Transportation in Washington, D.C.
[1] Of the 260,000 Washington, D.C. residents that were employed as of 2000, 24% commute to jobs in Montgomery, Prince George's, Fairfax, and Arlington Counties, as well as Alexandria.
[4] The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Washington, for example, to and from work, on a weekday is 86 min.
Within this grid, all streets are a part of one of the four quadrants of the city — Northeast (NE), Northwest (NW), Southeast (SE), and Southwest (SW) — all centered on the Capitol Building.
Portions of I-66 and I-95/I-395 in Virginia are HOV roads (only vehicles carrying multi-occupants or using hybrid energy are allowed during weekday rush hours).
In December 2001, Metro initiated a relationship with Flexcar, a private company which operates car sharing networks in several North American cities.
[10] The international car sharing company, which offers one-way rentals charged by the minute, increased their vehicle fleet to 400 in 2013.
When measured by ridership, the Washington Metro is the second-largest rapid rail system in the United States and fifth-largest in North America.
Riders pay using a SmartTrip Card, and the fare is determined by distance traveled on the system as well as the time of day.
WMATA also operates Metrobus, a regional bus system serving D.C. and the closest immediate counties (described in greater detail below).
MARC provides service from Union Station to Baltimore and Perryville with intermediate stops, on both the Camden and Penn Lines.
MARC's Brunswick Line provides service between Martinsburg, West Virginia, with intermediate stops, and Union Station.
VRE trains also stop at several Metro stations, including L'Enfant Plaza, Crystal City, King Street–Old Town, and Franconia-Springfield.
Amtrak's nonstop service Auto Train to Sanford, Florida, originates 30 minutes south of the city in Lorton, Virginia.
[15] The Metrobus runs the Richmond Highway Express, a limited-stop bus route between the King Street–Old Town station of the Yellow and Blue lines of the Washington Metro and Fort Belvoir.
The DC Circulator used to cost $1.00 to ride, and took passengers through central Washington, especially along the tourist-dense locations of the National Mall and surrounding area.
[16] The Maryland Department of Transportation and several privately operated companies provide bus service during weekday rush hours between D.C. and more distant counties such as Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Howard, and St. Mary's in Maryland; and Fredericksburg, Loudoun, Prince William, and Stafford in Virginia.
OurBus offers intercity bus service to New York City, Philadelphia, Allentown, Binghamton, and Ithaca from Union Station.
The company also serves the DC suburbs including Tysons, Rockville, Bethesda, and Columbia with direct service to New York City.
[21][22][23][24] Higher education campuses in the area offer on-site and commuter transportation, such as the University of Maryland's Shuttle-UM.
Since 2003, the general aviation airports closest to Washington, D.C., have had their access strictly limited by the implementation of the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
Dulles Airport uses an underground rail system, called AeroTrain, to connect concourses B and C with the main terminal.
[29] Washington, D.C., formerly had the largest bike sharing service in the U.S. with 1,100 bicycles and 110 rental locations (New York City's CitiBike program is now larger).
[31] The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) provides advice and information to bicycle commuters, as well as lobbying for better cycling conditions.
