Alternatives to the Car Culture

In recent decades, everyday life has come to center around automobile use for most people in the Washington, D.C. area, as it has throughout the U.S. and most of the developed world. For most of us, the idea of walking or riding a bicycle to the neighborhood grocery store, to school, or to the local post office seems to belong to a bygone era. For many, almost every activity outside the home requires a trip in the car. We live in widely-scattered clusters of houses that can't accurately be called communities, and spend an ever-increasing amount of time isolated in our cars, waiting for traffic to move. As we build infrastructure to accomodate automobile traffic, we often make it more dangerous, less pleasant, and sometimes impossible to travel even short distances without a car. Automobile dependency has a negative impact on our environment, our communities, our health, and our quality of life.

The tide may be slowly turning. There are many organizations advocating accessible, walkable cities and communities. Environmental groups have begun focusing on reduced dependence on cars to reduce air and water pollution and the need for new roads.

CommuterPage.com® has a wealth of information about alternatives to the car culture in the Washington, D.C. area: Bicycling & Walking, Metro Bus and Rail, Local and Commuter Buses, Commuter Rail, Telework, and Car Sharing. Also see the Commuting Links and Resources section.

Bicycling & Walking in the D.C. Metro Area

Bicycling and walking are healthy, inexpensive, environmentally benign ways of getting around, and many Washington area commuters find biking or walking to work or to public transportation both practical and enjoyable. The metro area has a great system of trails and other infrastructure that allow bicyclists and pedestrians to bypass traffic and arrive at work awake and energized. Read more.

Metro Bus and Rail

Metro is the safe, reliable bus and rail public transit system in the Washington, D.C. area. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) administers the Metro system. Read more.

Local and Commuter Buses

There are many publicly- and privately- operated local bus systems in the Washington, D.C. area, supplementing the regional Metro system (see below). CommuterPage.com® brings information about all of these systems together in one place. Read more.

Commuter Rail

The MARC Train Service in Maryland and VRE system in Virginia are a great alternative to driving for commuters who travel toward D.C. to go to work. Read more.

Telework/Telecommuting

More and more people are saving hours of commuting time each week by working from home or from a telecommuting center close to home. Read more.

Carsharing

Carsharing is sharing the use of a private vehicle with one's community. Carsharing is similar to car rental; the main differences are that an individual can use the carsharing vehicle for as short a time period as one hour, and that the cars are located in the communities rather than at a central car rental location to which one would need to drive. Read more.