By Eric M. Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Washington area workers are more likely to travel to jobs outside their home counties than commuters in any other region in the nation, according to a new study.

A higher percentage of Virginia residents live and work in different counties than commuters in any other state; Marylanders ranked second, according to "Commuting in America III," a national report on commuting patterns and trends published yesterday by the Transportation Research Board.

The Washington region is second only to New York for the percentage of workers with "extreme commutes," which the study defined as 90 minutes or more each way. Of the 12 counties with the highest percentage of long commutes, the region had three: Prince William, Prince George's and Montgomery.

The extreme commutes of Prince George's and Montgomery residents suggest that many of them are traveling to jobs in other suburbs rather than in the District.

Alan E. Pisarski, the Falls Church-based author of the report, said the region also has rush hours that are beginning earlier.

"It's the combination of those things that really makes the area stand out," he said.

But the report also highlights some positive trends in the region, such as the use of transit and carpools. Washington ranked third in that area, just behind New York and San Francisco.

The report was based on an analysis of census data and is considered by transportation planners to be the most comprehensive study of commuting habits. Previous editions were published in 1996 and 1987.

Across the nation, there are more cars and more drivers on the roads. According to the report, 30 million vehicles were added to households between 1990 and 2000, with 13 million of them going to households that already had two or more vehicles.

And there are more solo drivers logging more hours on the road. The number of drivers who commute alone grew by nearly 13 million in the past decade, and the number of workers with commutes over an hour jumped by nearly 50 percent in the same period.

Among the national findings in the report, Pisarski said the number of immigrant workers has increased, helping to counter the number of baby boomers who are retiring.

Many of the new immigrants share rides, boosting the number of carpools. Although immigrants make up 14 percent of all workers, they represent about 40 percent of those in large carpools, according to the report.

Pisarski sad that although Washington will always have a large suburb-to-city commuting pattern because of federal government jobs, changing national patterns show that reverse commuting is growing fast, increasing by 20 percent in the 1990s.

Although the report looks back in time, Pisarski said the future growth of the Washington region and the demand for skilled workers probably will force changes in coming years.

"You will see people making longer commutes to live where they want to and work where they want," Pisarski said. "The good news is that there will be more people working at home, and employers will be forced to be more flexible in schedules. Employers will have to create options, especially to attract women and older women in the workforce."