If you designed a metro/subway for Worcester, MA how would it look?

[22marc]

The census defines Metro areas on the county level exclusively. What you are showing are the urban areas. And by the county definition, yes the original stated numbers are right. Worcester being all of Worcester County (861k), and Providence is every single county in Rhode Island (including Westerly and Block Island), and Bristol County, MA at 1,612k.
Image taken from the census website and shows the official definition of each metro as used by the US census bureau. The link you sent quite clearly defines those numbers as the urban areas NOT metropolitan statistical areas which EastCambridgeDreamer said. Urban and Metro are different things.

 

[Delvin4519]

The census defines Metro areas on the county level exclusively. What you are showing are the urban areas. And by the county definition, yes the original stated numbers are right. Worcester being all of Worcester County (861k), and Providence is every single county in Rhode Island (including Westerly and Block Island), and Bristol County, MA at 1,612k.
Image taken from the census website and shows the official definition of each metro as used by the US census bureau. The link you sent quite clearly defines those numbers as the urban areas NOT metropolitan statistical areas which EastCambridgeDreamer said. Urban and Metro are different things.View attachment 56027

It is still simply not appropiate to use "metropolitian areas" to measure the size of a city. This forum post is about creating a subway for Worcester, and using "county metro populations" is simply outright inappropiate and unsuitable for measuring the size of a city, or measuring demand for subway service, here. You can clearly see on the map you linked how many empty white areas there are, and how the gray areas hardly occupy a fraction of the land.

We aren't talking about commuter markets or cultural links to a city. We are talking about population demand for subways, trams, and buses. It's important to use the right numbers for the job, and "county metro areas" is just inappropiate to do so. It is clear already once you did your research that it's inappropiate to use such figures.

Also "exclusively" is just false. The census provides two types of figures. Clearly multple figures for cities are needed, a figure for those living in cities, and a figure for those living in the commuter market/culturally connected to the city. The census provides both figures clearly because people may need different figures for different needs. Use the more relevant numbers in these cases.

 

[okin15]

If Worcester had good transit, maybe more people would go there. If they could connect the CR to the airport, they could get a lot of Metro-West (affluent community who likely travel for work) to use their airport. Also the WooSox, and other affordable cultural stuff.

 

[JeffDowntown]

If Worcester had good transit, maybe more people would go there. If they could connect the CR to the airport, they could get a lot of Metro-West (affluent community who likely travel for work) to use their airport. Also the WooSox, and other affordable cultural stuff.

Access to ORH (Worcester Regional) is not the issue. Flight density is the issue. You can only travel nonstop to a handful of locations, usually once per day. That is not going to cut it for affluent Metro-West business travelers

 

[cubalibre]

Access to ORH (Worcester Regional) is not the issue. Flight density is the issue. You can only travel nonstop to a handful of locations, usually once per day. That is not going to cut it for affluent Metro-West business travelers

It's a bit of a chicken and egg problem. The airport facilities can handle more capacity in terms of flights. Demand is growing even with the crappy ground transit connections. I expect more flights and routes to be added at a slow but steady trickle, which at some point may trigger better transit options.

 

[EastCambridgeDreamer]

The census defines Metro areas on the county level exclusively. What you are showing are the urban areas. And by the county definition, yes the original stated numbers are right. Worcester being all of Worcester County (861k), and Providence is every single county in Rhode Island (including Westerly and Block Island), and Bristol County, MA at 1,612k.
Image taken from the census website and shows the official definition of each metro as used by the US census bureau. The link you sent quite clearly defines those numbers as the urban areas NOT metropolitan statistical areas which EastCambridgeDreamer said. Urban and Metro are different things.View attachment 56027

Thank you, I do believe this is where I got my (admittedly rounded) 0.9M pop figure for the Worcester metro and the 1.6M for Providence. I take the point that looking at the urban population is more useful, but my point was that the Providence is about twice as large as Worcester. and this is consistent with both the county-level and the urban-level statistics.

 

[EastCambridgeDreamer]

It's a bit of a chicken and egg problem. The airport facilities can handle more capacity in terms of flights. Demand is growing even with the crappy ground transit connections. I expect more flights and routes to be added at a slow but steady trickle, which at some point may trigger better transit options.

Makes sense. Worcester would also be an unusual city if there were good transit to its airport, as the likelihood of a quick way to drive to that airport feels much more remote than a good transit connection!