This report presents data from the 2008 and 2009 American Community Surveys (ACS) on the percentage of commuters who used public transportation to get to work in U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (metro areas).¹ The percentage of workers who usually travel to work using public transportation has remained at about 5 percent since the 1990 Census.²

Public transportation accounts for a small percentage of commutes at the national level, but plays a more prominent role in several of the nation’s largest metro areas, especially in densely populated communities. About 39 percent of all workers who usually travel to work using public transportation live in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA Metro Area. In an effort to provide more transportation choices for Americans nationwide, investment in public transportation systems has been an integral component of several major federal transportation programs in recent decades.

The ACS asks respondents about their usual means of transportation to work. “Public transportation” includes workers who used a bus, trolley, streetcar, subway or elevated rail, railroad, or ferryboat, and did not work at home. Respondents were to report their usual transportation method for the previous week, whether or not the information was consistent with their commuting activities for the majority of the year.

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¹ For more information on metropolitan statistical areas, please see <www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/omb/bulletins/fy2009/09-01.pdf>.
² Percent public transportation usage for 1990 and 2000 was 5.12 and 4.57, respectively.