Elected leaders across the District of Columbia tried to get passengers out of their cars and get on public transportation. But a new study of transport in the DC region found that when it comes to daily commuting, the car remains king.
Elected leaders across the District of Columbia tried to get passengers out of their cars and get on public transportation. But a new study of transport in the DC region found that when it comes to daily commuting, the car remains king.
“In the 1970s in the region … most of us traveled by car, so just under 80%. It is about the same in 1980, about the same in 1990, about the same in 2000, about the same in 2010 and about the same today. Most of us travel by car, “said Leah Brooks, co-author of the Center for Regional Studies in Washington. State of the capital region 2022: Models for travel to the workplace and transport infrastructure.
The study was presented Wednesday, followed by a panel discussion at the American Enterprise Institute.
Metrorail and Metrobus travel has been declining since 2010, and COVID-19 has made things worse for the rail system.
Although the study found that only 10% to 15% of travelers travel by public transport every day, this is not a small number. Compared to other major metropolitan areas in the rest of the country, DC travelers rely on public transportation more than commuters in any other major metropolitan area except New York.
New York is at the top with more than 200 million individual passenger trips per capita. The next Washington has less than 100 million, followed by Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia.
Although the car is the king of everyday travel and city dwellers are the biggest users of public transport, the study found that public transport shows signs of growth outside the city.
“The big increase in the share of passengers comes in suburban and suburban areas,” Brooks said.
An example of the growth of public transport can be found in bus systems operating in local jurisdictions, such as the Dash Bus in Alexandria.
“We need to make sure that there is a constant all-day service that is reliable, because it has been proven that whenever it is reliable and consistent, people are more likely to use it,” said Alexandria City Councilor Kanek Aguirre, chairman of the Transport Ministry. Northern Virginia Commission.
Remote work during COVID-19 drastically reduced subway travel, and panelists were unsure of the future of telecommuting, which they say is still awaiting final sentences from the federal government and large companies. But there are indications that remote work is here to stay.
“There is a certain level of consensus that we expect telecommuting to increase, at least for office workers. You see numbers from 25% settle to 40%. It all depends on whether you count all the workers or those people who have office work where you don’t have to be in person, “said Stuart Schwartz, CEO of Coalition for smarter growthwhich advocates for “passable, cycling and transit-oriented communities”.
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