The percentage of workers who drove alone during their commute increased from 64% in 1980 to 76% in 2016 while carpooling has declined.
May 28, 2018
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The percentage of workers who drove alone during their commute increased from 64% in 1980 to 76% in 2016 while carpooling declined to about half of what it was in 1980. The percentage of workers who used public transportation, walked or biked also declined, but the percentage of those who worked from home doubled by 2016. The total number of workers grew by 51% in this time period – from 96 million in 1980 to 146 million in 2016.
Notes: Includes Puerto Rico. The category "Public transportation" includes workers who used a bus, trolley bus, streetcar, trolley car, subway, elevated rail, railroad, ferryboat or taxicab. The category "Other means" includes motorcycle and any other mode not specified. People who used different means of transportation on different days of the week were asked to specify the one they used most often, that is, the greatest number of days. People who used more than one means of transportation to get to work each day were asked to report the one used for the longest distance during the work trip.
Sources:
1980: U.S. Bureau of the Census, provided by the Journey-to-Work and Migration Statistics Brand, Population Division.
2016: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2012-2016 American Community Survey Five-Year Estimates, Table B08301.