(Source: Transportation Planning Board (TPB) Weekly Report on The Yardstick, May 23, 2013)
Commuters in the Washington region have been shifting away from driving alone as their primary method of getting to and from work, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau, which was analyzed recently by the Transportation Planning Board.
Commuters leaving their cars at home in favor of public transit increased from just over 11 percent in 2000 to 15.4 percent in 2011. With federal jobs increasing in the region over the past 10 years, federal workers have led the shift. The rate of federal workers taking transit increased from 19 percent in 2000 to 28 percent in 2011. The report cited the $240 per month transit subsidy offered to federal workers as a “likely contributor to this shift.”
The biggest drops in driving alone came from the District and Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Arlington counties.
See the full report online.
