A report published by the US Census Bureau indicates that while commuters in our area mostly travel to work by car, residents in the DC-area use public transportation at higher rates than the national average. The report gathered demographic and travel-to-work data from one of every 38 households nationwide. Among the findings, people traveling between Arlington and DC use forms of transportation besides driving alone more than half the time. Carpool rates are much higher for counties located on I-95 South, probably due to the HOT lanes.

The report also confirms that DC has some of the highest commuting rates in the nation. However, only 75.7% of commuters drive to work, well below the national average of 85.8%. DC Metro is the choice of transportation for 8% of the remaining commuters. Public transit is used by 5.2% of commuters nationwide. Nationally, the rate of driving to work alone or with others peaked at 87.9% before dropping to its current rate of 85.8%. [GGW]