Chapter 5. VEHICLE AVAILABILITY

In 2000, the Census Bureau collected household vehicle data in eight categories--the lowest category was zero and the highest category was seven or more vehicles.The analysis of total vehicles and changes in relative household shares of vehicle availability is useful in understanding mode choice decisions.Between 1990 and 2000, 13.5 million new households and 13.2 million new workers were added in the U.S. but twice as many household vehicles were added (26 million vehicles). Overall, the growth in vehicles has been in the households with multiple vehicles available. In 2000, 40.5 percent of households had two vehicles available, and 18 percent of households had three or more vehicles available compared to just 10.0 and 1.3 percent in 1960 respectively.

Large MSAs vs Rest of Country

Although the percent has changed, the total number of zero-vehicle households remained nearly the same over the last 40 years-11.3 million households had no vehicle in 1960,and 10.9 million households had no vehicle in 2000. Large MSAs have always had more zero-vehicle households than the remainder of the country-in the 2000 Census,12 percent of households in large MSAs were without a vehicle versus just 8 percent in the remainder of the country (see Exhibit 5.1).

Exhibit 5.1 Added Population per Decade (millions): 1960-2000

Vehicle Growth vs Population Growth

Seven of the large MSAs added more than one and one-half vehicle for every person 16 and over added to the population in the 1990s (see Exhibit 5.2). Hartford and Cleveland added more than 2 vehicles for every added driving-age person. The growth in the number of vehicles exceeded the growth in driving-age adults in twenty-one of the large MSAs. Two areas, Buffalo and Pittsburgh, added vehicles even though they lost population.

Exhibit 5.2 Growth in Vehicles Compared to Population: 1990-2000

MSA	Added People (Age 16 and Over)	Added Vehicles	Ratio of Vehicles added for Every Person Added: 1990-2000
Hartford	1,992	15,757	7.9
Cleveland	60,724	150,199	2.5
Detroit	186,132	354,084	1.9
St. Louis	92,552	150,508	1.6
Philadelphia	183,914	293,298	1.6
Boston	218,709	330,527	1.5
Milwaukee	67,066	98,579	1.5

Exhibit 5.3 shows the metropolitan areas with the highest and lowest values for zero, one,two, and three or more vehicles per household. New York stands out with 28.7 percent of the households with no vehicle-in fact, one- fifth of the country's zero-vehicle households are in New York. Salt Lake City, with a large average household size and large number of workers per household is the metro area with the lowest percent of it's households having no vehicle.

Exhibit 5.3 Areas with Highest and Lowest Vehicle Availability: 2000

Households with MSA Highest Zero-vehicles New York 28.7 One Vehicle Tampa 44.2 Two Vehicles New York 28 Three or more vehicles Salt Lake City 24.4

MSA Lowest Salt Lake City 5.8 Salt Lake City 28.1 Grand Rapids 43.6 West Palm Beach 9.6

Exhibit 5.4 shows the number of households in three vehicle ownership categories (zero,one, two, and three and more) for 1980, 1990 and 2000, and Exhibit 5.5 shows the average vehicle availability for 1990 and 2000 for the major MSAs. Exhibit 5.6 shows the percent of households in each of the vehicle availability categories. Within the large MSAs there is a difference between households located in the central county and those in suburban counties. Exhibits 5.6 and 5.7 show the percent of households in the central or in suburban counties by vehicle availability category. Exhibit 5.8 shows the percent change in relative shares between 1990 and 2000 in central and suburban counties.

