Originally Posted by comradehoser
My guess would be that the majority of people driving into the city along the 295 (and other freeways) are not stupid, but are doing what is most rational for them. A lot probably live outside the range of a doable (to the average person) bike commute. One of the most laughable statements of the OP is that the transit system here is great. If you live along a subway line, yeah, it's great, but the bus transit here is sadly slow. Subway transit is also as equally maxed out as the freeways at rush hour.
Traffic
You get used to it.
Or you arrange your life around it.
I manage to bike commute 4 or 5 times a year, if I'm lucky.
I drive to work. I run my own small company and need my car. Clients call and I need to go on short notice.
Drive to office - 10 minutes with lights, 5 miles, going against traffic
Bike to office - 35 to 40 minutes for the 10 mile non-highway route, 25 if I use the highway.
Metro bus - an hour if everything runs on time (10 min walk, 5 to 15 min wait for bus, 25 min bus ride, 20 min walk to office or wait for another bus.)
Coming home, 9 to 10 at night typically.
Drive - 5 min if I catch the lights right, and I often do the grocery shopping on the way back.
Bike - Half the ride is on unlit trails that close at dark. Or take the highway. Not as crowded that time of night, but still dangerous (see thread on cyclist killed on Arlington Blvd yesterday morning)
Metro bus - runs (erratically) only once an hour, and still takes over an hour to get home.
For me, no real contest for time and convienece. But I try to bike to work when I "know" that I won't have to go anywhere and can ride home before dark. Federal holidays are good because the county offices are closed and there's less traffic. Columbus day is a "maybe"
My wife commutes from Falls Church to Old Town by Metro. Walk, bus, orange line subway, transfer to blue line, then bus or long walk. Takes 1 hr 45 min each way when every thing runs on time. I can drive from our house to her office in the morning in less than an hour (45 min once)
The Metro subway is good and the buses are ok, but for me they often don't go where I need to go in the time I need to get there.
If I worked downtown and for someone else, I'd reconsider.
Originally Posted by dynaryder
Many folks live a haul away from DC due to housing costs. There's folks who live in Baltimore and commute by train because of cheaper housing. The buses around here suck. Also,there's only so many places you can cross the Beltway safely. So if you're not near Metro,and not inside the city,you may have to commute by car.
+1
I know people who commute to DC from Fredricksburg VA, Frostburg MD, Leonardtown MD and Berkley WV. They spend a lot of their life on the road.