The 2022 Seattle Commute Study was intended to capture insights into Seattle area commuter trip choices and motivators, as well as origins and destinations. The results give transportation planners a clearer picture of travel trends in relation to demographic groups, employment types, and housing.
The Washington State Commute Trip Reduction law requires worksites with 100 or more full-time employees who begin their shift between 6:00 and 9:00 a.m. on weekdays to conduct a biannual commute survey. Commute Seattle has led this survey work since 2010, and in partnership with the Downtown Transportation Alliance, it has used the results to measure progress toward the city’s mobility goals. In 2022, Commute Seattle joined with the University of Washington’s Mobility Innovation Center and the Department of Urban Design and Planning to improve and expand upon the survey and evaluate current transportation systems.
The survey was conducted between October and December 2022. It received 64,355 overall responses. Highlights of the study’s findings include the following:
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday downtown commutes differed considerably from those on Monday and Friday. For example, while 63 percent of respondents teleworked on Mondays, only 44 percent teleworked on Tuesdays.
Rates of single-occupancy driving differed between those employed within and outside of central Seattle. In central Seattle, 21 percent of respondents drove alone to work at peak times, a drop from 26 percent in 2019. On the other hand, 40 percent of people who worked at large employers outside of central Seattle drove alone to work, and only 30 percent reported teleworking.
Respondents with central Seattle workplaces said that in fall 2022 they used public transit 22 percent of the time to connect to downtown, up slightly from 18 percent in 2021 but lower than a peak of 46 percent in 2019.
Survey respondents reported that the most important factors affecting their travel choices were time/commute duration, flexibility and convenience, and cost/affordability.
New portions of the survey collected findings related to respondents’ home location. The survey revealed that nearly 75 percent of people drove alone for trips to grocery stores, healthcare, and school-related trips, and they took more of these trips per week than they did trips between home and work. People with children or dependents at home were more likely to drive alone to work than those without such dependents. People who lived in single-detached housing were more likely to telework at least a portion of the time and to drive alone or vanpool to work, whereas those in apartments and condos were more likely to work in person and to walk, take an employer-provided shuttle, and use Uber/Lyft.
New portions of the survey also collected findings related to income and travel options. The survey found that people in higher-income households were more likely to telework or have hybrid commute options. People in households making less than $90,000 were more likely to take public transit than those in households making more than $90,000, a reversal of pre-pandemic trends.
Authors:
Lamis Ashour
Qing Shen
Anne Vernez Moudon
UW Department of Urban Design and Planning
Barton Treece, III, UW Mobility Innovation Center
Sponsors:
Commute Seattle
Challenge Seattle
Pemco Insurance
BECU