21 November 2001: Data just released by the US Census Bureau indicates that public transit's work trip market share dropped 38 percent from 1990 to 2000. This is an improvement from the 49 percent loss sustained in the 1980s.

The loss flies in the face of the conventional wisdom that light rail is an effective strategy for reducing traffic congestion. St. Louis opened a new light rail line in 1993 that has among the highest ridership among new US light rail lines, averaging more than 40,000 daily riders during the period that the Census Bureau survey was taken.

Transit not only lost market share, but also actual commuters. The total number of transit commuters in the St. Louis metropolitan area fell from 32,000 in 1990 to 21,000 in 2000. Since 1960, transit commuting has fallen nearly 100,000, while other modes have increased more than 430,000 (mostly automobile). Transit's market share loss from 1960 is nearly 90 percent.

Single occupant automobile commuting continued to expand, garnering 128 percent of commuters. All other modes combined lost market share. Car pooling fell at a lower rate than transit, while there was a slight gain among those working at home. In fact, for the first time, the number of people working at home exceeds the number riding transit to work.

The 2000 data is from the Census Supplemental Survey and should be viewed as preliminary. Official 2000 census data on the journey to work will be released in 2002.