Did the Philadelphia region make progress in reducing congestion in the 2010 Decade?

Last week, the U.S. Census released the 2014-2018 American Community Survey data that includes commuting mode share. ‘Best Workplaces for Commuters’ in conjunction with the Center for Urban Transportation Research compiled the five-year data set for over 300 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). The data allows the comparison of the most recent five-year estimates with the previous five-year period (2009-2015).

The Philadelphia metropolitan region grew their 16-year old+ work force by almost 6% in the past five years. In that time, we reduced the estimated number of workers who drive alone in their cars from 73.6% to 72.9%. However, less workers used carpools or vanpools when compared to the first part of the decade…7.5% compared to 7.9%. Public transportation use (excluding taxicabs) remained unchanged from the first part of the decade to the last five years (9.5% of workers). And the percentage of workers who walked to work also dropped in the last five years...3.6% of workers compared to 3.8%.

Interestingly enough, the increase in the amount of metro-Philadelphia workers who worked at home between the two halves of the decade was statistically significant—1% (representing approximately 20,000 workers.)

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