Commuting Habits Mostly Unchanged

By HUGO MARTIN

Aug. 7, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Despite massive investments in public transit and ride-share programs, California’s commuters have not dramatically altered their driving habits to use mass transit, carpools or other options to reduce freeway congestion, the Census Bureau reported Monday.

Most Californians still prefer to drive alone to work even though the time they spend on the road is growing longer, according to a supplemental survey by the Census Bureau.

For the record:

12:00 a.m. Aug. 16, 2001 FOR THE RECORD
Los Angeles Times Thursday August 16, 2001 Home Edition Part A Part A Page 2 A2 Desk 2 inches; 41 words Type of Material: Correction
Commuting times--An Aug. 7 California section story about commuting habits incorrectly reported how much transit times have increased since 1990. The average commute for California workers rose from about 25 to 27 minutes each way, while the U.S. average increased from about 22 to 24 minutes.

The census figures show a marginal increase since 1990 in the percentage of California workers who use public transit. But that gain was overshadowed by a larger drop in the percentage of drivers who use carpools.

Some transportation officials said the census figures are a wake-up call to transit planners to find cheaper and more convenient ways for commuters to share a ride.

“We need to take action besides just putting in a new rail line and just saying, ‘Here it is,’ ” said Hasan Ikhrata, who oversees transportation planning and analysis for the Southern California Assn. of Governments.

The new numbers come from a survey of 700,000 homes, released Monday, that supplements Census 2000. The Census Bureau wants to expand and conduct this type of survey annually, possibly as a replacement for the decennial long form.

The census figures describe commuting trends for workers 16 and older in all 50 states. The report does not measure the habits of the entire traveling public, which includes students, retired people, stay-at-home parents and others.

Many transportation experts say that when all segments of the population are counted, Californians are riding public transit in record numbers.

Still, the Census Bureau has focused on the travel habits of commuters because time lost on the way to work represents lost productivity and even lost profits.

Despite its reputation as the nation’s center for car culture, the Golden State’s commuting habits were not dramatically different from the nation’s as a whole.

For example:

* The percentage of California workers who used public transportation rose from 4.9% in 1990 to 5.4% last year. In the entire nation, that number remained nearly unchanged.

* In California, the percentage of workers who use carpools dropped from 14.6% in 1990 to 13.9% last year. Throughout the nation, that percentage took an even bigger drop, from 13.4% in 1990 to 11.2% by 2000.

* In California, the percentage of workers who drove alone rose slightly, from 71.6% in 1990 to 72.4% in 2000. The percentage of single-occupant drivers throughout the nation rose even more, from 73.2% in 1990 to 76.3% last year.

* The average commute time for California workers rose from about 27 minutes to 28 minutes each way. The average U.S. commute time rose from about 25 minutes in 1990 to 26 minutes in 2000.

The census data do not support the stereotype of Californians as car crazy: The average household owns 1.78 vehicles, only fractionally higher than the national average.

In fact, California ranked 30th in the category of vehicles per household, with Wyoming (2.07 vehicles) and Idaho (2.06 vehicles) at the top of the list. Transportation experts suggest that California’s low ranking in this category could be attributed to the growing influx of low-wage immigrants, many of whom cannot afford cars.

Transportation experts say California’s commuting data indicate a discouraging trend--but not a surprising one. They argue that dramatically altering the driving habits of California workers is a long and arduous process.

“It’s not surprising because driving is still perceived as the cheapest, most convenient mode of transportation,” Ikhrata said.

This perception apparently has not been changed by the huge investments made in mass transit and carpool lanes--particularly in Southern California.

Between 1990 and 2000, the state spent more than $12 billion on mass transit programs and added 800 miles of carpool lanes on the freeways. That is in addition to mass transit dollars provided by federal and local governments.

In Southern California, that money helped build a 17-mile subway line in downtown Los Angeles and a 42-mile light rail system that stretches from downtown to Long Beach and Norwalk to Redondo Beach. State and local transit dollars also paid for a 419-mile commuter rail system that stretches from Oxnard to Orange County.

In Northern California, the Bay Area Rapid Transit system added more than 22 miles of track, expanding the mass transit rail system from 71 to 94 miles since 1995.

So why haven’t commuting trends changed dramatically?

Alan Pisarski, author of “Commuting in America,” said he believes business and demographic trends in California are making ride-sharing less convenient.

He said many businesses in the 1990s reduced their work forces and moved to the suburbs, making it harder for commuters to find a fellow worker who has the same destination and work schedule.

“All of the forces are conspiring against carpools,” Pisarski said.

Bill Fulton, a Ventura-based regional planning expert, said planning and development have also played a role in the state’s commuting trends. He said development continues to be designed to accommodate single-occupant drivers, not mass transit users.

“Our jobs are dispersed to the suburbs and our suburbs are built around the car,” he said.

State Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks), a staunch critic of the state’s expansion of the carpool lane system, said the census figures show that commuters, for the most part, reject ride-sharing because it is inconvenient and time consuming.

“If [the carpool lanes] worked, you would expect to see increases in the percentage of carpoolers as we increased the number of carpool lanes, and that hasn’t happened,” he said.

Jill Smolinski, a spokeswoman for Southern California Rideshare, said the percentage of commuters who use carpools in Southern California has remained steady at about 14% since 1990.

She defended the carpool system but suggested that it has not caught on in bigger numbers because of a lack of marketing and advertising.

“Of course, we would love to see the trend increase,” she said.

Some transportation experts suggested that trends toward mass transit were stifled in the 1990s by relatively cheap gasoline and a robust economy--two factors that tend to encourage workers to drive alone.

Chris Brittle, manager of planning at the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission, said that despite the overall California trends, mass transit systems in urban communities with centralized business centers, like San Francisco, are very popular.

“There are individual success stories,” he said.

Eric Rose, a public relations executive who leaves his Thousand Oaks home at 5:45 a.m. each day to drive to work in West Los Angeles, said he has not been able to find a mass transit system that will get him to the office in less time than it takes him to drive on the freeways for about an hour each way.

“The way Southern California is laid out, mass transit is just impractical,” he said.

Rose said he has never been able to find anyone who has the same schedule and commute to share a ride to work. Besides, there are no carpool lanes between Rose’s home and his office.

Even commuters who carpool understand why more drivers are not sharing a ride to work.

Viola Andrade, an executive assistant who works in Los Angeles City Hall, has been carpooling for 13 years from her home in Chino Hills. She said sharing a ride is less stressful and often more convenient than driving alone.

But she said she often finds herself scrambling to set up a new carpool when her commuting partners get new jobs or change their work schedules.

“You do have to sometimes work on it,” she said. “It’s like no one has an 8-to-5 job anymore, like it used to be.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Travel Times for California Workers

AVERAGE COMMUTE TIMES

California in 2000: 28 minutes

in 1990: 27 minutes

U.S. in 2000: 26 minutes

in 1990: 25 minutes

IN MINUTES

90 or more

2000: 2.7%