leads Texas Cities In Shift Away From Vehicle Use

I agree with you, that telecommuting plays a (probably) significant role in Austin's data.
I am also of the opinion that we need better data, as the report states repeatedly.
My anecdotal summary based on moving through austin by bike, walking, bus, and train:
Is that I see much larger numbers of commuter cyclists (and significantly more women!) on route 31 headed north/south to/from downtown during the work week and south of ben white in general(south central market/redd/western trails/pack saddle pass, etc.). The bike racks are often times full in my zones of the city, at grocery stores, libraries, schools, etc.. Weren't always before. Big change even since 2010, IMO.
I see many more folks walking in my neighborhood.
Basically, every time I get on the #10, 1M, 1L, #3 in SA, they are pretty much full, if not standing room only. Been riding these same routes since '97 and they weren't always this way.
The Red Line train was almost empty when I first started riding it. Very easy to put my bike on, even with our children's double trailer.
Now it is often standing room only, w/ no place to put your bike. Oftentimes no way to get on with a bike trailer…

Anyway, no exact numbers to back this up. Just my daily observations moving around our clogged city.
Hope we get a bit more relief from the frantic auto traffic, sooner rather than later.

Last edited by AusTexMurf (2013-12-09 11:39:37)

AusTexMurf

Member

From: South Austin

Registered: 2008-11-21

Posts: 439

Re: Austin Leads Texas Cities In Shift Away From Vehicle Use

And MBJ,
Here you go…
How do you Take 7,000 Cars off Local Roads?
More and more local employers are beginning to understand their role in our city’s traffic problem. Just ask Central Texas’ largest and highest profile employer, Dell. Dell recently set a goal to have half its workforce work from home by 2020. Dell employs about 14,000 locally, so that means roughly 7,000 vehicles off our local streets and highways.
“We had a lot of greenhouse gas emissions reduced,” says Dell’s Vice President of Corporate Responsibility Trisa Thompson of the impact of the 20 percent of Dell’s workforce that already telecommutes. “It was about 6,735 metric tons of CO2 last year.”

Movability Austin Article Here

Jack

Member

Registered: 2013-03-27

Posts: 344

Re: Austin Leads Texas Cities In Shift Away From Vehicle Use

Graphic illustration of modal share with US Census data:  http://www.theatlantic.com/business/arc … ph/282349/