The Virginia Department of Transportation today released traffic data on commuting patterns of motorists whose commutes cross the American Legion Bridge.

Sixty three percent of Virginia commuters who cross the American Legion Bridge during the morning rush hour are heading to points east of the Capital Beltway such as Bethesda, Silver Spring and College Park; while 65 percent of Maryland commuters crossing the bridge are heading to points west of the Beltway, such as Tysons, Dulles, or I-66 corridors.

“The origin-destination study was conducted on traffic crossing the American Legion Bridge to help us determine where motorists’ trips begin and end,” said Tom Farley, VDOT Northern Virginia district administrator. “Our goal was to get a general idea of the commuting patterns of traffic from locations in Virginia crossing into Maryland and headed for major employment centers, and vice-versa for Marylanders coming into Virginia.”

The traffic data will help transportation agencies better understand traffic patterns and will be useful to other ongoing and future regional transportation studies.

During October and November 2003 between 6 and 9:00 a.m., infrared cameras captured 59,000 vehicle license plates at 15 locations between I-66 in Virginia and I-270 in Maryland. The Maryland and Virginia Departments of Motor Vehicles matched 92 percent of Virginia tags and 95 percent of Maryland tags to zip codes, providing the general origins of commuters headed to general destinations in the neighboring state.

Study Findings

Of the 11,234 matched Virginia license plates during the morning commuting period, 63% (7,130) were observed heading eastward (toward I-95 or toward destinations east of the Beltway in Maryland), while 37% (4,104) headed west or northwest (toward destinations generally in the I-270 corridor).

Of the 12,229 Maryland commuters observed, 7,929 (65%) had destinations west of I-495 in Virginia while 4,300 (35%) had destinations east of the Beltway.

Approximately 55% of the Maryland vehicles with origins in the I-270 corridor crossing the American Legion Bridge headed to destinations west of the Beltway. Approximately 23% of the Virginia vehicles crossing the American Legion Bridge that have origins west of the Beltway in Virginia have destinations in the I-270 corridor.

Approximately 30% (2,988 of 10,053) of vehicles observed traveling west on the Dulles Toll Road and Dulles Airport Access Road were Maryland-registered vehicles. However, some of these could have entered Virginia via the Woodrow Wilson Bridge or a route other than the American Legion Bridge.

The study is available at http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/const-project.asp?ID=176

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NV04-17

Page last modified: May 13, 2004