Hawaii nation's No. 1 in carpooling | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Hawaii nation's No. 1 in carpooling | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

Posted on: Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Hawaii nation's No. 1 in carpooling

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By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

NATIONAL TRENDS IN CENSUS DATA

The Census data released today show several national trends:

Marriage: Almost three-quarters of men and almost two-thirds of women in their 20s in 2006 said they had never been married, according to Census data released today that show a sharp increase in never-married twentysomethings in just six years.

Among men ages 20-29, 73 percent said they had never been married in 2006, compared with 64 percent in 2000. For women, 62.2 percent had never married in 2006, compared with 53.4 percent six years earlier.

"These clearly are quite dramatic changes by demographic standards," says demographer Peter Morrison of the nonprofit RAND Corp., which studies public policy issues. "The amount of change in six years is quite substantial. It's impressive in terms of the degree to which the institution of marriage is evolving. There clearly is a process of social evolution occurring here, and one can speculate about where it will end."

Housing: Thirty-seven percent of U.S. homeowners with mortgages are spending 30 percent or more of their before-tax income on housing — the threshold where the government says a home becomes unaffordable.

This compares with 27 percent in 2000, before the real estate boom drove the nation's median home price up more than 50 percent.

For some, the financial burden is far worse: 14 percent of homeowners with mortgages — more than 7 million households — shell out at least half their gross monthly income to cover their home loan, property taxes, insurance and utilities, up from 10 percent in 2000.

Education: Colleges and universities these days are seeing a surge in enrollment — and it's increasingly driven by young women.

While the number of both male and female students rose between 2000 and 2006, the survey found, women outpaced men in both undergraduate and graduate programs. In that period, the nation's undergraduate enrollment swelled by nearly 2.7 million students, 18.7 percent, but the percentage who were male fell 1.2 percentage points, to 44 percent.

Women in 2006 made up 56 percent of undergrads, up from 54.8 percent in 2000. The U.S. Education Department reported that women last spring earned an estimated 58.5 percent of bachelor's degrees, up from 57.2 percent in 2000.

Immigration: Nearly one in five people living in the United States speaks a language at home other than English.

The number of immigrants nationwide reached an all-time high of 37.5 million in 2006. But the effects have not been uniform.

In most states, immigrants have added to the number of those lacking a high school diploma, with almost half of those from Latin America falling into that category.

However, at the other end of the education spectrum, Asian immigrants are raising average education levels in many states, with nearly half of them holding at least a bachelor's degree.

It may not be any consolation to Hawai'i residents, but the average commute time to work here each morning of 25.5 minutes isn't the longest in the nation.

The latest U.S. Census figures for 2006 were released today and showed that Hawai'i commuters had the 12th longest mean travel time in the country. The 25.5-minute drive time was actually a slight decrease from the 25.7 minutes commuters spent driving to work in 2005 when Hawai'i was ranked 11th.

The national mean travel time was 25 minutes in 2006, according to the Census Bureau.

The state did retain its top ranking in the number of people who shared a ride to work. Last year, 16 percent of workers over 16 years old took part in a carpool, truckpool or vanpool, up slightly from 15.6 percent in 2005. Nationally, 10.7 percent in this age group carpooled.

Also, Hawai'i ranked low (49th) when it came to the percentage of workers who drove to work alone. Sixty-seven percent said they were the only occupant, compared with the national average of 76 percent, according to the Census Bureau.

An expert on carpooling said these figures come as no surprise as Hawai'i residents continue to search for relief in their daily commute to work. Vicki Harris, executive director of Vanpool Hawai'i, said more people are taking part in the state-run program, as well as forming their own carpools.

"It's kind of the new frontier in transportation," Harris said. "It's the least expensive and easiest to do. Here, we take a very informal kind of relaxed approach to things, so it would make sense."

The program began 13 years ago and has grown each year, she said. Nearly 2,000 people are enrolled with Vanpool Hawai'i, which has a fleet of 250 vans.

Hawai'i also kept its No. 7 ranking in the percentage of workers who took public transportation in 2006.

The Census Bureau reported that 5.4 percent used public transportation, compared with the national average of 4.8 percent. In 2005, 5.7 percent of Hawai'i residents relied on public transportation.

Dustin Yamamoto, 21, used to drive from his home in Kapolei to Hawai'i Pacific University each day. He said parking alone would cost him about $5 a day and he decided it was more economical to buy a special $102 city bus pass good for the entire semester.

Yamamoto said he gets to school faster on the bus because it uses the Zipper Lane, which he wasn't allowed to use because he drove alone. He also said he's able to do his homework, or take a nap, on the bus.

"I had a big prejudice against the bus and I never wanted to catch it because it's kind of dirty and I don't like waiting for the bus," Yamamoto said. "But I just realized it was easier to get on the bus and it saves lot of money and time."

The transportation statistics were just of a few of the data released today on key social, economic and housing characteristics in the country. The statistics were compiled by the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, which provides more timely and updated population information annually.

Eugene Tian, a research and statistics officer with the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tour-ism, said there were no real surprises in the 2006 data. Tian, who analyzed the information for the state, said Hawai'i maintained its standing in most of the important categories.

Among the highlights, Tian said, Hawai'i's population continues to be older than the national average, while residents earn more money but spend more money on housing.

"By looking at the data, I didn't see anything very significant," Tian said. "We're pretty much on the trend and it's still the same situation as before."

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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