Population and Employment Population and Employment Population and employment are two of the principal factors that influence the transportation system.
Population determines the demand for transportation services and facilities.
The distribution of population and employment determines travel patterns by establishing where many trips will originate and terminate. The location of persons and jobs also determine the preferred mode of travel. Areas with concentrated population may depend on mass transit, walking, or bicycling while low density population areas might depend on automobiles or commuter transit. Population and households are expected to grow at an average annual rate of 1.4 and 1.7 percent, respectively. By 2020, the region's population will reach 5.6 million, distributed among 2.2 million households.