Monday, April 8, 2013

Washington D.C. Transportation Trends


Washington D.C. Travel and Transportation Trends

The District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT) is the branch of government that manages and maintains publicly owned transportation related infrastructure in Washington D.C. DDOT has authority over the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of bridges, sidewalks, streets, street lights, traffic signals, and other transportation related infrastructure (DDOT). In order to help alleviate congestion and offer more travel options for commuters and tourist alike, DDOT has partnered with several nearby jurisdictions and Alta Bike Share Inc. in a public-private partnership for a bikeshare system. Currently Capital Bikshare has more than 200 stations, 37,000 annual members, and more than 240,000 24-hour memberships. A further 32 more stations are planned to open by the end of 2013 (Capital Bikeshare, 2013).



Commuters in Washington D.C. have a major influence on travel patterns, as only 28% of people employed in D.C. commute from within the city. More than 56% of employees commute in from nearby Maryland and Virginia and the remainder of commuters enter the city from D.C.’s outlying suburbs (DDOT).

Washington D.C. has the second highest percentage of public transit commuters in the United States behind New York City.  Although public transit is a popular option there are still more than 44% of all commuters into D.C. that choose to travel by car, 21% take the Metro (subway), 14% carpool, 9% use the Metrobus, 5% walk, 3% by rail, and 0.6% ride a bike (2010 ACS). It is noteworthy that according to a recent American Community Survey, 35.4% of households in D.C. do not own a car (ACS, 2008)


References:
“About” District Department of Transportation, 2013. Web.
http://ddot.dc.gov/DC/DDOT/About+DDOT/Who+We+Are?nav=0&vgnextrefresh=1

United States Census Bureau. 2010. Web
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/S0801/0400000US11

http://www.capitalbikeshare.com/system-data.  2013. Web

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