r/dataisbeautiful • u/TA-MajestyPalm • 4d ago

OC [OC] Post-Pandemic Population Growth Trends, by US Metro Area (2022->2024)

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Graphic by me, created in Excel. All data from US Census here: https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-metro-and-micro-statistical-areas.html

I've created similar graphics in the past, but usually from 2020-2024. This is not the best time frame as it combines the abnormal covid years with post pandemic movement.

This time frame (2022-2024) shows the most current and ongoing population trends of the last 2 years.

I also wanted to better categorize the cities into broad cultural regions vs the arbitrary geographic census regions.

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u/AskMeAboutOkapis 3d ago

Another fun fact: traffic speeds will generally decrease until they reach the speed of the next fastest alternative. And if there is no viable alternative or the alternative is also stuck in the same traffic, they will just keep getting slower and slower.

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u/scoofy 3d ago

I mean, the irony is that a single lane of highway converted to BRT would mostly solve these problems. The main issue is that the development pattern of automobiles is effectively at odds with high density transit. So unless you're going to rebuild your urban core, and build a BRT station in the center of a residential neighborhood, it's just not going to happen.

Path dependency in democratic systems is an absolute self-own most of the time.

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u/AskMeAboutOkapis 3d ago

I've long thought creating a bunch of bus lanes would be the cheapest way to make transit more reliable and improve traffic. But buses are boring compared to trains and people don't like to see empty lanes next to them during traffic even if that lane is carrying more people. Some cities are doing it though.

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u/Illiander 3d ago

Buses just aren't as effective as trains is the thing. Mostly because they inevitably get forced to use the same roads as cars, which makes them get stuck in traffic.

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u/Cleromanticon 3d ago

Where I live, Republicans literally made light rail illegal so buses are what we’ve got to work with.

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u/AskMeAboutOkapis 3d ago

I'm not anti-trains at all, I love trains and ideally they would form the core part of all cities public transit networks with bus lines branching out from there. However in North America they have been very expensive and time consuming to build. In the long term they are absolutely worthwhile investments (especially if we can figure out how to build them for less like every other part of the world). But in the short term, building dedicated bus lanes is cheap and fast and can help solve problems that are happening right now.

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u/UnintensifiedFa 19h ago

The thing about buses is that they’re easy. Don’t require dedicated stations, can go anywhere in a city, and you can cordon off bus lanes pretty easy.

I would love a train network that’s sprawling and elaborate and can go where I need, but you’ve gotta start somewhere and buses sound great with all the traffic.

Plus buses and trains can work together quite nicely for long/short distance interchange.