Average car trip lengths?

[squirtdad]

Hi,

does anyone have referenceble information on:

what is the average automobile commute length (North America)

What is the average automovbile errand length (North america)

thanks

cross posted on utility

[alpinist]

Try insurance companies.

[genec]

I cannot remember if it is the NHTSA or some other agency that compiled the data... it was something like 40% of all errands are 2 miles or less, and most commutes were either 12 or 15 miles in length.

Some of this is contained in the link in my sig below... but it does not state the source.

[genec]

Here is an ABC poll that gives some data... http://abcnews.go.com/technology/traffic/story?id=485098

They report an average one-way commute time of 26 minutes (over an average distance of 16 miles).

[noisebeam]

Another claim, but again without the root source:
"Nearly half of all trips in the United States are three miles or less; more than a quarter are less than a mile. "

Found in this article:
http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200803/twowheeled.asp

A;

[JohnBrooking]

Commute lengths for 2003 (http://www.bts.gov/publications/omnistats/volume_03_issue_04/html/table_02.html) (scroll down close to the end)

I too have heard that the average length of all trips, not limited to commuting, is fairly. I know I've read it, but I don't if I can dig it up. If I can, I'll post it.

[DCCommuter]

Here is some good data, but a bit dated:
http://allcountries.org/uscensus/1033_national_personal_transportation_survey_npts_summary.html

What you want to find is the latest NHTS -- National Household Travel Survey. I believe it was last done in 2001.

[Pig_Chaser]

I just know your dying for some data from Canada:
http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/04/02/commute-statscan.html

"The report found that the median distance Canadians are travelling to work has increased to 7.6 kilometres in 2006, an increase of 8.6 per cent over the past decade. Commuters in Ontario (8.7 km), Nova Scotia (8.4 km) and Quebec (7.8 km) travelled the farthest to get to work, while workers in Nunavut (2.1 km), the Northwest Territories (2.9 km) and the Yukon (3.9 km) lived closest to their workplace"

[genec]

The sum of all this is that most trips are rather short, eh?

[invisiblehand]

The US Census Bureau has a few surveys that ask relevant questions. Here is a brief that can get you started.

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/american_community_survey_acs/001695.html

[RobertHurst]

Hi,

does anyone have referenceble information on:

what is the average automobile commute length (North America)

What is the average automovbile errand length (North america)

thanks

cross posted on utility

http://www.industrializedcyclist.com/nhts.pdf

Page 18 Table 6 of the 2001 National Household Travel Survey indicates that average person distance per trip is 6 - 12 miles, with work commutes generally being longer than shopping trips or other errands. But that's an average, and based on survey responses. It's quite possible that the majority of trips are much shorter than the average.

Robert