Exhibit 5.4 Number of Households by Vehicles Available: 1980 - 2000

MSA	0 Vehicle Households			1 Vehicle Households
	1980	1990	2000	1980	1990	2000
New York	2,590,367	2,074,032	2,216,217	2,348,895	2,279,212	2,506,498
Los Angeles	710,171	436,773	537,885	1,521,737	1,649,594	1,863,807
Chicago	708,001	486,693	450,547	1,099,715	1,051,228	1,192,183
Washington, DC	437,980	329,327	343,841	747,539	805,066	974,281
San Francisco	346,455	241,975	253,425	730,311	754,819	842,057
Philadelphia	567,943	368,303	355,220	744,681	755,717	826,723
Boston	433,929	279,997	272,748	774,725	717,044	797,053
Detroit	311,861	229,668	181,816	646,692	630,551	723,222
Dallas	178,339	95,893	115,724	367,029	525,586	678,023
Houston	231,092	110,952	127,166	388,897	495,581	598,310
Atlanta	140,951	97,661	110,401	251,895	328,864	478,587
Miami	275,895	165,276	172,514	450,209	490,145	587,659
Seattle	151,018	87,916	107,574	300,090	362,043	455,180
Phoenix	106,393	60,913	82,820	216,553	332,371	463,686
Minneapolis	120,689	86,448	91,562	276,270	299,963	359,475
Cleveland	193,396	134,639	117,223	389,208	374,946	412,898
San Diego	112,307	70,337	79,978	244,886	302,648	346,500
St. Louis	173,713	101,628	91,446	307,130	315,397	348,086
Denver	98,626	60,025	70,291	213,726	259,600	328,956
Tampa	180,368	79,324	81,670	312,043	385,903	446,199
Pittsburgh	214,207	151,751	125,087	375,351	353,498	357,546
Portland	97,743	58,647	68,456	206,318	223,332	286,801
Cincinnati	120,184	78,140	73,712	207,902	214,373	248,409
Sacramento	84,671	42,533	51,715	143,422	181,569	229,814
Kansas City	94,556	52,215	50,455	181,754	200,952	232,951
Milwaukee	103,276	80,636	75,838	212,603	203,803	233,306
Orlando	56,584	30,993	38,938	118,815	173,307	236,263
Indianapolis	80,617	46,569	44,834	163,697	179,626	214,288
San Antonio	66,229	45,746	50,367	126,287	167,614	202,271
Norfolk	77,724	50,262	50,009	147,293	170,586	191,713
Las Vegas	38,121	25,839	52,766	75,345	129,800	233,733
Columbus	76,141	46,034	46,043	160,258	173,080	212,774
Charlotte	55,044	38,132	37,877	109,273	133,933	186,381
New Orleans	125,038	84,962	77,462	169,464	174,478	195,432
Salt Lake City	36,575	21,096	24,860	88,160	102,370	121,257
Greensboro	56,090	36,432	35,707	105,901	123,975	159,797
Austin	40,071	23,352	28,048	75,607	124,374	168,160
Nashville	48,170	31,043	31,345	101,569	121,005	157,625
Providence	72,552	48,802	52,755	125,064	148,765	167,821
Raleigh	38,571	26,881	29,254	78,526	107,882	150,826
Hartford	57,698	45,128	44,777	131,580	135,625	152,303
Buffalo	103,479	75,282	67,219	187,121	171,729	179,320
Memphis	68,291	48,400	44,073	114,990	127,408	156,601
West Palm Beach	83,642	29,875	37,659	111,499	161,277	209,426
Jacksonville	60,271	32,792	32,606	99,078	122,538	154,319
Rochester	67,502	43,444	41,819	144,051	134,403	147,077
Grand Rapids	42,675	23,658	24,206	101,200	104,864	124,259
Oklahoma City	52,172	25,128	28,278	108,202	128,427	153,880
Louisville	62,653	42,460	39,079	116,507	120,819	142,898
All areas	10,250,041	6,984,012	7,265,312	16,419,068	17,731,690	20,836,634

