Omaha Commuting Snapshot

[StreetsOfOmaha]

I looked into the American Community Survey data regarding commuting to work in Omaha on the Census website. I have to say, I am very surprised at what I saw, because I think we generally tend to inflate in our minds the number of people who commute alone by car.

Based on five year ACS data, the number of people who commute alone in their car to work is anywhere from 78.36% to 81.58%, given the margins of error. That is much lower than I was expecting. I think people tend to think that that percentage is up in the 90s, and that the rest of the commuting population is just an insignificant fraction.

But those numbers mean that anywhere between 18.42% and 21.64% of commuters get to work by some other means, be it carpooling, walking, biking, taking public transit, etc.

That's one in five people! One person out of five gets to work by some other means than driving alone in his/her car in Omaha.

I have to say, that is an eye-opener. I almost don't believe it...

http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tab ... Type=table

[byrdrules]

According to that survey around 95% of Omaha residents commute by car whether they are driving alone or with someone, that seems about right to me and was recently confirmed by a public opinion survey conducted December 5-6, 2011.

http://cityofomaha.org/ecomaha/images/s ... 20Memo.pdf

Almost all Omaha residents who work outside the home or attend school get to their location as
the driver of a private vehicle. Nearly two-thirds of respondents either work outside the home
(60%) or are students (3%). Fully 96% of these respondents indicate that they get to work or classes
as the driver of a private vehicle.

[Seth]

Finally, I'm part of the 1%!

OK, so more like 5% or something, but that wouldn't have the same ring to it.

[Stargazer]

Wow, that number is even outpacing the rate of poverty in this country by a few percentage points. ;)