Indicator ST.2.e Proportion of workers with 1/2 mile access to regional public transport

ST.2.e Proportion of workers with 1/2 mile access to regional public transport

Download PDF map.

Data Source

U.S. Census Transportation Planning Package 2000 (workers at work) data available from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and downloaded from the following link (July 2007): http://www.mtc.ca.gov/maps_and_data/datamart/census/ctpp2000/

List of regional transit stops compiled by San Francisco Department of Public Health. Map and table prepared by City and County of San Francisco, Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Section using ArcGIS software.

Table data is presented by planning neighborhood. Planning neighborhoods are larger geographic areas then census tracts. SF DPH used ArcGIS software and a 'centroids within' methodology to convert census tracts to geographic mean center points. We then assigned census tracts to planning neighborhoods based on the spatial location of those geographic mean center points and calculated the planning neighborhood totals for the table.

Detailed information regarding geographic units of analysis, their definitions, and their boundaries can be found in the HDMT at the following links:

http://www.thehdmt.org/etc/Geographic_Units_of_Analysis.pdf

http://www.thehdmt.org/data_map_methods.php

Explanation and Limitations

The list of regional transit stops includes the Transbay Terminal; commuter ferry stops at Ferry Plaza, Pier 41 and China Basin; and commuter rail stops in San Francisco, including Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) stops and CalTrain stops at Caltrain Depot, 22nd Street, and Bayshore. The list of regional transit stops does not include any local bus or train stops (MUNI) unless they coincide with a regional transit stop.

Since 1960, San Francisco has experienced a substantial decrease in the number of persons who both live and work in San Francisco, leading to increased number of work commutes outside of the city limits. According to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, 322,000 of 344,000 of San Franciscans lived and worked in the city in 1960, meaning that 6% of the working population commuted from outside of San Francisco. In 1980, the proportion of commuters coming from outside San Francisco increased to 14% (or 47,173 of 331,470) and continued to rise to 22% (or 321,913 of 415,210 San Franciscans) in 2000. Current projections by the MTC estimate that commuter rates will stay stable at around 22-25% for the next twenty-five years.

In addition to proximity to a transit stop or station, the transportation mode used to access work is dependent upon numerous factors including cost, time and distance to destination, accessibility, perceived and actual safety, weather, pedestrian safety, traffic patterns, availability of bicycle lanes, hours of operation, availability of parking, and availability of travel stipends/incentives provided by work or to low income families. Lower income communities tend to rely more heavily on public transportation than higher income communities.

Why is this a Community Health Indicator?

Research has found that proximity to public transit helps to determine travel choice.a For normal trips, only 10% of Americans will walk one-half mile. A recent study in King County, WA demonstrated that for every quarter mile increase in distance to transit, the likelihood of using transit fell 16%. One-third of communities near BART stops in the Bay Area used rail to commute to work. Transit use promotes environmental health by reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions relative to automobiles.
  1. Ewing R, Frank L, Kreutzer R. Understanding the Relationship between Public Health and the Built Environment: A Report to the LEED-ND Core Committee. 2006.