MSA	2 Vehicle Households			3+ Vehicle Households
	1980	1990	2000	1980	1990	2000
New York	1,687,924	1,936,053	2,162,171	626,768	869,289	850,378
Los Angeles	1,355,443	1,835,083	1,987,151	838,323	979,270	958,264
Chicago	886,782	1,033,599	1,203,511	308,648	397,579	455,970
Washington, DC	690,643	914,002	1,061,279	308,938	442,646	492,460
San Francisco	666,773	853,276	953,053	398,667	479,738	508,623
Philadelphia	616,995	750,380	838,550	234,168	285,742	300,226
Boston	587,359	742,105	855,329	208,420	286,280	295,398
Detroit	662,989	720,534	825,177	313,480	335,656	351,582
Dallas	410,879	628,964	809,893	252,667	257,588	303,124
Houston	408,472	537,950	670,166	226,395	194,292	243,759
Atlanta	286,166	439,390	625,438	165,013	236,663	290,445
Miami	309,337	412,991	502,341	116,079	152,385	168,705
Seattle	312,042	451,179	545,646	209,955	254,223	283,993
Phoenix	196,556	329,710	476,459	125,350	123,720	171,285
Minneapolis	287,140	398,387	485,428	141,473	175,372	200,150
Cleveland	376,585	403,092	448,177	159,298	181,736	188,501
San Diego	221,374	343,476	391,670	141,779	170,942	176,529
St. Louis	316,189	369,001	402,654	135,108	156,093	170,233
Denver	230,102	306,092	404,028	156,263	159,559	199,943
Tampa	194,192	303,924	372,603	77,455	100,330	108,844
Pittsburgh	295,460	325,816	356,954	104,189	116,183	126,913
Portland	203,345	273,528	347,046	129,885	135,595	164,172
Cincinnati	219,641	261,301	301,232	101,508	125,323	144,777
Sacramento	141,501	219,222	262,681	96,714	113,124	121,088
Kansas City	198,946	247,916	288,323	100,959	107,376	122,739
Milwaukee	194,731	226,481	253,671	73,460	90,538	95,661
Orlando	103,958	189,243	259,472	47,880	71,732	90,575
Indianapolis	178,470	210,028	257,867	81,896	93,591	112,666
San Antonio	122,832	173,590	220,317	69,666	71,552	86,991
Norfolk	145,624	204,720	231,532	60,058	85,568	104,405
Las Vegas	67,058	122,157	223,084	43,193	52,694	78,788
Columbus	163,143	205,491	248,031	71,889	88,893	103,909
Charlotte	131,169	174,108	241,354	68,581	94,497	109,681
New Orleans	144,109	159,112	175,864	55,799	51,271	56,821
Salt Lake City	104,304	146,243	180,480	77,600	77,822	105,443
Greensboro	128,800	159,053	195,901	76,563	95,333	107,346
Austin	76,653	130,764	201,865	44,322	47,505	73,782
Nashville	111,654	153,180	198,452	58,514	70,603	92,147
Providence	102,563	159,222	176,050	39,595	70,480	65,438
Raleigh	89,003	133,225	193,465	46,355	66,518	87,552
Hartford	139,853	173,470	186,726	60,811	80,907	73,601
Buffalo	136,917	156,952	168,285	46,730	57,840	53,895
Memphis	107,644	134,363	159,588	49,306	55,279	63,940
West Palm Beach	71,960	133,938	181,457	28,563	40,468	45,633
Jacksonville	89,139	136,736	176,857	39,081	51,460	61,802
Rochester	127,706	154,888	169,238	47,864	63,354	61,939
Grand Rapids	111,131	142,750	172,664	54,341	62,639	74,918
Oklahoma City	118,991	150,633	171,530	72,956	63,587	71,076
Louisville	124,927	139,436	160,693	57,309	63,649	69,380
All areas	14,655,174	18,906,754	22,381,403	7,049,834	8,504,484	9,345,490

Exhibit 5.5 Average Vehicles Available in Households: 1990-2000

MSA	1990	2000
New York	1.28	1.26
Los Angeles	1.77	1.71
Chicago	1.50	1.56
Washington, DC	1.66	1.66
San Francisco	1.76	1.76
Philadelphia	1.49	1.51
Boston	1.57	1.58
Detroit	1.68	1.71
Dallas	1.75	1.74
Houston	1.65	1.68
Atlanta	1.83	1.80
Miami	1.50	1.51
Seattle	1.85	1.81
Phoenix	1.66	1.67
Minneapolis	1.76	1.77
Cleveland	1.64	1.67
San Diego	1.78	1.75
St. Louis	1.68	1.71
Denver	1.80	1.81
Tampa	1.52	1.54
Pittsburgh	1.47	1.55
Portland	1.78	1.78
Cincinnati	1.72	1.75
Sacramento	1.80	1.75
Kansas City	1.73	1.76
Milwaukee	1.60	1.61
Orlando	1.70	1.69
Indianapolis	1.73	1.77
San Antonio	1.64	1.67
Norfolk	1.69	1.74
Las Vegas	1.67	1.61
Columbus	1.72	1.74
Charlotte	1.82	1.80
New Orleans	1.41	1.45
Salt Lake City	1.90	1.97
Greensboro	1.85	1.84
Austin	1.67	1.73
Nashville	1.77	1.80
Providence	1.66	1.60
Raleigh	1.79	1.80
Hartford	1.74	1.69
Buffalo	1.48	1.48
Memphis	1.58	1.63
West Palm Beach	1.54	1.52
Jacksonville	1.65	1.68
Rochester	1.66	1.65
Grand Rapids	1.80	1.84
Oklahoma City	1.74	1.73
Louisville	1.68	1.69

