Chart of the Day: Square-Meter-Minutes per Commute Mode

Here’s a fun chart [actually a graph] from the VTPI (via Planetizen) that combines speed with the amount of land required to support the different modes, resulting in the fun unit of measure “square-meter-minutes”:

square meter minutes commute

 

According to the author, the chart reveals that:

Since each car requires road space plus two to six parking spaces (at home, work and other destinations), a car uses more land than most urban residents’ homes. Walking, cycling and public transit require far less space.

Basically, transportation and land use are connected because of these disparate ratios. How we move has strong correlation with the kinds of spaces in which we live and work. A lot of this has to do with parking.

Bill Lindeke

About Bill Lindeke

Pronouns: he/him

Bill Lindeke has writing blogging about sidewalks and cities since 2005, ever since he read Jane Jacobs. He is a lecturer in Urban Studies at the University of Minnesota Geography Department, the Cityscape columnist at Minnpost, and has written multiple books on local urban history. He was born in Minneapolis, but has spent most of his time in St Paul. Check out Twitter @BillLindeke or on Facebook.