The Harris Poll® #14, February 8, 2006
Americans Would Like to See a Larger Share of Passengers and Freight Going By Rail in Future
Safety and energy efficiency seen as top priorities for future of passenger transportation
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 (1