Commute survey also shows telework increasing, with potential for more
Virginia is seeing several trends that offer encouragement to areas racked with congestion, according to the recently released 2015 Virginia Statewide Travel Study.
“Overall, between 2007 and 2015, use of transit increased by 33 percent, even though people didn’t perceive that there was an increase in transit service,” said John Martin of the Southeastern Institute of Research, which, along with LDA Consulting, produced the survey for the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.
He asked, “What would happen if we had more transit available?”
Martin detailed the findings at the Virginia Transit Association’s 2016 Transit Conference and Bus Expo late last month in Fredericksburg. He said people – even those who drive alone most of the time – want more transit to be available. Of the nearly 10,000 Viriginians surveyed, 82 percent said it’s important for Virginia to invest in transportation alternatives to maintain and grow the economy.
Support for transportation options is widespread across age groups.
“This is a shared belief across all ages and generations throughout the state. Many said they would take the bus or train if it were more frequent or nearer to home,” Martin added.
Along with transit use increasing over the study’s eight-year period, other major statewide discoveries included:
- The drive-alone rate decreased from 81.6 percent to 76.6 percent
- Full-time teleworking increased from 4.5 percent to 8.3 percent, and
- Partial teleworking also increased, from 12 percent to 19 percent.
Martin said, “Transit use and telework increasing are having a positive impact across the state. Virginia is becoming more multimodal, and transportation is driving quality of life.”
The findings show that Virginians’ satisfaction with their transportation system correlates with a greater satisfaction with their quality of life. “If you’re satisfied with how you get to work, you will have a higher perception of quality of life,” Martin said. “People who ride the bus and train are more satisfied with their trip to work.”
Additionally, the Wash Cycle blog notes that people who bike and walk to work reported the highest commute satisfaction rates, at a resounding 93 percent. That 1.5 percent of Virginians who bike or walk to work, however, are less likely to be content with the status of their transportation systems, suggesting more to be done to accommodate them in auto-oriented areas.
At the Fredericksburg conference, Martin urged the audience of state and local transportation leaders to promote transportation options “with some conviction, because … people get it that all modes have a societal benefit. The awareness of local commuter programs has gone up and so has use of these programs.”
Such programs, usually the responsibility of the 15 transportation demand management initiatives throughout the state, can have a major impact if they focus on telework, park-and-ride lots, and guaranteed rides home, Martin said.
A major reason one in five Virginians teleworks (increasing from 438,000 workers in 2007 to 729,000 in 2015) is that 20 percent of employers are allowing more of them to do so. The number of employers with telework policies is up a full 8 percent in just the past eight years. Another 16 percent of commuters, equivalent to about 600,00 people, said they would telework if their employers allowed it. This signals a great opportunity for commuter programs to influence that number by working with employers to foster more telework policies.
The study found that more people are aware of park-and-ride lots, with 17 percent using them, up from 13 percent in 2007. And while guaranteed-ride-home programs saw little change in awareness, there is still a third of the population that doesn’t know they are an option – creating an educational opportunity for TDM programs.
Altogether, the survey sugests that Virginians’ commutes and qualities of life would benefit from more convenient transportation alternatives and a stronger promotion of the many options of which many are unaware. Some trends, such as teleworking, are clear, and provide key insight into future opportunities for Virginia’s transportation system.
Read the full presentation here for the complete findings, including responses broken down by region.
Photo: Commuters wait for buses at the Pentagon (Sam Kittner for Mobility Lab, www.kittner.com).