D.C. Metro Stops Poised for Growth in Ridership

Factors like telecommuting and ride-sharing services seem to have taken a bite out of transit ridership in the Washington, D.C., region. And managerial troubles at Metro haven't helped. The agency's planners, though, are looking towards a bright long-term future. 

They aren't so concerned about today's ridership numbers as they are about the number of people who will live and work within a half-mile of an existing transit stop. That's the commonly accepted radius of a "walk-shed"—the distance that commuters are willing to walk to get to a transit stop. Some estimates show that a full 86 percent of the office space under development in the metro area falls within a walk shed. Meanwhile, 90 percent of office leasing deals that were closed this year were for properties within a walk shed. 

Much of this growth will take place in formerly moribund areas on the District's east side, with some stations expected to gain nearly 10,000 daily riders by 2020—for a total of 84,000 added trips per day and $240,000 in added revenue.