Exhibit 5.6 Vehicle Ownership in Central County: 2000

MSA	Total Households	Percent of Total Households
		No Vehicle	1 Vehicle	2 Vehicles	3 or more
New York	738,644	77.5	20.2	1.8	0.5
Los Angeles	3,133,774	12.6	37.0	34.5	16.0
Chicago	1,974,181	19.1	40.4	30.3	10.2
Washington, DC	248,338	36.9	43.5	15.5	4.1
San Francisco	329,700	28.6	42.0	22.1	7.3
Philadelphia	590,071	35.7	42.0	18.0	4.2
Boston	278,722	33.2	44.7	17.7	4.4
Detroit	768,440	13.8	39.0	34.0	13.2
Dallas	807,621	8.1	40.3	38.1	13.6
Houston	1,205,516	8.7	38.9	38.8	13.6
Atlanta	321,242	15.2	38.2	34.0	12.6
Miami	776,774	14.3	38.8	33.9	13.0
Seattle	710,916	9.3	35.4	37.5	17.8
Phoenix	1,132,886	7.0	38.7	40.1	14.3
Minneapolis	456,129	10.7	36.5	39.2	13.6
Cleveland	571,457	13.7	40.0	34.5	11.8
San Diego	994,677	8.0	34.8	39.4	17.7
St. Louis	147,076	25.2	45.8	22.6	6.5
Denver	239,235	13.9	43.1	31.5	11.5
Tampa	391,357	8.1	39.9	39.7	12.3
Pittsburgh	537,150	16.2	39.4	34.3	10.0
Portland	272,098	12.7	38.4	35.2	13.7
Cincinnati	346,790	13.5	36.9	34.8	14.8
Sacramento	453,602	8.7	37.1	38.2	16.0
Kansas City	266,294	10.8	38.3	36.8	14.1
Milwaukee	377,729	16.3	41.5	32.4	9.8
Orlando	336,286	7.3	37.7	41.3	13.7
Indianapolis	352,164	9.7	40.0	36.8	13.6
San Antonio	488,942	9.6	37.2	38.6	14.6
Norfolk	86,210	17.0	41.4	31.0	10.6
Las Vegas	512,253	9.5	40.2	37.6	12.7
Columbus	438,778	8.6	38.4	39.2	13.8
Charlotte	273,416	6.9	36.2	42.0	14.9
New Orleans	188,251	27.3	42.3	24.2	6.2
Salt Lake City	295,141	6.3	29.4	41.3	23.0
Greensboro	168,667	7.8	34.9	39.2	18.1
Austin	320,766	6.8	39.3	40.3	13.5
Nashville	237,405	8.7	40.5	36.9	13.8
Providence	239,936	14.1	39.0	34.7	12.2
Raleigh	242,040	4.9	32.1	44.7	18.4
Hartford	335,098	11.2	34.7	39.5	14.5
Buffalo	380,873	15.1	38.6	35.3	11.0
Memphis	338,366	11.2	38.6	36.3	13.9
West Palm Beach	474,175	7.9	44.2	38.3	9.6
Jacksonville	303,747	9.1	38.4	39.5	13.0
Rochester	286,512	11.5	36.2	39.3	13.0
Grand Rapids	212,890	7.0	33.7	42.5	16.8
Oklahoma City	266,834	7.8	39.7	38.4	14.0
Louisville	287,012	11.3	37.5	37.7	13.5

