According to the Detroit Area Study (DAS) (R. Marans, see this
link for a sample), public transportation use in the Detroit
area has been declining. DAS data from 2001 shows that only 8.3
percent of commuters choose bus as their travel mode whereas
69.1 percent of people are driving single occupant cars.
Furthermore, 63.1 percent of respondents to the DAS answered
that they never use the bus. Frequent users, including daily
users and people taking a bus at least once a week, composed
about ten percent of the sample. Previous studies indicate that
there are relationships among environmental factors,
psychological factors, and transportation use (Bamberg,
Sebastian and Peter Schmidt, "The impact of general attitude on
decisions" Rationality and Society, Thousand Oaks, Feb 1999).
GIS data collected in 2000 by SEMCOG (Southeast Michigan Council
of Governments) enable one to gauge the condition of bus stops
in Detroit. Bus stop condition will be considered one of
indicators that represents the environmental condit