TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program has released of ACRP Research Report 204: Air Demand in a Dynamic Competitive Context with the Automobile. The report establishes a new approach to the analysis of future consumer demand for shorter distance air travel in comparison with travel by automobile. According to the report, future demand for shorter-range airline trips is both volatile and unstable, affected by changes in technology as well as consumer preferences. Through application of new research tools that support scenario analysis, the report suggests that evolving automobile technology could diminish demand for shorter-range air trips, both in terms of distance to ultimate destination as well as access to larger airports. Alternatively, changes in aircraft technology could increase demand for short-distance air travel by creating improvements that decrease operating cost of short flights. Most probably, the future will bring changes affected by both emerging trends. The report may help managers of smaller airports develop a better understanding of how consumers choose between flying out of a smaller hometown airport to connect to a larger airport versus a longer automobile drive bypassing the smaller airport, traveling directly to a larger airport.

How people in the United States travel to work is affected by demographic and worker characteristics, the availability of alternative modes of commuting, perceived travel time and the supply and location of jobs. This report explores commuting behavior on both a national and a metropolitan area basis from data drawn from the U.S. Decennial Census. Topics covered in the report include: population characteristics, characteristics of workers, mode choice for the commute trip and vehicle ownership and availability, and the effect on the data of geographic revisions. The thirty year trends from 1960-1990 are observed, as well as the more recent trends over the ten years from 1980-1990. Two levels of analysis are presented. First, national level trends are looked at, followed by an analysis of trends in large metropolitan areas. This report tracks trends in demographics, worker characteristics and journey-to-work commute in the United States and its large Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). The report is based on data from the decennial census published by the U.S. Census Bureau. Chapters 1 and 2 look at the national trends in terms of population and workforce growth, the change in household structure, and outline some regional and state trends. Chapter 3 examines the demographics of the changes in relation to travel, focusing on the trends within the 49 metropolitan areas (not including San Juan, Puerto Rico) that have over 1,000,000 people in residence as reported in the 2000 Census. Chapter 4 examines the changes in place of work, residence location, and travel time. Chapter 5 looks at means of transportation and Chapter 6 looks at vehicle availability. The profile section includes a map of each of the 49 MSAs followed by a detailed profile sheet.