Issues

Expenditures on Public Transportation

U.S. Department of Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Summary 99-9

in Labor Statistics

Allocation of public transportation expenditures between intracity and intercity travel

by income quintile, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1997

Public transportation expenditures consumed 6 percent of the average household’s

transportation budget in 1997, divided between

intracity and intercity travel (22 percent and

78 percent of total public transportation expenditures, respectively). Intracity transportation

modes include mass transit, taxi and limousine

service, and school bus. Intercity transportation modes include air, bus, train, and ship.

This report highlights public transportation expenditures by consumer units1

 in 1997, classified by income quintiles and by regions.2

Income quintile

The proportion of total expenditures allocated

to transportation ranged from 16 to 21 percent

for different income groups. The proportion of

total transportation expenditures allocated to

public transportation ranged from 5 to 8 percent. Consumers in the highest income quintile

(quintile 5) spent the most on public transportation, $911, which was more than twice the

expenditure by consumers in the fourth income

quintile, and almost six times the expenditure

by those in the first quintile. (See table.)

Households in quintile 5 also allocated the

highest share of transportation expenditures to

public transportation (8 percent). This seeming anomaly is largely due to the fact that intercity travel is more expensive than intracity

travel, and consumer units in the fifth income

quintile spent about five times as much on intercity travel as on intracity travel. Those in

the lowest income quintile spent less than twice

as much on intercity travel as on intracity travel

(see chart).

For intracity travel, the allocation of public

transportation expenditures was highest for

mass transit across all income groups, with the

lowest quintile making the largest allocation,

25 percent, and the highest making the smallest allocation, 10 percent. For intercity travel,

all quintiles allocated the highest proportion

of public transportation expenditures to air

travel, and this allocation was progressive

across income quintiles: consumers in the lowest income quintile allocated the least, about

50 percent, those in the highest allocated the

most, 70 percent. As a proportion of public

transportation expenditures, the two lowest

income groups spent two to three times more

on intercity bus fares than the higher income

quintiles, as might be expected.

Region.

The share of total expenditures that households

allocated to total transportation ranged from

17 percent in the Northeast to 21 percent in

the South. However, households in the Northeast allocated the largest share of total transportation expenditures to public transportation,

10 percent, whereas those in the South allocated the smallest share, 4 percent. Households

in the Northest spent an average of $587 on

public transportation, which was more than

twice the expenditures by consumers in the

south.

In the Northeast, households also exhibited a difference from the other three regions

in the use of public transportation for intracity versus intercity travel. The Northeast had

the highest proportion of public transportation expenditures allocated to intracity travel,

37 percent, more than twice the other three

regions. The greater use of public transportation in the Northeast relative to the other regions is consistent with the lower percentage

of private vehicle ownership in the Northeast,

79 percent, relative to the other three regions

(see table). It also likely reflects the more extensive public transportation network that exists in the more densely populated Northeast

region.

For intracity travel, the allocation of public

transportation expenditures was highest for

mass transit across all regions, with the share

in the Northeast, 29 percent, being more than

3 times those in the other 3 regions. Air travel

accounted for the largest share of intercity

travel spending for public transportation

across all regions; the West allocated the most,

1

In this report, consumers is used interchangeably with consumer units and household. In the survey, a consumer unit includes (1) members of a

household related by blood, marriage, adoption or

other legal arrangement; (2) a person living alone or

sharing a household with others but who is responsible for at least two of the following three major

types of expenses - food, housing, and other expenses; or (3) two or more persons living together

who pool their income to make joint expenditure

decisions. 2

 For the purpose of reporting expenditures by

income groups, complete income reporters are

ranked in ascending order, according to the level of

total before-tax income. The ranking is then divided

into five equal groups called quintiles, with quintile

1 consisting of consumers with the lowest 20 percent in terms of before-tax income, and quintile 5

consisting of consumers in the highest 20 percent.

Complete income reporters are respondents who

have provided values for major sources of income,

such as wages and salaries, self-employment income,

and Social Security income.

5

4

3

2

1

0 20 40 60 80 100

Intercity

Intracity

Quintile
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71 percent, and the Northeast the least, 50

percent.

Additional information

For more information about the data presented here, contact Lucilla Tan in the DiviItem

All

consumer

units

Total

complete

reporters

NortheastQuintile

5

Quintile

4

Quintile

3

Quintile

2

Quintile

1 Midwest South West

Table 1: Average annual expenditures on public transportation by income quintile and region, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1997

Income before taxes .................................................... $39,926 $39,926 $7,086 $17,246 $30,285 $48,478 $96,397 $43,336 $39,222 $35,691 $44,368

Average annual expenditures ...................................... $33,072 $34,139 $15,245 $22,054 $29,500 $40,432 $63,393 $33,971 $31,885 $30,751 $37,373

Average annual expenditure on public transportation .. $393 $390 $156 $202 $280 $400 $911 $587 $345 $243 $511

At least 1 vehicle owned or leased (percent) ............... 87 88 63 87 93 98 98 79 89 89 88

Share of average annual expenditures allocated

 to total transportation (percent) ............................... 19.4 19.3 15.7 19.4 20.7 21.4 18.3 17.0 19.8 20.9 18.8

Share of total transportation expenditures

 allocated to public transportation (percent) ............... 6.1 5.9 6.5 4.7 4.6 4.6 7.9 10.2 5.5 3.8 7.3

Percent distribution of public transportation

 expenditures ............................................................. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

[1] Intracity travel ......................................................... 21.9 21.7 37.0 28.8 28.6 19.3 16.6 36.6 14.9 17.5 14.9

 Mass transit ............................................................... 14.2 14.0 25.4 19.5 20.5 11.7 9.9 28.8 8.0 8.1 7.9

 Taxi and limousine .................................................... 2.4 2.5 6.3 4.4 2.9 1.8 1.6 3.4 1.8 2.4 1.9

 Private school bus ..................................................... .2 .3 .3 .5 .1 .4 .2 .4 .2 .3 .1

 Taxi and limousine fares on trips ............................... 1.9 1.8 1.9 1.6 1.9 2.0 1.8 1.5 1.8 2.5 1.9

 Local transportation on trips ...................................... 3.2 3.1 3.2 2.8 3.2 3.4 3.1 2.6 3.1 4.3 3.2

[2] Intercity travel ......................................................... 78.1 78.3 63.0 71.2 71.4 80.7 83.4 63.4 85.1 82.5 85.1

 Airline ........................................................................ 63.3 65.0 50.9 60.0 61.4 64.2 70.0 50.2 66.5 68.5 70.9

 Intercity bus ............................................................... 2.7 2.9 5.6 6.3 2.7 2.6 2.0 2.8 2.6 2.8 2.4

 Intercity train .............................................................. 5.4 5.5 5.8 4.2 5.6 5.8 5.5 4.7 6.2 6.0 5.0

 Ship ........................................................................... 6.7 4.9 .7 .8 1.8 8.1 6.0 5.7 9.8 5.1 6.8

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