As part of its ever-expanding social media outreach efforts, the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities (MOTU) released the last of its three-part, “Tidbit Tuesday” series on Center City commuting patterns this week.  The series, which ran on MOTU’s blog, used colorful maps to show where workers who commute by car, bus or van versus public transit and biking or walking live. 

According to the maps, 60 percent of Philadelphia commuters drive a car, bus or van to work. Twenty-six percent take public transit, and a measly 10 percent of residents bike or walk to work.

MOTU’s senior planner/analyst Ariel Ben-Amos said these numbers are not surprising, but the maps provided an opportunity for MOTU to share visually appealing infographics and help people understand what kind of data MOTU reviews. 

“Data can tell you some really exciting things,” Ben-Amos said. 

Part of the idea is to promote the importance of data in everyday life and city planning. 

Each of the commuter percentages is an average, and the maps show how commuting patterns across the city vary. For instance, in the Northeast, the majority of workers commute by automobile. Car commuting levels are lower in the Central, Lower North and University/South West districts. 

The highest percentages of public transit commuters live in the North, Lower North and West districts, and the highest percentages of walking and bicycling commuters live in the Central District and University City.

The maps are based on data from the 2007-2011 American Community Survey.