Americans Would Like to See a Larger Share of Passengers and Freight Going By Rail in Future

As personal travel and freight transportation grows in the future, the American public would like to see an increasing proportion of that traffic going by rail. Commuter and long-distance trains top the list of nine modes of transportation that adults would like to see "have an increasing share of passenger transportation." When it comes to freight, railroads top the list of six modes of transportation that adults would like to see "have an increasing share of all goods and commodities movements in the United States."

These are the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 1,961 U.S. adults conducted online by Harris Interactive^® between December 8 and 14, 2005.

Key findings from this survey include:

• The modes of transportation which the largest numbers of adults would like to see "have an increasing share of passenger transportation" are:
• Commuter trains (44%)
• Long-distance trains (35%)
• Local bus service (23%), and
• Airlines (23%)

• The transportation modes which the smallest numbers of adults would like to see have a bigger share of passenger traffic are:
• Long-distance bus service (6%)
• Pedestrian travel (8%)
• Long-distance travel by car (10%)
• Local travel by car (11%), and
• Travel by bicycle (11%)

• Freight railroads (63%) come far ahead of all other modes that adults would like to see have an increasing share of freight transportation. They are followed by:
• Air freight (35%), and
• Trucks (24%)

• The modes which the smallest numbers of adults would like to see have an increasing share of freight transportation are:
• Inland barges (8%)
• Pipelines (13%), and
• Coastal shipping (17%)

• Of a list of six possible priorities for the future of passenger transportation, the top priorities chosen by the largest number of adults are:
• Safety (47%)
• Energy efficiency (44%), and
• Cost (29%)

This survey also included questions on who should be "mainly responsible for maintaining and improving the transportation system" both, "in your community," and "in the nation as a whole." Overwhelmingly, the public thinks that these are government responsibilities rather than something the private sector should be mainly responsible for. However, the level of government seen as having this responsibility varies greatly for local and national transportation. Specifically:

• State government (36%) and local government (27%) are seen by the largest numbers of adults as having the main responsibility for "maintaining and improving the transportation in your community." Fewer think that the federal government (16%) or private companies (10%) should have this responsibility.
• When it comes to the transportation system "in the nation as a whole," two-thirds (68%) of adults believe this should be a responsibility of the federal government. Relatively few see this as the responsibility of state government (13%), local government (2%) or private companies (8%).

These results show that for most adults, transportation is a "public good" for which government has the primary responsibility. However, that does not mean that they are opposed to the private sector providing much of the actual transportation; only that they believe that government, not the private sector, should make transportation policy.

"In the future, as more people travel, which two of the following would you like to see have an increasing share of all passenger transportation?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Multiple-response question.

"We would now like you to think of another aspect of the nation’s transportation system: freight transportation. As the movement of food, raw materials, manufactured products, imports and exports continue to grow, which of the following would you like to see have an increasing share of all goods and commodities movements in the United States?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Multiple-response question.

"Thinking of the following items, which two do you feel are the highest priority for the future of passenger transportation?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Only the top five priorities are shown.

"Who do you think should be mainly responsible for maintaining and improving the transportation system in your community?"

"Who do you think should be mainly responsible for maintaining and improving the transportation system in the nation as a whole?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

The Harris Poll^® was conducted online within the United States between December 8 and 14, 2005 among 1,961 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the overall results have a sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points of what they would be if the entire U.S. adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and question order, and weighting. It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors. This online sample was not a probability sample.

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Q 715, 725, 730, 735, 740