Exhibit 5.7 Vehicle Ownership in Suburban Counties: 2000

MSA	Total Households	Percent of Total Households
		No Vehicle	1 Vehicle	2 Vehicles	3 or more
New York	6,996,620	23.5	33.7	30.7	12.1
Los Angeles	2,213,333	6.5	31.9	41.0	20.6
Chicago	1,328,030	5.5	29.7	45.6	19.2
Washington, DC	2,623,523	9.6	33.0	39.0	18.4
San Francisco	2,227,458	7.1	31.6	39.5	21.8
Philadelphia	1,730,648	8.3	33.4	42.3	15.9
Boston	1,941,806	9.3	34.6	41.5	14.6
Detroit	1,313,357	5.8	32.3	42.9	19.1
Dallas	1,099,143	4.6	32.1	45.7	17.6
Houston	433,885	5.2	29.7	46.7	18.4
Atlanta	1,183,629	5.2	30.1	43.6	21.1
Miami	654,445	9.4	43.7	36.5	10.4
Seattle	681,477	6.1	29.9	40.9	23.1
Phoenix	61,364	6.6	41.0	36.5	15.8
Minneapolis	680,486	6.3	28.4	45.0	20.3
Cleveland	595,342	6.6	30.9	42.1	20.4
San Diego	0
St. Louis	865,343	6.3	32.4	42.7	18.6
Denver	763,983	4.9	29.5	43.0	22.6
Tampa	617,959	8.1	46.9	35.1	9.8
Pittsburgh	429,350	8.8	33.9	40.3	17.0
Portland	594,377	5.7	30.7	42.3	21.4
Cincinnati	421,340	6.4	28.6	42.9	22.2
Sacramento	211,696	5.8	29.1	42.2	22.9
Kansas City	428,174	5.1	30.6	44.4	19.9
Milwaukee	280,747	5.1	27.3	46.8	20.8
Orlando	288,962	5.0	37.9	41.8	15.4
Indianapolis	277,491	3.9	26.5	46.2	23.4
San Antonio	71,004	4.8	28.4	44.7	22.0
Norfolk	491,449	7.2	31.7	41.7	19.4
Las Vegas	76,118	5.4	36.3	40.1	18.2
Columbus	171,979	4.9	25.7	44.3	25.1
Charlotte	301,877	6.3	28.9	41.9	22.9
New Orleans	317,328	8.2	36.5	41.1	14.2
Salt Lake City	136,899	4.6	25.1	42.9	27.4
Greensboro	330,084	6.8	30.6	39.3	23.3
Austin	151,089	4.1	27.9	48.0	20.1
Nashville	242,164	4.4	25.4	45.7	24.5
Providence	222,128	8.5	33.4	41.8	16.3
Raleigh	219,057	8.0	33.4	39.0	19.7
Hartford	122,309	5.9	29.4	44.4	20.3
Buffalo	87,846	11.1	36.8	38.6	13.5
Memphis	85,836	7.1	30.1	43.0	19.8
West Palm Beach	0
Jacksonville	121,837	4.1	31.0	46.6	18.3
Rochester	133,561	6.7	32.4	42.5	18.4
Grand Rapids	183,157	5.0	28.7	44.9	21.4
Oklahoma City	157,930	4.7	30.3	43.7	21.3
Louisville	125,038	5.3	28.2	42.0	24.5

