Transportation in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. has a number of different modes of transportation available for use. Commuters have a major influence on travel patterns, with only 28% of people employed in Washington, D.C. commuting from within the city, whereas 33.5% commute from the nearby Maryland suburbs, 22.7% from Northern Virginia, and the rest from Washington, D.C.'s outlying suburbs.[1]
Commuting
Washington, D.C., has the second-highest percentage of
Commuters have a major influence on travel patterns in Washington, D.C. 671,678 people are employed in Washington, D.C., with only 28% commuting from within the city. 18.7% of people working in Washington, D.C., commute from Prince George's County, Maryland, and 14.8% from Montgomery County, Maryland. 13.2% come from Fairfax County, Virginia, 6% from Arlington County, Virginia, and 3.5% from Alexandria, Virginia. Smaller numbers of commuters come from the outer suburbs, including 2.4% from Anne Arundel County, Maryland, and 2.3% from Prince William County, Virginia, 1.6% from Charles County, Maryland, 1.3% from Howard County, Maryland, and 1% from Loudoun County, Virginia.[1] Of the 260,000 Washington, D.C. residents that were employed as of 2000, 24% commute to jobs in Montgomery, Prince George's, Fairfax, and Arlington Counties, as well as Alexandria.[1] Of those that work in Washington, D.C., 44.8% drive alone to work, 21.2% take Metro, 14.4% carpool/slug, 8.8% use Metrobus, 4.5% walk to work, 2.7% travel by commuter rail, and 0.6% ride their bicycle to work.[3] Of the households in Washington, D.C., 35.4% do not own a car.[4]
Public transportation statistics
The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Washington, for example, to and from work, on a weekday is 86 min. 31% of public transit riders ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 19 min, while 34% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 8.8 km (5.5 mi), while 20% travel for over 12 km (7.5 mi) in a single direction.[5]
Streets and highways
City streets in the District of Columbia are organized primarily in a grid-like fashion with its origin at the
Exceptions to this nomenclature include the names of the streets that line the National Mall. The north side of the mall is lined by Constitution Avenue, whereas the south side of the mall is lined by Independence Avenue. Both streets follow the NE, NW, SE, SW rule.
Major interstates running through the area include the
Cars
Taxi
As of 2015, Washington had over 6,200 registered taxis,[6] making it the third-largest concentration of taxis in the United States, after New York City and Chicago. Regardless of company operating the taxi service, all taxis operating in the city share a uniform design, as mandated by the DC Taxicab Commission. The vehicles are red with a gray stripe along the side doors.
Car sharing
In December 2001, Metro initiated a relationship with
In March 2012,
Parking
There is heavy vehicle congestion from the large percentage of the population who chooses to drive. This results in very limited parking, especially in the downtown areas of the city. Corporations have made various attempts to solve the city's parking problem as a guinea pig location, but there has been little success.[13] Parking restrictions are strictly enforced, and the complicated parking hours posted on signs can be confusing. Environmentalists question the free parking spaces given to thousands of Congressional employees, discouraging them from using public transportation.
Rail
Washington Metro
The Washington area is served by the Washington Metro rapid transit system, operated by the
WMATA also operates Metrobus, a regional bus system serving D.C. and the closest immediate counties (described in greater detail below). The Washington Metro connects with both commuter rail and intercity rail systems at Union Station.
DC Streetcar
On February 27, 2016, the first line of the DC Streetcar was opened between Union Station and Oklahoma Ave/Benning Rd, running for most of its length along H Street. More lines are planned.
Commuter rail
MARC provides service from Union Station to Baltimore and Perryville with intermediate stops, on both the Camden and Penn Lines. MARC's Brunswick Line provides service between Martinsburg, West Virginia, with intermediate stops, and Union Station. A new spur of the Brunswick line also goes to Frederick, Maryland. All three lines of Maryland's MARC train system begin at Union Station in Washington where passengers can transfer to the Washington Metro's Red Line. Connections can also be made at New Carrollton, College Park, Greenbelt, Silver Spring, and Rockville stations.
Amtrak
Bus
Metrobus
Metrobus is a bus service operated by Metro, consisting of 176 bus lines serving 12,301 stops, including 3,133 bus shelters and nearly every Washington Metro station. In fiscal year 2006, Metrobus provided 131 million trips, 39% of all Washington Metro trips.[14] It serves D.C. and the inner ring of suburban counties. Like the Washington Metrorail, the Metrobus is operated by WMATA and riders can pay with a SmarTrip Card. Overall, there are 269 bus routes serving 11,129 stops and 2,554 bus shelters across the city and inner suburbs.[15]
The Metrobus runs the
DC Circulator
DC Circulator is a
Charter and commuter buses
Washington, D.C., has many charter and commuter buses.
The Maryland Department of Transportation and several privately operated companies provide bus service during weekday rush hours between D.C. and more distant counties such as Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Howard, and St. Mary's in Maryland; and Fredericksburg, Loudoun, Prince William, and Stafford in Virginia.
