>Hi ... I've been staring at the "work detail" graph in LBO #86. I'm a
>transportation activist in San Francisco, and I'm wondering, this
>climb in hours needed for median income seems to coincide with
>increased car trips in the usa, and increased car ownership.
>
>I won't and don't isolate that as a cause of the work increase but
>I'd like to somehow find out how much of an effect greater individual
>transportation costs had on the cost of living, over the period of
>the chart (47-97).
>
>How can I do that?
Check out the BLS's Consumer Expenditure Survey. Historical data for recent years can be gotten at <http://146.142.4.24/cgi-bin/dsrv?cx>; for earlier data, see <http://stats.bls.gov/csxhome.htm>. The CES is far from perfect, but it's the best such info we've got, and marketers use it like crazy.
Doug