COMPASS II-2.0 Transportation Key Findings
Public Transportation Just over half of residents surveyed agreed that their community has ample transportation options. 44% of residents and 45% of key informants indicated that inadequate public transportation was a critical problem in the county. Comments from household survey respondents identified a lack of sufficient routes to areas outside of Ithaca and problems with frequency of routes.
53% of residents and 36% of key informants indicated that poor road and/or traffic conditions are a critical problem in their community. Most comments focused on potholes. 
TCAT (Tompkins County Area Transit) has seen a consistent increase in ridership since 2002; however, due to the wide area and distance between rural and urban areas in the county, creating an effective public transportation system is challenging. In 2009, TCAT engaged in a comprehensive survey and public input process to revise routes for optimal ridership.
Transportation Energy Costs 54% of residents and 48% of key informants said that transportation energy costs were a critical problem in the county. Significantly more rural residents (58.6%) than urban residents (46.9%) said transportation energy costs were a critical problem in the community. Comments centered on gas prices in Ithaca being much higher than in surrounding cities.
| 14.6% of employed respondents indicated a critical problem with a lack of adequate public transportation for self or others in household. |
Lack of Adequate Transportation in Household
15% of residents identified a lack of adequate transportation in their households as a critical problem. 15% of employed respondents said that a lack of adequate transportation was a critical problem. 41% of disabled respondents and 50% of students viewed the lack of adequate transportation a critical problem.
Assets
| Between 2000 and 2007, the largest increase in ways Tompkins County workers journey to work was by public transportation and bicycle, with decreases in driving alone and carpooling. However, driving alone still remains the largest portion of total workers. Source: Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council, Census |
The Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council (ITCTC) is the local coordinator of transportation issues and provides planning and federal fund management for transportation needs in the county. The ITCTC has the goal of expanding transportation options in the county. Tompkins County has committed to reducing greenhouse gasses by 2% from the 2008 level for each year until 2050. The ITCTC has identified the need to reduce the number of drive-alone vehicles by 25-40% to meet those goals.
While the number of households with no vehicles increased by 31% between 2000 and 2007, the number of vehicle registrations in the county has continued to steadily increase and driving alone continues to be the transportation choice of the largest portion of total workers. Tompkins County has several other transportation options available beyond TCAT, including the new Way2Go Program which offers support in overcoming transportation barriers by offering comprehensive information on a variety of transportation options. Gadabout provides door-to-door transportation services for elderly and persons with disabilities in the county.
 ridership increased by 9.0% between 2002 and 2008 |
Ithaca Carshare provides members with hourly, 24/7 access to cars parked conveniently near neighborhoods and workplaces.
Resources
ITC - Transportation Council
Gadabout
TCAT
Way2Go
Ithaca Car Share
Cornell RideBoard
