Modal Choice in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area: An Exploratory Data Analysis

Abstract

Journey-to-work mode choice is intertwined with ideological and pragmatic issues. This article reexamines such issues using socioeconomic data from the decennial census and American Community Survey (ACS). It investigates the structure of variables with exploratory data analysis (EDA) because this technique advises the formation of hypotheses and the specification of cause and effect. Traditional EDA reveals the nonnormal structure of raw data, mapping illustrates associations between transit and income, and both methods suggest the presence of a transit-by-choice population among affluent metropolitan residents. The results yield three hypotheses concerning propensity to use transit that have previously received little attention.