Metro’s usual 700,000 riders per weekday dropped 11 percent this year due partly to Safetrack disruptions. Now Deloitte has dug into the numbers and it’s encouraging to find that not everyone who left D.C.’s Metro during its year-long subways fix-it project replaced those trips by driving alone more.
A recent report by Deloitte’s Center for Government Insights finds that the region could support many more bike commuters, carpoolers, and car sharers — given proper encouragement. In fact, D.C. could have up to 155,000 new ridesharing members (Editor: which includes Zipcar and Car2Go, but we’re not sure whether Deloitte has also calculated Uber and Lyft into these numbers or just the UberPool and Lyft Line true-carpooling portions of those services), 428,000 new carpoolers, and a whopping 590,000 new bike commuters, if residents fully embrace these modes of travel.
Arlington County’s Commuter Services office took innovative steps to fill the gap in Metro service with shared taxis and carpools. Arlington officials fast-tracked approval for a shared taxi service from the Ballston metro station to the District, with positive reports. Arlington officials also tried to create a new carpool ‘slug line,’ where commuters pick up other commuters. Arlington tried working with the grass roots slugging community, but the new slug line didn’t quite take off, according to Larry Filler, former bureau chief of Arlington County Commuter Services.
As for biking, more D.C. residents commuted this way to avoid Metro during Safetrack surges. Not surprising since bike commuting in America is growing by about 7.5 percent annually. It’s a smart option too — a recent Michigan Institute of Technology (MIT) analysis of several large cities, including D.C., indicates that biking would be the fastest way to reach large portions of the city during rush hour. Arlington County’s bike trail counter analysis shows a strong peak tied to Metro Safetrack surges last summer.
Unfortunately, these alternates will be temporary for most Metro commuters. Permanently switching these D.C. ridesharers or bike commuters requires both ongoing investment into biking infrastructure and truly regional ridesharing platforms to compete with Uber and Lyft. The ever-innovative Arlington County recently launched its Car Free Near Me app, which is a great start, but would benefit from being scaled up to the entire D.C. metro area , and from the inclusion of various ride-matching and pooled ride options. Local startup Sameride recently launched its carpooling app for the route between Woodbridge and Tysons Corner, and initial reports are positive.
Photo by Elvert Barnes/Flickr.