FHWA NHTS Report: Transit Trend Analysis: 2017 National Household Travel Survey

Details

• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Contributors:
  Jenkins, Daniel
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Data Analysis Data Collection Public Transit Statistics Travel Behavior Travel Surveys Trend (Statistics)
• Resource Type:
  Brief
• Right Statement:
  Public Domain
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Abstract:
  Transit services play a vital role in the ability of Americans to access work, school, shopping, and other daily activities. The National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) provides insights into when, where, and how transit is used and by whom. Other national statistics on transit ridership include the National Transit Database (NTD) and the American Public Transit Association (APTA). The trends vary based on the data source being analyzed. In particular, the 2017 NHTS shows an increase in transit usages, while the NTD and APTA databases show a decline for the same time period. This report seeks to first explain ridership and transit usage differences across the three main sources of data on transit ridership. In the second part of this report, behavioral trends associated with transit usage as documented in the 2001, 2009, and 2017 NHTS data sets are presented. The results provide a general understanding of why and how the three main sources of transit ridership data differ as well as factors that influence transit usage among NHTS survey participants. This report aims to (1) provide a framework for understanding differences across the NTD, APTA, and NHTS data; (2) review trends in transit usage over the past three iterations of the NHTS; and (3) summarize findings from these analyses. The following section explores differences in transit ridership reports within the framework of key NHTS design changes that influenced how transit trips were captured. Next, transit usage as reported in the NHTS is explored more in depth using gender, age, income, and geographical differences to illustrate trends. The final report section summarizes key findings and takeaways.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  Federal Highway Administration
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fcfb2751b097b9d2d3ffa1d7d62caaaf8c1c122d7d2e2387148e99a63a0bf03d16a7384f648277cc8656eb974eed4dc8f58f8cf20042fcf49370e257322f9620
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/85030/dot_85030_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 395.41 KB ]