SOVs Now Only 30% of Downtown Seattle Commuters (Sammamish, Issaquah: apartments, home)

[CrazyDonkey]

More people in Seattle walking, using transit to get to work

About 70 percent of commuters are choosing not to drive alone into downtown Seattle. Instead, people are using transit (47 percent), walking (6 percent), biking (3 percent) and taking other methods to work.

Compared to 2010, solo drivers decreased by 5 percent. It’s that trend that Commute Seattle focuses on. “If they have to drive to work, or really want to drive to work, they have to hope we are successful giving other people options not to,” Hopkins said. “If we want the economy to grow, and jobs to come to Seattle instead of some other city, then you have to be able to get around. If everybody drives, nobody is getting anywhere … everybody is just stuck.”

[...]

“When you add all that up, 95 percent of our job growth has been non-drive-alone modes,” Hopkins said.

Find the full study here: http://dm8ofb4kaam4z.cloudfront.net/...port-FINAL.pdf

[mhays25]

Awesome trend.

I'd expect the walking commuters would keep increasing as new apartments are added.

[GatsbyGatz]

It's the logical option. Navigating downtown by car is a chore. I'm personally very excited to watch the Seattle region continue to grow denser. I'm sure our region will look drastically different in 20 years.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by mhays25

Awesome trend.

I'd expect the walking commuters would keep increasing as new apartments are added.

From the article:

Hopkins said that about 14,433 new residential units were built in downtown Seattle between 2010 and 2016. That is likely more than 20,000 new people living in downtown, he said. It could also be a factor for the increase in walking, bike riding and transit use. Commuting a short distance would not require a car.

[homesinseattle]

That's great news. Necessity breeds change.

[tobester]

Then why are the car pool lanes almost always wide open? Do you think people are just embarrassed to say they drive alone most of the time and stretch the truth a bit?

[mhays25]

Typically a "wide open" carpool lane still carries more people than a regular lane. Every bus replaces a ton of cars.

[Hemlock140]

I have free parking in a downtown garage at my office, and work 6-2:30, so the commute in the morning is a breeze. Going home, even at that early hour it takes about 20 minutes longer to get home due to the traffic. This week I have been driving (alone) for good reasons but normally I take the bus, just because I hate dealing with the traffic on I90 in the afternoon. I rarely need my car during the day, and the exercise walking from/to the bust stops is good for me. With a bus pass from my employer it also saves a little money, with gas still below $3 and getting 23 mpg, it's about $6-7 a day to drive. Many people are the same way, the buses to Issaquah and Sammamish are packed every day with people who could afford to drive even if they had to pay for parking.

[GatsbyGatz]

I live literally across the street from a light rail station. I work downtown and it takes me about 12 minutes to get to work. I absolutely love it.

[OneTimeSEALover]

"Hopkins said that about 14,433 new residential units were built in downtown Seattle between 2010 and 2016. That is likely more than 20,000 new people living in downtown, he said. It could also be a factor for the increase in walking, bike riding and transit use. Commuting a short distance would not require a car"

In 1955-56, my father had a one year assignment in San Francisco. One brother and I lived down there. As a kid, the cable cars were like a toy. But the shocking discovery was daytime walkers on Market Street. I'd love to have a photo of that now. Nothing in Portland prepared me. Sidewalks just filled with people. Hundreds crossing downtown streets at once. So, my most recent Seattle trips haven't anywhere approached that. But, who knows? A day may come when some Seattle streets will look just like downtown San Francisco in the middle 50's (or today. It hasn't been a travel destination for me.)