A typical commuter drives 17 miles by himself each morning to work and parks his car free of charge. Travel mode is one of the key pieces of information tracked in the Commute Profile series. Despite some small annual variations, data from this year's survey support a relatively stable mode split over the long-term. The drive alone rate is essentially the same now as inthe first year 1993 when commute mode data were first collected of the survey. The number of commuters telecommuting, although it represents only a small percentage of total trips, has increased significantly in the last three years.
Slower speeds are most likely the result of increased congestion.
The percentage of commuters indicating that their commute conditions were worse increased significantly in the last year. Given the growing employment and population and limited resources for expanding the region's transportation capacity, this does not come as much of a surprise. On the positive side, there appears to be an increased willingness of respondents to try options to driving alone. Sixty percent of respondents who were currently using a carpool, vanpool or bus indicated that the carpool lane had influenced their choice of travel mode. Modifying the region's infrastructure to discourage driving alone is a difficult and long-term challenge, but based on the evidence here one that has merit.