Exhibit 5.8 Change in Percent of Households by Vehicle Availability: 1990-2000

Name of MSA	Central County				Suburban Counties
	0 VEH	1 VEH	2 VEH	3+ VEH	0 VEH	1 VEH	2 VEH	3+ VEH
New York	-0.4	0.0	0.1	0.2	0.0	0.6	0.8	-1.4
Los Angeles	1.4	1.2	-0.5	-2.1	1.1	1.5	-0.4	-2.2
Chicago	-3.1	1.7	1.2	0.2	-0.8	-0.1	0.9	-0.1
Washington, DC	-0.5	2.2	-1.0	-0.7	-0.9	1.7	0.0	-0.8
San Francisco	-2.1	0.4	1.1	0.7	-0.2	0.6	0.5	-0.9
Philadelphia	-2.4	1.5	0.4	0.4	-0.6	0.6	0.9	-1.0
Boston	-3.3	2.7	0.6	0.0	-1.1	0.2	1.9	-1.0
Detroit	-6.2	3.3	2.9	-0.1	-0.7	1.2	0.8	-1.4
Dallas	-0.1	2.0	-0.5	-1.4	-0.2	0.2	1.3	-1.3
Houston	-0.2	0.1	-0.1	0.2	-1.1	-1.3	2.2	0.2
Atlanta	-4.2	2.8	3.3	-1.9	-0.5	1.9	1.0	-2.5
Miami	-1.7	1.6	0.7	-0.6	-1.0	-0.2	1.8	-0.6
Seattle	0.3	2.6	-0.4	-2.5	0.0	0.2	0.6	-0.8
Phoenix	-0.2	-0.6	1.0	-0.3	-1.8	2.2	0.3	-0.8
Minneapolis	-1.1	2.4	0.1	-1.4	-0.5	-0.6	1.7	-0.5
Cleveland	-3.2	2.4	1.3	-0.5	-0.9	0.2	1.5	-0.8
San Diego	0.1	0.7	0.7	-1.5
St. Louis	-4.0	2.8	0.8	0.4	-0.6	1.0	-0.2	-0.2
Denver	-2.2	0.7	1.6	-0.2	0.3	-0.1	0.7	-0.9
Tampa	-0.6	1.4	0.6	-1.4	-1.3	-1.0	2.7	-0.4
Pittsburgh	-3.1	0.5	2.7	0.0	-2.7	-1.2	2.2	1.8
Portland	-1.0	1.1	0.1	-0.3	0.0	1.0	0.3	-1.3
Cincinnati	-2.0	2.3	-0.3	0.0	-1.2	0.1	1.0	0.1
Sacramento	0.3	2.5	-0.6	-2.2	0.0	1.2	1.5	-2.7
Kansas City	-1.9	1.5	0.7	-0.4	-0.6	0.2	0.4	0.0
Milwaukee	-2.2	2.7	-0.1	-0.3	0.0	1.5	0.7	-2.2
Orlando	-0.2	0.8	0.4	-1.0	-0.7	0.2	1.4	-0.8
Indianapolis	-1.5	1.4	-0.3	0.4	-1.3	-0.3	2.7	-1.0
San Antonio	-0.8	-0.1	1.2	-0.3	-1.6	-2.0	3.2	0.5
Norfolk	-0.7	-0.2	0.3	0.6	-1.0	0.1	-0.4	1.2
Las Vegas	1.2	0.3	1.2	-2.7	0.8	1.1	-0.7	-1.3
Columbus	-1.6	2.4	0.1	-0.9	-0.8	-1.4	1.6	0.5
Charlotte	-2.0	2.8	1.9	-2.7	-2.1	1.1	2.9	-1.8
New Orleans	-4.2	2.6	1.6	0.0	-0.9	1.1	-0.3	0.2
Salt Lake City	-0.4	-1.7	0.1	2.1	0.0	-0.4	-1.3	1.8
Greensboro	-1.8	3.0	0.8	-2.0	-1.5	1.7	1.0	-1.2
Austin	-1.0	-1.8	1.8	0.9	-1.5	-3.0	3.8	0.7
Nashville	-1.7	2.6	-0.6	-0.3	-1.2	0.2	1.0	0.0
Providence	0.6	1.6	0.0	-2.3	-0.6	1.5	1.6	-2.5
Raleigh	-1.4	0.4	2.5	-1.4	-1.8	0.6	1.4	-0.3
Hartford	-0.7	2.3	1.0	-2.6	0.0	1.9	0.6	-2.5
Buffalo	-1.9	1.4	1.7	-1.1	-2.0	-0.3	3.0	-0.7
Memphis	-2.7	2.6	0.1	-0.1	-3.0	1.2	3.1	-1.2
West Palm Beach	-0.2	0.0	1.6	-1.4
Jacksonville	-1.8	1.4	1.0	-0.5	-1.4	-0.7	3.1	-1.1
Rochester	-1.2	1.6	1.3	-1.7	-0.4	-0.1	0.9	-0.4
Grand Rapids	-0.9	0.7	0.2	0.1	-1.0	-0.8	1.6	0.1
Oklahoma City	0.0	2.1	-1.2	-0.9	-0.4	0.3	0.3	-0.2
Louisville	-2.1	2.4	1.0	-1.3	-1.5	0.7	0.4	0.4