Every eight years, the National Household Travel Survey asks people around the world how they get around, where they go, and how long it takes them to get from Point A to Point B. The most recent edition was developed in 2017. Except for the pandemic, it provides a decent indication of where traffic on our local roads goes to and from on a regular basis.
Just 19% of the trips that we take each year are for work or work-related activities. Many people would think that that is dramatically wrong. The National Household Travel Survey indicates that when we leave our house, 38% of the time we are going shopping, 28% of the time we are headed to social or recreational activities, and only 11% of the time we are taking trips to school or houses of worship.
As we deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, traffic along Maryland highways has fallen approximately 40%. Therefore, 60% of the cars still seem to be on the road as people continue to make trips for essential jobs or to buy groceries.
Another surprising statistic: 60% of all trips made in the United States are less than six miles while 35% of all trips are under three miles. Not surprisingly, 83% of all trips made nationwide are in private vehicles. Previous blogs have addressed the fact that we do not have enough density in the United States to warrant significant transit.
What is going to happen after the shut-down is over? More walking or biking? Many locations lack safe sidewalks, crosswalks, or bike lanes. In 2017, over 4,100 pedestrians and bicyclists within Maryland were involved in a crash. Baltimore County built a ½ mile of sidewalk on a suburban street at a cost of $125,000 or $250,000 per mile.
Today, buses across Maryland are slow and infrequent, in part because they get stuck in traffic. If we are going to expect transit use to increase in the future, then we must have dedicated bus lanes. Cities around the United States have found that dedicated bus lanes can reduce travel times by up to 20%, make bus schedules more reliable, and even reduce crashes. Some jurisdictions, such as Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Howard Counties plan to build dedicated bus lanes, but it is yet to come to fruition. Montgomery County is making the mistake of building their first so-called Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) System, but it will not have dedicated bus lanes.
What will our “new normal” look like when it comes to transit? COVID-19 is changing just about every industry – and transit is not immune to this virus. Time will only tell.