Three quarters of respondents to a federal survey cited the importance of reliable local bus, rail, or ferry transportation accessible without driving, according to a study released by DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration.

The report, Public Perceptions on Transportation Characteristics of Livable Communities, presents the findings of the 2009 BTS Omnibus Household Survey, asking participants the importance of different transportation features for their communities. While the survey results show major roads or highways as the most important of eight characteristics, supported by 94 percent of respondents, more than two-thirds of respondents gave their support to reliable long-distance bus or rail transportation, bike lanes, and local transit. BTS surveyed about 1,000 households for this report, split fairly evenly among urban, suburban, and rural residents.
 “The importance placed on the various transportation characteristics by community type seems to reflect what residents of those communities perceive are needed, but that may not be available,” the report states. For example, rural and suburban residents expressed a greater interest than urban residents in amenities that may already exist in urban areas, such as sidewalks, bike lanes, local transit, and long-distance transportation.
 More information is available here.