Morrisville Public Transportation Study

Needs Assessment

Travel Patterns Public transportation service is only effective if it takes people to the places they want to go. In general, public transportation users are interested in accessing the same destinations as all other travelers. As part of understanding the overall need for service, the study team analyzed major travel patterns in the study area, across modes. This information was used to ensure that potential service is matched with overall regional travel patterns and is designed to take people where they want to go. Looking at how people travel for work is particularly important for public transportation because many trips are made during peak travel times when people are traveling to and from work. However, this study also aims to evaluate the need for non-work-based transportation within our community. As a result, travel patterns for work trips as well as all trip types are illustrated throughout this section. The travel flow maps in this section were created using data from three sources: the US Census Bureau, the CAMPO regional travel demand model, and GPS-based location data from StreetLight Data, a private company. Because each data set uses a different methodology and comes from a different source, the size and design of the analysis zones vary between the maps. Using data from different sources and at different geographies provides different ways of looking at how people travel within Morrisville, and makes common themes about travel within Morrisville more striking. US Census (Work Trips Only) The US Census Bureau produces Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) data, which identifies the geographies where people live and work and is used to determine their general commute patterns. This data was used to illustrate work trips made between Morrisville and places within the region, as well as work trips made within the Town of Morrisville. Data was analyzed at the block group level, which is defined by the US Census. Regional Commute Trips Morrisville’s central location and concentration of jobs lead to major flows of people between Morrisville and surrounding places (see Figure 10). More people traveled to Morrisville for work than left the community for work 1 . The largest share of people commuting into Morrisville is from Raleigh, generating over 5,000 daily trips. Significant volumes of commuters also come from Cary and Durham. The largest commuter travel flow out of Morrisville is to Raleigh. Local Commute Trips Work trips made within Morrisville are made between the residential communities west of NC 54 and the employment centers east of NC 54. Bidirectional trips between zones (Census Block Groups) are illustrated in Figure 11. Additionally, many local trips begin or end in the central part of Morrisville, between Davis Drive and NC 54.

1 Census Bureau, OntheMap 2017

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