What Makes You So Special, Nation's Capitol?

Is Washington, D.C. a model for cities everywhere in terms of telecommuting?

According to the National Capitol Transportation Planning Board, in Washington D.C. (and as reported here) there are fewer drivers on the road in the nation’s capitol when compared to data from from just ver a decade ago. Although the article does not mention telecommuting directly, one has to wonder how much of this shift is related to a change in commuting habits.

According to the report, “Getting to and from the office now accounts for only one-fifth of area motorists’ trips. That number is down from roughly a quarter of all trips fifteen years ago” and while people are still using their cars quite often, they are “more likely to be running errands like driving to the gym or picking up kids from school.”

While the report doesn’t offer any sound news about what impact telecommuting might have had on this downsizing in the number of commuters, I spent some time looking into the ways the city has promoting teleworking programs to see if there was any direct correlation between city-wide pushes for telecommuting and the lessened number of cars on the road.

Before I begin, however, I am open to the idea that fewer people are driving in D.C. because it’s a complete nightmare. Morning commutes in the capitol are notoriously ghastly and yes, this is something I’m willing to consider. Still, it seems that there must be something more substantive behind the reduction in commuters other than the obvious reasons about aggression, congestion, and hassle….

Rather surprisingly, Washington D.C was named one of the best cities for telecommuters in 2006 after a study (found here) conducted by Intel and the research organization Sperling, and it was not simply because it’s one city that everyone wishes they could avoid commuting in either. It should be noted, however, that the city does carry the dubious distinction of having one of the longest on-average commute times, so this is a factor, but by no means the only one.

Rather, Washington D.C. is (and has been—one of the first) uniquely situated to become a model in the telecommuting movement. Why? Because it has invested time, energy, resources, and much-needed attention and also simply because it has a workforce that is particularly well-suited to mass telecommuting.

Two ways in which the city excels as a leader of the Remote Revolution are in terms of general working sectors and technological infrastructure. Washington D.C. is home to many white-collar workers who have been using technology for years to communicate and perform work. Taking work home to avoid the commute is more of a natural extension than it might be in other areas that have a lessened concentration of such workers. Secondly, the capitol city is home to more WiFi hotspots per capita than any other city in the United States, or at least this was the case in 2006 when the report was released. I had some trouble finding a more recent comparison or analysis of figures, but I imagine that they’re still at the top of the list—again, in terms of per-capita numbers.

The Obama administration’s emphasis on making the federal government a model for telecommuting initiatives even further helps carve out a place for D.C. as a leader in this push. Although the results have yet to become manifest in any real way yet for federal workers on the large scale, one can expect this to be carried out and lead to more remote workers in Washington D.C. over the coming years.

I realize that D.C. has a distinct advantage due to their higher numbers of non-manufacturing or on-site positions, but I think that their early push to expand broadband access—from shops and local parks to all public areas--is one of the first signs of a city doing something right.

What is your city doing? Enough?