More fun with graphs

Bicycling

More fun with graphs

by David Alpert • September 30, 2008 4:17 pm

Continuing the discussion of Washingtonian transit exceptionalism from here and here, commenter SamZ posted this graph comparing the amount of non-car commuting in each region between the "transit zone" (within a half mile of transit) to the rest of the region.

Our transit zone commuters ride transit, bike and walk more than in other cities. There's also a greater split between the transit zone and the rest (though bicycle commuting is on the rise in Fairfax too).

Image by Reconnecting America.

On the lighter side, commenter Dave Murphy posted this amusing graph:

Image by GraphJam.

3 comments

Tags: bicycling, Fairfax, graphs, parking, transit

Scatterplot of density vs. transit ridership (Sep 18, 2008)
Breakfast bites (Apr 14, 2008)
The outlier (Sep 17, 2008)
Still the one (outlier) (Sep 29, 2008)
Bus stop density correlates with speed (May 20, 2010)

David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.

Comments

Doesn't the first graph miss half the point though? If you live in the "transit zone" but your destination isn't in another, how likely are you then to not drive? I'd venture a guess that the DC region has many more destinations (jobs mostly) in a "transit zone" at the other end of the ride and that is why our numbers are considerably higher in this chart than other comparable systems.

by Chris on Oct 1, 2008 11:18 am • link • report

The parking lot-speed graph reminded me of something from my car culture upbringing: When there was a fresh snow late in the evening my dad would load us kids in the car and take us down the street to an empty parking lot and throw "donuts". No seat belts! It was a blast!

by Bianchi on Oct 1, 2008 11:24 am • link • report

I like the first graph, but I'd have to see what the metrics for an "extensive", "large" and "medium" system are. For instance, New York's system is huge, but it's also a huge city. If you're comparing it to transit use per capita, shouldn't the question of how extensive the transit system is also be on a per capita basis? Does NYC or Boston have more transit per capita than DC, or LA to Cleveland, for that matter?

For example, if we were to bump DC up to an "extensive" system, then we don't seem as exceptional any more.

by Reid on Oct 1, 2008 12:11 pm • link • report