OurBus offers intercity bus service to New York City, Philadelphia, Allentown, Binghamton, and Ithaca from Union Station. The company also serves the DC suburbs including Tysons, Rockville, Bethesda, and Columbia with direct service to New York City.[17]
Tripper Bus is a private commuter bus offering service from the Washington, D.C., suburbs of Arlington, Virginia and Bethesda, Maryland to and from New York City.[18][19][20]
Vamoose Bus is a private bus line offering service from the Washington, D.C., suburbs of Lorton, Virginia, Arlington, Virginia and Bethesda, Maryland to and from New York City.[18]
Washington Deluxe is an independent bus line offering express round trip service between New York and Washington, D.C. The Washington, D.C., bus stops include Dupont Circle and Columbus Circle. The New York City stops include Penn Station, Chinatown, and Brooklyn.[21][22][23][24]
Higher education campuses in the area offer on-site and commuter transportation, such as the
Ally Charter Bus is a private group transportation service that offers charter bus and minibus rentals in Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland and New York City.[25]
Air
Washington, D.C., is served by three major airports: two are located in suburban Virginia and one in Maryland.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (IATA: DCA, ICAO: KDCA) is the closest—located in Arlington County, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Hains Point, and accessible via Washington Metro. The airport is a hub for American Airlines and is conveniently located near the downtown area; however, it has somewhat restricted flights to airports within the United States because of noise and security concerns.
Most major international flights arrive and depart from
Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport are operated by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.[26]
General aviation is additionally available at several smaller airfields, including Montgomery County Airpark (Gaithersburg, Maryland), College Park Airport (College Park, Maryland), Potomac Airfield (Friendly CDP of Prince George's County, Maryland), and Manassas Regional Airport (Manassas, Virginia).
Since 2003, the general aviation airports closest to Washington, D.C., have had their access strictly limited by the implementation of the
Airport transportation
Metro's Yellow and Blue Lines serve
Dulles Airport uses an underground rail system, called AeroTrain, to connect concourses B and C with the main terminal. There are plans to expand this service to other concourses in the future.
Bicycle and scooter
There is a network of 45 miles (72 km)
The city's primary
See also
- List of heliports in Washington, D.C.
- Plug-in electric vehicles in Washington, D.C.
- Transportation in Northern Virginia
- Transportation in Maryland
References
- ^ a b c "County-To-County Worker Flow Files". Census 2000. United States Census Bureau.
- ^ U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2006, Table S0802
- ^ "Table B08406. SEX OF WORKERS BY MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION FOR WORKPLACE GEOGRAPHY - Universe: WORKERS 16 YEARS AND OVER". 2004 American Community Survey. United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 11, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2006.
- ^ "Table B08201. HOUSEHOLD SIZE BY VEHICLES AVAILABLE - Universe: HOUSEHOLDS". 2004 American Community Survey. United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 11, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2006.
- ^ "Washington Public Transportation Statistics". Global Public Transit Index by Moovit. Retrieved June 19, 2017. Material was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- ^ DeBonis, Mike (January 12, 2015). "How many taxicabs should D.C. have? 6,191, regulators say". Washington Post. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
- ^ "Zipcar and Flexcar Agree to Merge". Press Release. Zipcar. October 31, 2007. Retrieved October 31, 2007.
- ^ "Zipcar and Flexcar Agree to Merge". Press Release. Flexcar. October 31, 2007. Retrieved October 31, 2007.
- ^ "WMATA History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 27, 2008. (65.4 KB)
- ^ "Daimler's car2go car-sharing service starts in D.C., Portland this month". Green.autoblog.com. March 4, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
- ^ a b "Car2Go Reaches 26,000 Users in DC, Adds 100 Cars to Fleet". blog. Urban Turf. July 25, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
- ^ "Car2Go paid D.C. $578,000 for its meter-proof parking agreement". blog. TBD.com (WJLA ABC 7). May 9, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
- ^ "IBM: Let us solve D.C. parking problems". April 9, 2012.
- ^ "WMATA Facts" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 27, 2008. (573 KB)
- ^ "Metro Facts 2017" (PDF). www.wmata.com. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. 2017. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 2, 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
- ^ "Ticket prices". martzgroupva.com.
- ^ "Affordable Bus Tickets Starting at $5.00". OurBus. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
- ^ a b "Compare bus lines between DC and NYC - The Washington Post". www.washingtonpost.com.
- ^ "Tripper Bus Service - Bus Pick-Up Locations". www.tripperbus.com.
- ^ "Tripper Bus Service - Buy or Book Your Bus Ticket Online NY MD DC VA". www.tripperbus.com.
- ^ "Compare bus lines between DC and NYC - The Washington Post". www.washingtonpost.com.
- ^ "Convenient Bus Stops - Bus to New York from DC - Washington Deluxe". www.washny.com.
- ^ "NY to DC - DC to NY, One Way or Round Trip - Washington Deluxe Bus". www.washny.com.
- ^ "Useful Bus from Union Station Bus Terminal Washington DC to NYC". www.ourbus.com.
- ^ "Bus Rentals in Washington D.C". www.allybus.com/charter-bus-rentals-in-washington-dc.
- ^ "Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority FAQ".
- ^ "Route 5A" (PDF). June 25, 2017.
- ^ "Route B30" (PDF). June 25, 2017.
- Washington Post. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
- Washington Post. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
- ^ Matt Martinez (September 20, 2010). "Washington, D.C., launches the nation's largest bike share program". Grist. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
- Washington Post. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
- ^ Lazo, Luz (August 31, 2018). "D.C. allows dockless bikes and scooters to stay, but you'll have to start locking them up". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 8, 2018.