Washingtonians have the second-longest commutes in the nation and spend an average of 33.4 minutes getting to work every day, according to the latest statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The 2007 survey figures place the region just behind the New York metropolitan area, whose commuters clock in at an average of 34.8 minutes on the way to work.
Slightly more than 16 percent of workers surveyed in the Washington area said they spend an hour or more traveling to their jobs, and 13 percent said they spend between 45 minutes and an hour on their morning commutes.
Despite swelling congestion in Washington, the average 33.4-minute commute time has remained static over the past three years, according to the survey, which has been conducted annually only since 2005. The Washington area ranked second to New York last year, as well.
“The consistency of travel times is something that has mystified transportation planners for years,” said Robert Dunphy, senior resident fellow for transportation and infrastructure at the Urban Land Institute.
“Everybody always says, well, we’ve got all this growth and sprawl and congestion, so this is going to be the year that shows the commute time going through the roof,” he said. “But apparently people are sufficiently flexible in their lives and their travel patterns to kind of work it out to keep that time consistent.”
Planners have found some evidence that commute times in major cities have been more or less steady since the early 19th century, when commutes involved walking or horse-drawn buggies, he said.
Among the local states, Marylanders spend more time traveling to work than Virginians or District residents.
Maryland residents reported spending an average of 31.1 minutes on their commutes, District residents 30.1 minutes and Virginians 26.8 minutes. The state statistics include less-congested areas such as Western Maryland and the Shenandoah Valley.
The steady commute times may be defying the congestion growth pattern because of changing urban planning attitudes and a cap on people’s tolerance for commuting, said Ron Kirby, director of transportation planning for the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board.
“To some degree, there’s a real effort to encourage people to live closer to their jobs,” Kirby said. “People do move every five years on average, and I think to some degree people are adjusting to their commutes. There are only so many hours in the day, and you’re only prepared to spend so much time on your commute.”
Jobs are growing faster in the suburbs than in the city, particularly in the thriving Dulles corridor, experts said, creating more opportunity for people to live in the suburbs without enduring a monstrous commute.
At the same time, population is also growing in the city, where public transit is an attractive option.
Regional planners expect the proportion of people who commute using public transportation will grow a percentage point over the next 20 to 30 years as a result of an increased focus on transit-oriented development, Dunphy said.
According to the Census Bureau, that number is currently 39 percent of District commuters, 8.8 percent of Maryland commuters and 4.1 percent of commuters in Virginia.
Despite consistent population growth and steadily swelling congestion, planners said they were not surprised by the static commute times.
“I think it shows the remarkable resilience of the commute and people’s ability to keep that in bounds, despite what we are or aren’t doing from a transportation-improvement standpoint,” Dunphy said.
