Gas Prices Propel Rise In Carpoolers, Metro Users

There are signs that many area commuters are leaving their cars in the garage and taking transit or are carpooling because of record-high gas prices, though most Washington motorists appear unwilling, or unable, to forgo driving alone.

The amount of traffic on most of the region's major commuter routes last week was about the same as the week after Labor Day last year -- traditionally one of the busiest times on the highways as the return of vacationers, students and Congress cause traffic to surge to its usual, congested level.

Traffic should have increased from a year ago because of all the new people and businesses that have flocked to the region. Transportation experts suggested that the fact traffic has not risen substantially is evidence that people have altered their routines.

The numbers of drivers on Interstate 66 in Virginia and Route 50 in Maryland were down slightly, while traffic on Interstate 270 and the Beltway in both states increased slightly.

The numbers of vehicles using the carpool lanes on I-395 increased a little and traffic in the interstate's regular lanes was virtually the same.

Lon Anderson, director of public and government affairs at AAA Mid-Atlantic, said the leveling off in Virginia is especially surprising because the state "has certainly been growing. Loudoun is one of the fastest-growing counties in the country, and Northern Virginia hasn't added any mass transit."

Many more commuters are riding Metro. Subway ridership has jumped by about 50,000 people a day over the same week last year -- nearly an 8 percent increase that well outpaces the system's normal 2 percent to 3 percent annual growth.

Metro officials are so concerned about increases in ridership caused by high gas prices that they cautioned riders last week to expect rush-hour trains to be even more crammed than they have been. Officials also said that many users probably would have to wait for a train or two to pass before being able to board. Officials asked riders to travel on the "shoulders" of peak periods, when there is more room.

Metro officials also said that parking at subway stations would be tighter than usual and that many major bus routes in the city would strain to absorb new riders.

Representatives for commuter rail lines in Virginia and Maryland said the ridership numbers have risen moderately since last year, which they attributed to normal growth plus some new riders trying to escape high gas prices.

One of the starkest changes since gas prices started increasing dramatically is the number of people looking for carpools, which increased by at least 30 percent, according to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

"To have a 30 percent jump is just extraordinary," said Ronald F. Kirby, transportation planning director of the council, which coordinates carpools and encourages people to work from home.