Demographics of Commuting in Greater Boston

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Second Edition REVISED incorporating results of the 1990 US Census

Commuting is at the core of most of the issues of transportation, for it is the morning and afternoon peaks, the rush hours every weekday, which determine what the capacity of most of our roads and transit facilities should be.* The metropolitan transportation system as a whole must be able to serve the peak volume, not merely the average volume spread over an entire day. Thus, at the basis of any transportation plan must lie an understanding of the patterns of commuting in the metropolitan area. The object of this document is to explain the pattern of commuting seen in the Boston region today by looking at the area's demographic trends since 1950.

During the decades following the end of the Second World War, sweeping changes in land use and development occurred across the region. New zoning codes and the construction of new expressways served to open up large tracts of land to new housing development. Thousands of families pursued the "American Dream" to a suburban house and a new car, leaving behind the crowded, old cities. Later, jobs followed the people to the suburbs, as commercially zoned land (originally intended for warehouses) was developed for office parks. The effect of these two migrations was a tremendous increase in suburb-tosuburb commuting.

While suburban commuting might have led to less congestion in the region, as commuters shifted from crowded routes converging on the urban core to wide-open suburban roads, the amount of development that occurred in suburban areas soon overwhelmed the available road space. Because the style of most suburban development discourages ridesharing and mass transit, almost all suburb-to-suburb work trips occur in single-occupant vehicles. Highways which were intended as an alternative to congested urban roads soon became congested themselves, filled with cars carrying one person each, travelling from a suburban home to a suburban office.

Because Boston's urban core has remained a vital economic center during this period of suburban development, traffic congestion is seen throughout the region, on suburban

highways and arterial roads as well as on routes to downtown. While mass transit is available to serve trips to the downtown area and thus mitigate congestion on the highways, there are few options for suburban commuters.

In attempting to shed some light on the forces which have shaped commuting in the Boston region, this document will first define an appropriate study area and then go on to examine trends in population, housing and employment. Following that portion of the analysis will be a study of actual commuting patterns, highlighting the differences between older cities and newly developed suburbs. Understanding these trends and patterns will be an aid to transportation planners and land use planners in creating policies to help reduce congestion, promote sustainable economic growth and enhance the quality of life for the people who live and work here.

LIST OF FIGURES

1Number of Commuters to Boston, 1990 4

2MPO Commuter Source Area 6

3Population, 1950 8

4Construction of the Expressway Network 10

5Change in Population, 1950-1960 12

6Change in Population, 1960-1970 14

7Change in Population, 1970-1980 16

8Change in Population, 1980-1990 18

9Median Housing Price, 1990 20

10Increase in Number of Housing Units, 1980-1990 22

11Change in Number of Jobs, 1980-1990 24

12Ratio of Jobs to Housing Units, 1990 26

13Percentage of Workers Imported, 1990 28

14Motor Vehicles per Capita, 1990 30

15Number of Commuters to the Urban Core, 1990 32

16Percentage Change in Number of Commuters to the Urban Core, 1980-199034

17Change in Mode Share to the Urban Core, 1980-1990 36

18Percentage of Commuters to the Urban Core Who Use Transit, 1990 38

19Number of Commuters to Waltham, 1990 40

20Downtown Waltham vs. Waltham/Route 128: Commuting Patterns, 1990 42

21Number of Commuters to Lynn, 1990 44

22Number of Commuters to Burlington, 1990 46

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