roughly 50 percent of the sampled commuters drove solo when traveling to and from work. Another 16 percent used a combination of cars and MBTA, while approximately 19 percent used public transportation for the entire journey. The percentage shares for carpooling, vanpooling, bicycling, and walking were all less than 10 percent each for all modes and destinations except pooling within the central business district. Table 3: Destination of Commute and Modal Choice (By Commuters) Modal Choice Bicycle Car (drive alone) Car & MBTA MBTA Pooling Walking to work Total
Non-CBD 2 173 2 9 8 2 196
CBD 5 81 81 85 36 17 305
Total 7 254 83 94 44 19 501
% of Total 1.4 50.7 16.6 18.8 8.8 3.8 100.0*
*Total is rounded off. CBD = Boston’s central business district
Commuters with higher incomes traveled longer distances and allocated larger budgets to their travel as can be seen in Table 4. Regardless of income, all licensed drivers reported having access to a car for their commutes to and from work. Table 4: Commuter Profile by Modal Choice Modal Share By %
Mode
Bicycle Car (drive alone) Car & MBTA MBTA Pooling Walking to work Total
1 51 17 19 9 4 100%*
Average Travel Time (min) 20.4 33.5 51.8 35.2 50.0 15.4 37.4
Average Annual Household Income $90,000 $87,195 $95,380 $66,017 $99,226 $93,529 $86,059
Monthly Budget spent on Commute $37.93 $136.67 $160.39 $49.46 $180.40 $5.00 $121.70
Average Budget As % of Monthly Income 0.5 1.9 2.0 0.9 2.2 0.1 1.7%
Average One-Way Distance (miles) 4.34 15.90 22.34 7.07 31.92 1.88 16.02
Average # of Cars
Average Household Size
2.43 2.98 2.84 2.29 2.84 1.84 2.77
3.86 3.52 3.51 3.13 3.50 2.74 3.42
*Total percentage is rounded off. Note: Total average income of $86,059 is the result of computation based on the total data set and cannot be recalculated with data in the table because of missing income information in each modal choice category.
The researchers disaggregated the data into commuter subsets. This information is provided in Table 5. Radial commuters, those who drive back and forth between Boston proper and the suburbs, were divided relatively evenly within the various transportation alternatives. On the other hand, orbital commuters, those who live and work in the suburbs and travel in arcs