Monitoring State-Level Changes in Walking, Biking, and Taking Public Transit to Work — American Community Survey, 2006 and 2017

INTRODUCTION: Active commuting to work is one way people can be physically active and can be influenced by state-level initiatives. The American Community Survey (ACS) is a potential data source to evaluate changes in active commuting at the state level, but state-level changes have not been well documented. We examined state-level changes in estimates of walking, biking, and taking transit to work (combined and separately) among employed persons between 2006 and 2017. METHODS: Data were from the ACS, a nationally representative annual household survey from the US Census Bureau. We estimated state-level prevalence of walking, bicycling, or taking transit to work (separately and in combination) in 2006 and 2017 and tested differences by year. RESULTS: The prevalence of active commuting to work varied widely among states (2017 range: 1.7% in Alabama and Mississippi to 35.0% in New York). Changes from 2006 to 2017 also varied, with 8 states exhibiting a significant increase (Massachusetts [2.7 percentage points], New York [2.2], Hawaii [1.6], Illinois [1.3], Washington [1.3], New Jersey [1.2], Virginia [0.9], and Michigan [0.4]), and 12 exhibiting a significant decrease (South Dakota [−1.9], Idaho [−1.3], New Hampshire [−1.3], Wisconsin [−1.1], Maryland [−1.0], Nevada [−0.9], Ohio [−0.8], Mississippi [−0.6], Texas [−0.6], Florida [−0.5], Georgia [−0.4], and Indiana [−0.4]). The contributions of walking, bicycling, and taking transit also varied by state. CONCLUSION: Active commuting remains relatively rare across states. States pursuing initiatives to support active transportation may consider using ACS to monitor and evaluate changes in active commuting.