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Transportation Data

Journey to Work

Journey to Work information is compiled by the U. S. Census Bureau for use during the transportation planning process. 1990 and 2000 data derives from the long form questionnaire formerly administered during the decennial Census of Population. Data for years since 2000 derives from data collected as part of the ongoing American Community Survey.  The Journey to Work tables address questions such as where workers live and how they commute to work. The information also serves a variety of transportation planning related purposes, including use in connection with the implementation of the City's Parking and Transportation Demand Management (PTDM) Ordinance.

Moving Forward Report

The report Moving Forward: Cambridge's Journey to Work 2020, analyses American Community Survey data on commuting, which has been collected in the Census Transportation Planning Package (CTPP) together with Local Employer Households Dynamics (LEHD) data collected as part of the unemployment insurance program. The report summarizes the commuting patterns among three cited groups of workers - the Labor Force, all persons who live in Cambridge and work, the Workforce, all persons who work in Cambridge regardless of place of residence, and the Resident Labor Force, those who both work and live in Cambridge. 

The report is based on data collected into the 2012 - 2016 Census Transportation Planning Products (CTPP) data set, the most recent complete analysis of the national transportation data collected by the U. S. Census Bureau, and the 2017 Local Employer Household Dynamics (LEHD) data set. Comparative information is also provided from the 2000 and 2006 - 2010 Journey to Work data sets. 

• Moving Forward: Cambridge's Journey to Work 2020
• Learn more about CTPP
• Learn more about LEHD

Open Data

Mode split data citywide and for all census tracts is available through the City' Open Data Portal.  Data has ben complied from the journey to work data sets derived from the 1990 and 2000 decennial censuses and from the 2006 - 2010 and 2012 - 2016 American Community Surveys.  Data is available for three groups.  The Labor Force includes all Cambridge residents who work.  The Workforce includes all persons who work in Cambridge, regardless of place of residence.  The Resident Workforce includes all persons who both live and work in Cambridge.

• Labor Force Open Data
• Mode Split
• Demographic Characteristics by Mode
• Workforce Open Data
• Mode Split
• Demographic Characteristics by Mode
• Resident Workforce Open Data
• Mode Split
• Demographic Characteristics by Mode
• Unsure which census tract you want to look up?  Look up the census tract for any address here.

Bicycling

Follow these links for bicycling data for Cambridge:

• Cambridge Bicycle Trends: The page provides a jumping off location to other bicycle-related data sets and analyses.  
• Broadway Eco-Totem Bicycle Counts: The Eco-Totem counts cyclists via in-ground loop detectors.  Data is made available on a continuous basis via a dedicated web page.  You can learn more about the Eco-Totem here and explore different options for viewing the complete data set via Cambridge Open Data.
• Police Department Crash Data on Cambridge Open Data: List of crashes involving motor vehicles, bicycles and/or pedestrians reported in the City of Cambridge since 2015.  More information and analysis about bike crashes can be found here.
• Cambridge GIS Bike Facilities and Bike Racks layers: Cambridge maintain a comprehensive set of GIS data including both on and off street bicycle facilities, such as lanes and paths, and locations of City-installed bike racks.
• Bluebikes System Data: BlueBikes is the Boston region's bike share system.  Cambridge is one of the original sponsors of the network.  Bluebikes makes available both a data feed and comprehensive data sets.  

Cambridge Bicycle Count Data

City of Cambridge undertakes regular citywide bicycle counts. These counts are typically done on weekdays (Tuesday-Thursday) in September, annually between 2002-2006 and every other year since 2008, with an additional count in 2019 due to poor weather in 2018.  There are two ways to view this large collection of data:

• Cambridge Citywide Bicycle Count Data Dashboard: This dashboard allows the user to filter, plot and download data from the entire set of counts.  You can also download a copy of a plot as a PNG graphics file.
• Citywide Bicycle Counts Open Data: This tabular data set provides the data behind the dashboard and is available for export in a variety of formats.

Transit Use

Statistics on transit use are found in the Blue Book, a periodic publication of the MBTA.

• MassDOT Transit Mobility Page: The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) maintains a dashboard webpage with information on the ways that transportation has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• MBTA Data Blog "Back on Track": The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA) blog discusses data and sources, introduces new data sources to the public, and provides detail on the data analysis behind some of the MBTA’s decisions. This blog provides the basics on MBTA data, a detailed look at data sets, and articles with insights and reflections from MBTA staff.
• MBTA Dashboard: The MBTA maintains a website with information on transit reliability, ridership, financials, and customer satisfaction. This website uses a dashboard format, which allows users to view both summary and detailed data.
• MBTA Open Data Portal: The MBTA posts ridership, performance, and service data on an open data portal. The public can explore and download data about all modes offered by the T: rapid transit/subway, bus, commuter rail, ferry, and The RIDE paratransit.
• 2015 - 2017 MBTA Systemwide Passenger Survey (CTPS): Explore and download the results of the 2015-17 MBTA systemwide passenger survey. Compare demographic, travel, and fare payment data across all modes-bus, subway, commuter rail, and ferry-with this interactive tool.
• Park and Ride Dashboard (CTPS): The park-and-ride dashboard visually displays automobile parking for 152 MBTA stations and bicycle parking for every MBTA station, based on data collected by staff of the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization during 2017–18.
• MBTA Blue Book: The T previously previously published periodic summaries of transit related statistics.  These reports known as the Blue Book are available for 2007, 2009, and 2014  through the MBTA Open Data Portal.  The 2010 Blue Book is available through this website.

Vehicle Counts

The Traffic, Parking and Transportation Department publishes a table of average daily vehicle counts taken from various traffic studies.  If you have questions about the data please contact that department at 617/349-4700 or via web form here:

• City of Cambridge Open Data Average Daily Traffic Counts 1972 to 2017

For More Information

For more information about socioeconomic and demographic statistics about Cambridge, please contact Cliff Cook, ccook@cambridgema.gov, Planning Information Manager, at 617/349-4656.