Seattle leads nation in percent decrease in SOV commuters since 2005 (Bellevue: apartment, neighborhoods)

[CrazyDonkey]

Solo Seattle car commuters drop to lowest number ever - Curbed Seattle

1. Seattle 48.5% -8.8%
2. Boston 37.4% -5.9%
3. San Francisco 35.3% -4.5%
4. Washington DC 33.6% -3.9%
5. Chicago 49.5% -3.8%
6. New York 21.8% -1.8%

Seattle is doing this without a mature mass transit system, unlike the other major cities with fewer than 50% SOV commuters. Where will we be in another ten years?

The Census numbers also provide a little insight into why these numbers might be changing. The number of Seattleites biking to work is up 135 percent in the last decade and those walking to work is also up to a new high of 10.7 percent. Some of that has to do with the increased ease of that option thanks to evolving housing and development in the city.

[mkarch]

The fact that it's related as a percentage and not absolute numbers doesn't give a whole lot of insight into what happened. Downtown was a residential dead zone 10 years ago.

[tobester]

These numbers sure don't jive with what I see - more often than not, the HOV lanes are wide open while four lanes are filled with SOV. I'm guessing these numbers are self-reported, people afraid to confess they drive alone. Even, then it still says half drive alone ... high compared to other cities.

[Hemlock140]

When I started this job in Seattle (2009) I was in a van pool for about a year, that turned into a car pool. As people left, the car pool dissolved. I have been on the bus now since 2011, though I drive (alone) most Fridays. What I have noticed is that traffic has gotten worse every year, but at the same time the buses have gotten more crowded from Seattle via Bellevue to Issaquah. I truly believe that more people are taking public transportation or carpooling, finding it more relaxing to surf on their mobile device and rest while zooming along in the HOV lanes. At the same time, many more people are moving here and that makes up for any benefit to the commute.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

When I started this job in Seattle (2009) I was in a van pool for about a year, that turned into a car pool. As people left, the car pool dissolved. I have been on the bus now since 2011, though I drive (alone) most Fridays. What I have noticed is that traffic has gotten worse every year, but at the same time the buses have gotten more crowded from Seattle via Bellevue to Issaquah. I truly believe that more people are taking public transportation or carpooling, finding it more relaxing to surf on their mobile device and rest while zooming along in the HOV lanes. At the same time, many more people are moving here and that makes up for any benefit to the commute.

From the article:

The number of commuters who bike to work remained steady at four percent while those who commuted via transit remains relatively the same at 21 percent. That’s not bad given the job growth numbers and the fact that both options are only becoming easier around the region.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by tobester

These numbers sure don't jive with what I see - more often than not, the HOV lanes are wide open while four lanes are filled with SOV. I'm guessing these numbers are self-reported, people afraid to confess they drive alone. Even, then it still says half drive alone ... high compared to other cities.

It is census data (American Communities Survey) - while the specific percentages have "a fairly large margin of error" (from linked source), the overall downward trend, over a decade, is clear. The article states that it is "Share of workers driving alone to work by place of residence", so includes only Seattle residents, I presume, so for corresponding numbers for cities outside of Seattle, you'd need to hunt down the numbers for those cities.

The article states: "The number of commuters who bike to work remained steady at four percent while those who commuted via transit remains relatively the same at 21 percent." That, despite a significant increase in population over the decade.

Note: Seattle overwhelmingly voted for, while County voters rejected, increasing transit funding. If transit use in the County is not keeping pace with population growth, suburban voters only have themselves to blame.

Actually, if you'd bothered to read the article, you would have seen that half commuting alone is low compared to other cities - only the major cities I listed have less than half commuting alone.

[pikabike]

If the complaints about people not interacting are true, then I suppose it doesn't matter if another person is in the car, LOL. They help pay the expenses.

[Ira500]

Downtown Seattle, Capitol Hill, Queen Anne, The Central District, etc have seen tremendous development over the last few years, and these are neighborhoods close enough to work that most of them wouldn't be driving to work. so it's not so much a case of existing residents changing their lifestyle as much as new apartment building being built close to work.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by Ira500

Downtown Seattle, Capitol Hill, Queen Anne, The Central District, etc have seen tremendous development over the last few years, and these are neighborhoods close enough to work that most of them wouldn't be driving to work. so it's not so much a case of existing residents changing their lifestyle as much as new apartment building being built close to work.

That certainly accounts for some of the decrease in SOV commuters in Seattle. On the other hand, transit from neighborhoods further north of those mentioned above are bulging with riders, even with additional buses/trips. Overall, transit use is tracking population growth.