Good: Transit access. Bad: Long commute
Friday - 8/19/2011, 8:31am ET
Neal Augenstein, wtop.com
WASHINGTON -- Most people in the area have access to mass transit on a daily basis, but most of those who use transit spend hours each day riding.
A new report by the Brookings Institution says of the more than two million Washington area households, 9.5 percent don't have a car. Of those auto-free households, 96 percent have access to mass transit.
The access is nice. The ride isn't.
Sixty-two percent of households depending on mass transit have more than a 90-minute commute from their jobs.
The Examiner quotes experts who say the Washington area needs to create denser development, with suburban hubs containing housing, jobs and entertainment.
Some mixed-use development is in the works, centering on current and future Metro stops including Tysons Corner and New Carrollton.
According to the study, income rather than location is often the reason a household does not have a car. More than two-thirds without cars are low-income individuals.
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(Copyright 2011 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
