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What’s inside the 2022 State of the Commute?

In 2022, the Commuter Connections program of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) conducted a regional State of the Commute Survey, a random-sample survey of employed persons living in the 11-jurisdiction Washington metropolitan region.

The survey documented commuting behavior, such as commute mode shares and distance traveled, and prevalent attitudes about specific transportation services, such as public transportation, which are available to commuters in the region. The surveys also asked commuters about sources of information on alternative modes, their reasons for choosing alternative modes for commuting, and their awareness and use of commute assistance services that might influence commuting behavior.

Mobility Lab and LDA Consulting collaborated on this study and report to explore the responses and attitudes of survey participants who live and work in Arlington County, Virginia. This is the fifth installment of this report.

Who was surveyed?

The 2022 SOC survey interviewed a total of 8,396 residents across the 11-jurisdiction MWCOG region. For the Arlington Analysis report, the total sample included interviews with 931 Arlington residents and interviews with 709 respondents who worked in Arlington County.

What are some key findings about telework?

• 83% of Arlington residents and 84% of Arlington workers reported experiencing some disruption to their pre-pandemic commute patterns. For both Arlington residents and workers, about four in ten shifted to full-time telework, and three in ten increased the number of days they teleworked.
• In 2022, 77% of Arlington resident commuters were teleworking at least occasionally, nearly twice the rate compared to 2019, when only 41% of Arlington workers reported teleworking. As for Arlington workers, 76% reported teleworking, more than twice the 35% reported in 2019. The results were similar for Arlington workers; 76% teleworked, more than twice the 35% reported in 2019.
• Arlington residents’ average telework frequency grew 275% from 0.91 days per week to 3.42 and Arlington workers’ average telework frequency increased 249% from 0.96 to 3.35 days per week.
• As a share of weekly trips or weekly “work days”, telework accounted for 57% of Arlington residents’ commute days in 2022, an increase from 2019 where telework only accounted for about one in ten trips. For Arlington workers, telework accounted for 54% of total work days, growing from 8% in 2019.

What are some key findings about commute trips?

• When telework was excluded in the analysis, Arlington residents took the following modes when traveling to outside work locations: 56.4% by drive alone (increased from 45.6% in 2019), 22.7% by train (decreased from 34.3% in 2019), 6.8% by bus (decreased from 9.8% in 2019), 6.4% by walking (4.5% in 2019), 5.6% by bike/scooter (3.7% in 2019), and 2.1% by carpool/vanpool (2.1% in 2019). Among Arlington workers, the mode split for commute trips also showed similar shifts: 63.5% by drive alone (increased from 51.4% in 2019), 18.1% by train (decreased from 24.7% in 2019), 8.3% by bus (8.8% in 2019), 4.6% by carpool/vanpool (decreased from 10.5% in 2019), 3.8% by walking (3.2% in 2019), and 1.7% by bike/scooter (1.4% in 2019).
• Arlington residents’ drive alone rate of 56% of weekly commute trips was significantly lower than the 78% rate regionwide. Arlington residents’ transit use (30% of weekly commute trips) was double the regionwide average of 15%, and share of bike/walk trips of 12% was considerably higher than the regionwide average of 3%. The same trend can be observed among Arlington workers, whose drive alone rate was 68%, transit use was 27% and 5% carpool/vanpool use was higher than the regionwide average of 3%.

What are some key findings about availability and use of employer-provided commute assistance services?

• 70% of Arlington resident commuters and 68% of Arlington workers reported that their employers offered at least one form of commute assistance service, both of which are higher rates compared regionwide (56%).
• Among Arlington workers, the most common service offered was SmarTrip/subsidies for transit and vanpool (55%), followed by commute transportation options (28%), services for bikers and walkers (28%), preferential parking for carpools/vanpools (15%) and bikeshare memberships (13%).
• About 54% of Arlington workers whose employers offered commute services said they used one or more of the available services. The benefit/service used the most by Arlington workers was the transit/vanpool subsidy (51%), followed by commute information (39%), bikeshare membership (19%), preferential parking for carpools and vanpools (17%) and Guaranteed Ride Home (17%).

What are some key findings about commute satisfaction?

• Among Arlington residents who traveled to an outside work location, 18% reported that their commute was easier than one year ago, while 29% reported that their commute was more difficult. Comparing to 2019 data, the share who reported having an easier commute was about the same, but the share reporting a more difficult commute was higher (22% in 2019).
• In 2022, 65% of Arlington residents reported being satisfied with their commute, a rate unchanged from 2019 (64%). Compared to rates of commute satisfaction in the region, Arlington residents report the highest satisfaction, followed closely by the District of Columbia (59%).

Next steps

This study, and the results found inside, provide Arlington County data driven insights to meet the needs of residents and workers and to monitor the impact of Transportation Demand Management efforts over time. The study can also be viewed as an example of the impacts that over a decade of TDM planning can have on a local community.