Residents in the region want to walk and bike more, and drive less after COVID-19, a “Voices of the Region” survey suggests

Results from a recent “Voices of the Region” survey show that many of the region’s residents want to:

• Walk and bike more, drive less for general travel
• Telework more than they did pre-pandemic
• Have more street space for pedestrian areas, cafes, bike lanes, and bus lanes
• Use transit if there are service and COVID-related safety improvements
• Prioritize projects that address climate change

The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB), which represents elected officials and transportation agencies in the DC metro area, conducted the survey to inform its update to the regional transportation plan, Visualize 2045. The TPB survey gathered input from a representative sample of 2,400 residents distributed across the region about their travel patterns and attitudes, including how the pandemic has affected them and how they expect to travel post-pandemic.

DC’s recent survey of District residents for its moveDC transportation plan focused more on specific proposals in that plan. However, the two surveys show agreement by city and suburban residents that safe walking, biking, and transit are priorities.

Here are seven important takeaways for regional decision makers:

1. Residents anticipate more walking and biking, less driving post-pandemic

38% of respondents said they expected their travel habits to be different one year post-pandemic compared to before the pandemic. Of those respondents, here’s how they expected to travel differently:

2. Less transit use is anticipated, but respondents indicate service enhancements would make them more likely to use transit

While 13% anticipate using transit more, 38% anticipate using it less post-pandemic. However, most respondents cited measures that transit agencies can undertake to make them more likely to ride transit:

Transit agencies in the region have implemented some of these measures already. Of note, numerous studies have shown that even during the pandemic, riding transit is relatively low risk. Support for more frequent service matches what many transit experts have long said, that providing more frequent service will increase ridership.

In response to survey questions focused on bus transit, residents cited schedule reliability and real-time arrival information at stops as important factors in making them more likely to use the bus. Even many non-bus riders supported giving road space for bus lanes (more details below).

3. Many workers expect to telecommute more than they used to, at least a few days a week

33% of respondents anticipate telecommuting at least one day a week after the pandemic, up from 16% who telecommuted at least one day a week pre-pandemic. Among the 60% of respondents telecommuting during the pandemic, approximately half would want to continue to telework 3-4 days per week.

These telework findings are consistent with other local and national surveys of employers and employees that predict sustained higher rates of teleworking. The implications are significant for proposed transportation projects in the region, in particular highway and arterial expansion projects that are largely based on the premise of addressing peak-of-the-peak commuting congestion. Transit service planning will also need to adapt.

Of note, three fourths of the trips in the region are for non-commuting purposes, so even if the region’s residents are teleworking more, they will still want shorter and easier trips that don’t always involve getting in the car. This is where land use, walkable design and housing options (things not covered in the survey) are particularly important in making travel more efficient, safer, and more equitable.

4. People overwhelmingly support expanded pedestrian zones, bike lanes, bus lanes

Three quarters of survey respondents said they support post-pandemic use of street space for expanded pedestrian access and restaurant seating. Strong majorities also support bike lanes and bus lanes, and a narrow majority (54%) support dedicated bus lanes even in situations that involve removal of on-street parking. It’s not only city residents who want dedicated bus lanes, either: the majority of survey respondents live in suburban areas, with a plurality from outer suburbs.

These findings are particularly important as communities throughout the region are considering whether to make temporary pandemic-related pedestrian and cafe areas and slow streets more permanent and even expand them.

Likewise, multiple bus projects that could involve dedicated lanes are under study throughout the region - for example, Route 7 and Route 1 in Fairfax County, expansions and improvements to Flash in Montgomery County (such as US 29 inside the Beltway), various corridors in DC’s bus priority program and piloted car-free lanes, and Duke Street in Alexandria.

5. Those surveyed care more about climate change than congestion

84% of the region’s residents agree with the statement that elected officials need to consider the impacts of climate change when planning transportation in the future. For residents under 30 years of age, those most impacted by our long-range planning decisions and by climate change, that percentage rises to 92%.

Meanwhile, less than half of respondents (44%) indicated that traffic congestion is a significant concern that impacts their lives. 25% said congestion was somewhat a concern that impacted their lives a little (see #6 below).

The region recently adopted a new climate change action plan, and transportation planning decisions being made this year, such as those by TPB, will play a critical role in whether the region meets its adopted emissions targets.

6. Residents of car-dependent “outer suburbs” are most dissatisfied with the regional transportation system

Satisfaction with the transportation system is highest in the Core jurisdictions (Arlington, Alexandria, DC) and then declines heading outward:

Concern with traffic congestion shows the reverse - highest in the Outer Suburbs (Prince William, Loudoun, Frederick Counties) and lowest in the Core:

What these results suggest is that the more compact development in the Core and parts of the Inner Suburbs (Prince George’s, Montgomery and Fairfax) does not reduce the satisfaction of residents when it comes to transportation, and may reflect the variety of transportation options available (walk, bike, transit) and shorter commutes and trips to the corner store.

7. Residents say that future generations will thank us more for clean transportation, transit, walking, and biking investments than for wider roads

The survey asked “What transportation investments should we make today that future generations will thank us for tomorrow?” and allowed respondents to provide their own open-ended answers. The majority of the answers involved clean transportation, public transportation, and improvements for walking and biking. A much smaller group cited parking and roads, with roads comprising a mix of fixing existing roads and bridges and responses related to more or wider roads.

What’s next?

TPB will compile a draft list of projects, policies, programs and planning assumptions for the federally required long-range transportation plan during the remainder of February and March and will present this for public comment in April.

It should be noted that an issue shared by both the TPB and DC surveys was the under-representation of lower-income respondents compared to the general population. TPB has conducted focus groups to help address this challenge and will report the findings in a few months.

This draft package will be finalized by the TPB Board in June and then undergo detailed modeling and testing (referred to as “air quality conformity analysis”) through the remainder of 2021. Then in 2022, the results will be assessed, and a final draft plan prepared. Typically, at that point TPB makes few if any significant changes to the plan after presenting the analysis results and hosting a last round of public comment.

Thus, this spring is when critical decisions will be made by TPB on the overall direction of the plan. How will TPB staff, committee members and elected official representatives decide to reflect the survey and forthcoming focus group results in Visualize 2045?

Readers interested in Visualize 2045 and public involvement opportunities can sign up for TPB email updates here.