A regional “State of the Commute” survey is taken every three years by the Commuter Connections program of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
Arlington, Va., is the only local jurisdiction that commissions a study to better understand the ways people move around within its borders.
Mobility Lab works with LDA Consulting, CIC Research, and Arlington County Commuter Services to compile the Summary Results for Arlington (138-page PDF).
There is such a wealth of findings that it can be valuable to dig deeper into any specific section, but here’s a snapshot of Mobility Lab’s key takeaways from these findings (granted, this data is from 2016, but it still offers valuable new insights).
Commute patterns:
- Arlington is second only to Washington D.C. in ditching personal-car commuting and instead taking transit.
- Commute distances for Arlington residents were much shorter – at an average of 9.7 miles one way – than the regional average of 17.3 miles.
- Arlington residents hardly use park & ride lots.
Commute changes, ease, and satisfaction:
- Arlington commuters have their habits, but many are starting to think about the concept of having transportation options.
- The top reasons Arlington residents who used a mode other than driving alone are saving time and money, job considerations, didn’t have a vehicle available, or moved to a new residence. Arlington workers didn’t mention saving money or time as much, which could mean that transportation options were used more often for reasons such as being fun or healthy.
- Key moments in people’s lives for reconsideration of transportation options were when they made a home or work location change.
- When Arlington residents made a home or work location change, rail location was a far bigger consideration within that move than bus location.
- A majority of Arlington residents and workers are satisfied with their commutes, although the satisfaction levels have been dropping precipitously since 2013.
Telework:
- Teleworking by Arlington residents grew between 2013 and 2016 – as it has been doing steadily since 2004 – but teleworking by Arlington workers remained at the same level from 2013 to 2016.
- In 2016, Arlington resident commuters had the same telework percentage – 32 percent – as the total for all regional teleworkers. That number was up substantially from 13 percent in 2004.
- Many other Arlington residents and workers “could and would” telework if given the chance. The data shows that a real opportunity exists to have more non-profit workers teleworking.
- Formal telework programs are slightly more typical than informal ones in Arlington.
Availability of and attitudes toward transportation options:
- Arlington residents said they live close to the bus but less close to rail.
- Arlington workers who use HOV/Express lanes said those lanes save them time and influence their mode choice.
Quality of life and transportation satisfaction:
- Eighty-one percent of Arlington residents gave a high rating for quality of life in the Washington region.
- Reducing traffic congestion is the greatest societal benefit resulting from people seeking options to driving alone, according to Arlington workers and residents. The environment was also named as being fairly important.
- Saving money or gas was named as the top personal benefit, and other benefits frequently cited were reducing stress, increasing productivity, and the freedom of not having to bother with car ownership.
Awareness of commute advertising and commute-assistance resources:
- Awareness of commute-information advertising remained high among Arlington residents, and the advertising appeared to influence consideration of options.
Commuter-assistance services provided by employers:
- 72 percent of people who worked in Arlington had access to commuter-assistance services, with D.C. at 71 percent, Alexandria 55 percent, Montgomery County 52 percent, and Fairfax County 45 percent.
- Only half of Arlington workers had free worksite parking.
- Worksite commuter-assistance services and parking charges appeared to encourage people not to drive alone.