It is an interesting chart, purportedly from a UT researcher...?

At the bottom, there is a blurb which would seem to attribute the "data" supporting this chart to "FTA/Census". So is it FTA ridership data, or is it Census data?

The FTA total ridership data doesn't show this for total transit ridership dcline. and the Census data is for the mode of only work commutes, and comes from the journey to work surveys, which in intermediate non "census" year samples has had problems with sample sizes, and consistency with other "big data", like the actual FTA reported counts, at the local level.

So which is it? Is it really some kind of "aggregation" of "both" sources?

I have used both data sets, I'm not sure how you would combine them, as they represent very different "data", one being a discrete, but not disaggregated, subset of the other, as the FTA data doesn't disaggregate by "trip purpose" (like separating out the home to work commutes).

Transportation agencies themselves, and well run planning agencies, do collect sampling on trip types (work, school, shopping, medical, social, other), to more reliably model travel behavior, but that is not the total transit boarding, or commute mode spit data that is reported through these purported sources (FTA or Census).

Of course, the use of "math", to sell "magic beans", or a good "story" to "math impaired" journalism majors is nothing new.

On the other hand, I assume that Hasan's lips were moving for that quote, so there is that "fact" to consider, as well.

And, of course, in a geographically large, auto dependent, dispersed and highly decentralized housing, commercial, and jobs like North San Diego. with highly dispersed travel patterns, surely, if we "believe" really, really, really hard "then the miracle occurs", right?

More like a "pot versus kettle" story, with all of the critical input coming from what appears to be just one primary source. The SANDAG plan contains a number of worthwhile and needed projects like the Del Mar bluffs LOSSAN bypass, with significant transportation benefits, and also what appears to be a whole lot of nonsense, based on wishful thinking, political hot air, and hype. But, this "story" is a bit questionable, too.