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STOPS – Data from the Census

Purpose

STOPS uses two kinds of data from the Census. First, it uses 2012-2016 American Community Survey (ACS) Journey-to-Work data that tabulate worker flows and transit shares from the period. STOPS updates both the flows and the shares to account for demographic growth and for changes in transit utilization that have occurred between this period and the analysis year. Second, STOPS uses 2010 census-block boundary files to compute a measure of current development density and pedestrian friendliness for the various locations within a metropolitan area.

Relationship to Other Required Data

The ACS data is tabulated to Census TAZs that are not consistent with the TAZs currently used by the MPO for the demographic data and highway travel impedances also required for STOPS applications. These inconsistencies are acceptable because STOPS automatically associates the various data sources with an internal overlay procedure.

Getting the Data

FTA has assembled the required 2012-2016 ACS data items into state-level zipped files for you to download. The file for each state includes (1) CTPP Parts I, II, and III plus boundary files that define the geography of the CTPP tabulations; and (2) boundary files that define the census blocks. To get the file for any state, use the menu below to select the state and then download its zipped file. If your metropolitan area spans more than one state, you need to download the file for each of the relevant states. Note that this information is available for all 50 states and the District of Columbia but not for Puerto Rico or the other U.S. territories.  The links below download the most recently available ACS data (2012-2016 series). FTA also has earlier Journey-to-Work data from 2000 CTPP and the 2006-2010 ACS data. To obtain these older Journey-to-Work files, please contact Jeff Roux at Jeffrey.roux@dot.gov or (202) 366-1806.

Last updated: Tuesday, October 1, 2024