THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 24, 1995 TAG: 9502220113
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 12D EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATRICIA HUANG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Never mind what the future holds for Chesapeake roads. Focus for a moment on the here and now.
That's what city transportation officials were hoping residents would do during last week's public meeting to discuss ways to ease congestion.
A film that city officials showed residents at the public meeting revealed alternative methods to easing congestion. It explained the benefits of Rideshare, High Occupancy Vehicle lanes and mass transit.
Resident Robert Brown, who attended the meeting, was one skeptic of mass transit.
``You're not going to get people to ride mass transit,'' the Deep Creek resident said. ``If I go to get a two-by-four at HQ and find out that they don't have it, I have to go somewhere else, and I'm not going to be carrying a two-by-four on mass transit.''
It may not seem practical in every instance, said Virginia Department of Transportation official Frank Dunn, but even if new roads are built, people will still need to learn how to ease congestion.
Roughly 670,000 people commute daily in Hampton Roads. Approximately 74,000 of them commute in Chesapeake, according to Hampton Roads Planning District Commission statistics. And about 75 percent of those Chesapeake commuters travel alone.
Census figures show that the percentage of people who carpool dropped about 40 percent from 1980 to 1990, said Dwight Farmer, a traffic planner with the commission.
In 1980, every four cars carried a total of about five passengers, Farmer said. That's about 1.25 people per car. Now, he said, there are about 1.1 persons per vehicle, which means every 10 cars carries a total of about 11 people.
``That's roughly the way the trend has been,'' he said. ``In order to bring that number back up, we need to be pro-active about things like HOV lanes.''
If one in every five cars carpooled once a week, motorists would see a big difference in traffic, he said.
``If you work downtown or something, you probably travel alongside the same people every day,'' Farmer said. ``The misconception is that people think if you carpool, you have to do it every day.'' MEMO: COMMUTING FACTS About 670,000 people commute daily in Hampton Roads
About 74,000 people commute daily in Chesapeake
In 1990 - 75 percent of those Chesapeake commuters rode alone
In Hampton Roads:
Percent who carpool in 1980 - 23.7
Percent who carpool in 1990 - 14.7
KEYWORDS: COMMUTER TRAFFIC TRAFFIC JAM by CNB