2004 State of the Commute Survey: Assessing the Impacts of Regional

Transportation Demand Management

National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board

December 15, 2004

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Purpose of Data Collection

Estimate effectiveness of the Commuter Operations Center and six Transportation Emission Reduction Measures (TERMs): Telework Resource Center Integrated Rideshare Guaranteed Ride Home Employer Outreach Employer Outreach for Bicycling Regional Mass Marketing

Effectiveness measures: users, placements, and reductions in Vehicle Trips (VT), Vehicle Miles of Travel (VMT), and emissions

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2004 State of the Commute Survey

Survey sample 7,200 randomly-selected workers in the

Metropolitan Washington non-attainment area. Telephone survey conducted between February

and May 2004. Survey questions

Commute Patterns Availability/attitudes toward commute options Awareness of regional/employer commute services Provide for comparisons with 2001 State of the

Commute survey

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Mode Split Comparison: 2001 to 2004

Driving alone increased slightly from 70% in 2001 to 71% in 2004.

There was a drop in carpooling and vanpooling from 7% to 6%

Transit stayed the same at 17%.

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Commute Lengths 2001 vs. 2004

The one-way commute distance increased from 15.5 miles in 2001 to 16.5 miles in 2004.

The average commute time was 34 minutes in 2004, up from 32 minutes in 2001.

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Employer Commute Assistance

Over half of the region’s employers offer commute benefits or support services to their employees.

Metrochek is offered by 31% of employers, up from 29% in 2001. 51% of employers offer Metrochek in DC, 20%

in Maryland, and 22% in Virginia. 81% of employees whose employer did not

offer commute benefit programs drove alone vs. 63% of commuters whose employers did offer commute benefits.

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Parking Availability

Free on-site parking at employer sites was available to 66% of commuters in 2004, up from 65% in 2001. 35% of District employers offer free parking,

compared to 78% in both Maryland and Virginia

86% of commuters who had free parking drove alone compared with 47% of commuters who did not receive this benefit.

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Telecommuting

In 2001, 11.3% of the workforce teleworked an average of 1.1 days per week

In 2004, 12.8% of the workforce teleworked an average of 1.3 days per week

Federal telecommuting increased from 6.9% in 2001 to 11.8% in 2004

Non-Federal telecommuting increased from 12.6% in 2001 to 13.4% in 2004

13% of Virginia commuters telework, compared to 12% for Maryland and 10% for DC.

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Telework Potential in Region

Public Sector lags behind Private / Non-Profits and has the highest potential for growth

Teleworkers 2004 "Could & Would" Total Potential

Employer Type 320,000 400,000 720,000

Private Sector / Non-Profit 15% 20% 35%

Federal 12% 23% 35%

State / Local 6% 13% 19%

Totals 13% 18% 30%

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Attitudes and Awareness: Overall Commute 29% said that their commute was more difficult

than a year ago, mainly because of longer commute distances or added congestion.

14% said that their commute was easierthan a year ago because of a shorter commute distance, less traffic congestion, or they switched to an alternative mode.

More than half of the commuters felt that their commute was about the same as a year ago.

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Attitudes and Awareness: Transit and Ridesharing Transit

68% of commuters said that public transportation was available from home to work, about the same as 2001.

32% of commuters said they don’t ride the bus because “it takes too long”, up from 27% in 2001.

37% of commuters said they didn’t take the train because the service was not available, about the same as in 2001.

Ridesharing 47% of commuters said they didn’t rideshare

because they “didn’t know anyone to rideshare with”, about the same as 2001.

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Attitudes and Awareness: Guaranteed Ride Home Almost 60% of commuters know that there is

a regional GRH program, a dramatic increase from 2001 when only 20% of commuters were aware of the program.

Findings show that all mode users are equally aware of the program.

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Attitudes and Awareness: Marketing and Advertising Over half of commuters have seen, heard, or

read advertising for commuting. 13% recalled Commuter Connections as the

sponsor of the ad. 17% of commuters who drive alone said they

were influenced by the ads and would consider using alternative modes.

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Commuter Connections Transportation and Emission Impacts - Daily

Trips reduced 91,000

VMT reduced 1,722,000

NOx reduced 1.96 Tons

VOC reduced 1.01 Tons

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Cost Effectiveness of Commuter Connections Programs

Cost Per Trip Reduced $ 0.15

Cost Per VMT Reduced $ 0.01

Cost per ton of NOx reduced $ 6,000

Cost per ton of VOC reduced $12,000

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Benchmarking TDM – Employer OutreachRegion Employer

RegulationNumber of Employer Clients

Clients Per 100,000 Employees

Washington No 5,000 186

Atlanta No 400 18

Houston No 127 6

Phoenix Yes (50 or more employees)

1,200 77

San Diego No 200 14

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Benchmarking TDM – Ridematch Database Comparison

Region Database Size

Annual Applications

Applicants per 1,000 employees

Placement Rate

Washington 17,000 21,000 7.8 42%

Atlanta 28,000 6,500 2.9 24%

Houston 7,000 5,000 2.3 N/A

Phoenix 2,600 3,300 2.1 N/A

San Diego 13,300 12,000 8.5 N/A

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Conclusions

Employers are participating in offering commute benefits in greater numbers, but more of them need to either start or expand programs.

Free parking is still the norm rather than the exception.

Advertising creates high awareness and encourages commuters to take action.

There is tremendous potential for additional telecommuting.

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Conclusions

Transportation Demand Management (TDM) is an important tool in maintaining and operating the region’s transportation infrastructure.

TDM would be more effective if more housing and employment were concentrated along major corridors and in activity centers with less free parking.

The region needs to build upon its successful track record with TDM – our program impacts and cost effectiveness compare favorably with other similar metropolitan regions.