Not easy being Green

Whenever a wave of new data are released, the "smart" people who (without irony) trumpet "smart growth" take it on the chin.

Alan Pisarski is the leading analyst of census commuting data and his Commting in America series slices and dices these data better than anyone. Ken Orski reports that Commuting in America III, the definitive work on the 2000 census commuting data, is here.

And what do you know? There are more nonwork trips than ever? Solo auto commutes are up. Carpooling is down. Transit use is flat (it has apparently hit bottom and floats there on subsidies). Telecommuting is up and walking-to-work is down.

It's not easy being green -- and even harder being smart.