Find Posts By Topic

Only 35% of Downtown Commuters Drive Alone

Wow. 

That means 65% of Downtown employees now commute by train, bus, bike, foot, carpool and other options.   When a political candidate or an initiative gets 65% of the votes, we call that a landslide.

More choices, less driving

More people choosing these travel options is good for Downtown employees, businesses and customers because it allows more people to get to Downtown on our finite roadway system. 

How did this happen?  There are many factors.  For years Sound Transit, King County Metro, the City of Seattle, businesses and others have made investments in commuter rail, light rail, streetcar, bus service, bus lanes, bike lanes and more.  These choices are complemented by programs to encourage people to use their options.  In addition, commuters are frustrated with congestion, gas prices are rising and people are living closer to work.

These numbers are particularly inspiring when you realize that Commute Seattle had set a goal to reduce drive-alone trips into Downtown to 44% by 2015 and that goal was surpassed four years ahead of schedule. In 2000 roughly 50% of Downtown commuters arrived by single occupancy vehicle.

All this information comes from a survey conducted late last year by Gilmore Research Group.  The pie chart below shows what percent of Downtown employees travel by each mode.  At 40% of all commute trips, transit delivers more employees downtown than any other method.

Learn more about the survey hereLearn more about Commute Seattle in last week’s blog post.