From the recent American Community Survey aggregate 2005-2009 data, we present a montage of San Francisco Bay Area commuting patterns. This is for workers over 16 years old, shown as percent who drive, take public transit, walk and bike. these are all set to the same scale, but because the bike percentage is so low we add a blown-up bike map in geography and scale (bottom right).
No matter what the region likes to say about itself, the preferred method of transit is still driving (carpool or not). Parts of San Francisco do use transit and walk - based on geography - but we still generally have a sprawl and drive-to-work commuting model. If people want to reduce car traffic, governments and regional planners need to plan for reliable transit infrastructure, because actual commuters clearly care more about how easily they can get to work than lofty ideals and politicians' speeches.
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