Transportation. (San Francisco Bay Area)(includes tabular and graphical data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)

When the Bay Area economy thrives, the work force drives, making transportation one of the region's greatest challenges.

More than three million commuters clog the roads and public transit systems each day with 68.2 percent driving alone. Although the drive-alone rate is lower than the statewide average of 71.6 percent, economists and transportation specialists have been campaigning to increase public transit use and ride sharing.

The region's traffic jams add up to 90,000 wasted hours a day and cost $3.5 billion a year in lost productivity and wasted resources, according to the Bay Area Council. Every link in the transportation network seems stretched to capacity. …