2016 State of the Commute Survey, biking up; and more survey results to come

Late in 2017, the MWCOG released its 2016 State of the Commuter survey results, and biking and walking were up in the region. (which includes Alexandria; DC; and Fairfax, Arlington, Montgomery, Prince George's, Calvert, Charles, Frederick County, Loudoun and Prince William Counties)

• Bike and walk mode share was at 3.3%, up from 2.2% in 2013. Of that 3.3%, 1.3% is biking. The higher 2016 mode shares for transit and bike/walk, in particular, could be related to different age profiles for the 2013 and 2016 surveys.
• 22% of commuters started driving alone in the last 5 years, and by contrast 35% of bike commuters started in the last five years
• Respondents who drove alone and those who rode transit gave lower ratings for transportation satisfaction than did carpoolers/vanpoolers and bike/walk commuters. Only 34% of drive alone commuters, 38% of train riders, and 41% of bus riders were satisfied, compared with 47% of carpoolers and 61% of commuters who biked/walked to work.
• Nearly one-quarter (23%) of respondents said their employers offered services for bikers and walkers
• SmartBenefit transit/vanpool subsidies, information on commute options, and bikeshare memberships were the most widely used commuter assistance services, used, respectively, by 59%, 30%, and 25% of respondents who had access to the services
• People who work a compressed work schedule are MORE likely to bike commute, with the 3.7% of those workers biking or walking to work. 
• 3% of bike/walk commuters did so as their primary mode, another 1% used it as a secondary method
• People who primarily bike/walk do so 3.4 days a week, which is lower than all other methods. 
• 5% of men biked and walked to work, 2% of women did so.
• 4% of white people biked and walked to work, 3% of Hispanics and 1% of African-Americans.
• 10% of people who make $80,000-$100,000 bike or walk to work, that drops off to 2% at higher incomes, and to 6% among those making $40-60,000 and 4% of those below $40,0000.
• Among people who don't own a car 18% bike or walk to work. That percentage goes up as car ownership does. In car-light households it's 3-8%.
• Bike/walk commuting is higher among District residents (16%). In MD and VA it's 2%. Of those in the "inner core" - DC, Arlington and Alexandria - it's 11%. It drops to 2% in the middle ring and 1% in the outer ring.
• The average bike commute is 4.4 miles and takes 22 minutes. The average walk commute is shorter (17 min) and all others are longer. 
• Bike commuters add 7 minutes of extra time to their commute to account for variability, about half that of other commuters. Walkers add 4 minutes.
• Bike commuters are more likely to have recently switched to biking (with 1/3 doing so in the last 3 years), and 25% of them used to drive alone
• 5% of commuters considered the location of protected bike lanes when considering where to live or work. 64% of bike/walk commuters considered their access to transportation services at the new location.
• 97% of bikers/walkers reported high commute satisfaction. 57% of commuters who drove alone and 48% who rode Metrorail said they were satisfied. 
• The bike/walk share was 5% for respondents who did not have access to HOV/Express lanes, compared with essentially 0% for respondents with access. This difference is explained by comparing the geographic associations of bike/walk commuting and HOV/Express access. Bike/walk commuting is primarily concentrated in the Inner Core, while HOV/Express lanes are located primarily in the Middle Ring and Outer Ring areas.
• Saving money was a common personal benefit named by all alternative mode users, but particularly so for commuters who carpooled/vanpooled, rode a bus, or biked/walked. And train riders and bike/walk commuters said their choice of commute mode helped the environment.
• Nearly a quarter (23%) of respondents said their employer offered services for bikers and walkers
• Bike/walk commuters expressed the least interest in shifting their work day away from prime hours
• Where employers offered free parking, 3% bike/walk commute; at those that don't 5% do

More Survey information is coming too. MWCOG is currently doing the Regional Household Travel Survey for 2017-2018 and it will have new information in it. 

• The 2017 RTS will provide insights on multimodal transit travel by asking questions about access modes, egress modes, and integration of walk/bike and transit combinations and transfers (e.g., bike-to-rail)
• The 2017 RTS will also capture membership and frequency of Capital Bikeshare use, including typical bikeshare use per week. 

Comments

[drumz]

10% mode/share in DC/Arlington seems huge. Like several times higher than what previous measures I knew of reported.

Granted, that feels about right and maybe the official numbers are just catching up with what was being observed.

[DMeni]

So.....does this mean that DC has already SURPASSED the MoveDC goal of 12% mode share, which they weren't planning on meeting until 2040? http://www.waba.org/blog/2014/06/you-get-a-cycle-track-you-get-a-cycle-track/

[washycle]

11% is for biking AND walking, so it doesn't seem that high to me.

[DMeni]

No dis-aggregation there then? That's annoying