New survey tracks Central Texans’ commuting, telework habits

CENTRAL TEXAS (KXAN) — A new survey released last week is giving further insight into Central Texans’ commuter habits and appetites for remote work opportunities.

The Central Texas transportation management association Movability released Aug. 30 final findings from its 2023 Central Texas commuter survey , where the organization randomly sampled and surveyed nearly 1,000 people across Travis, Williamson and Hays counties about their existing transit behaviors and engagement with shared or active transit modes.

Of those surveyed, 72% said they have to work from a workplace or job site at least part of the time, with 60% of respondents saying they’d rather commute minimally or only some of the time. However, those trends vary among counties, with Travis County respondents reflecting more access to remote work opportunities than those elsewhere, said Lonny Stern, executive director of Movability.

“Most of us have to commute three or more days per week, and we saw that, particularly, as you move further out from the city of Austin,” Stern said. “So it’s up to a third of us have to commute five days a week, and in Hays County, it’s 42% have to commute five days a week. So it really varies across the region.”

For those teleworking, Mondays and Fridays were the most common days of the week for employees eligible to telework to work remotely. From the survey, the weekday telework percentages broke down by county as:

• Monday:
  • 30% teleworking in Hays County
  • 39% teleworking in Travis County
  • 29% teleworking in Williamson County
  • 33% teleworking overall
• Tuesday:
  • 22% teleworking in Hays County
  • 33% teleworking in Travis County
  • 21% teleworking in Williamson County
  • 26% teleworking overall
• Wednesday:
  • 23% teleworking in Hays County
  • 32% teleworking in Travis County
  • 24% teleworking in Williamson County
  • 27% teleworking overall
• Thursday:
  • 22% teleworking in Hays County
  • 35% teleworking in Travis County
  • 27% teleworking in Williamson County
  • 28% teleworking overall
• Friday:
  • 29% teleworking in Hays County
  • 45% teleworking in Travis County
  • 35% teleworking in Williamson County
  • 37% teleworking overall

When considering commuting times and habits, childcare factored into some people’s decision-making, with 13% of respondents saying they leave from home or work at specific times to accommodate childcare needs. Stern said prioritization led to Movability’s own focus on a school carpool program it launched, as well as a greater trend of employers offering on-site childcare to meet people where they’re at.

“We’ve seen that employers have started offering childcare on site, or even making decisions to offer childcare along high-frequency transit lines. Makes it a lot easier for parents to do that pick-up and drop-off on their way to work, rather than having to make this large car trip out of their way and then get stuck in this congestion that all of us are so familiar with,” he said.

And congestion is the name of the game in Austin, as several large-scale projects like the Interstate 35 central project, the overhaul of the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and Project Connect’s light rail system come down the pipeline. Survey findings revealed vanpooling was the least popular transit mode in all three counties surveyed, but Stern said those shared-transit options are going to be especially critical as construction ramps up on these projects.

“People don’t need to make the perfect the enemy of the good,” he said. “This isn’t about seven days a week [of public transit] or getting rid of your car altogether. This is about combining some trips, thinking about getting all of your chores done at the same time, or sharing the ride with someone else.”

Those minor changes can include utilizing a CapMetro bus service, riding a bike or utilizing micro-transit options being introduced in communities surrounding Austin. Round Rock Rides, Pflugerville’s Pfetch-a-Ride and the City of Kyle’s Uber program feature subsidized transit offerings that can make the introduction to mass transit more digestible, Stern said.

All of this data helps inform Movability on existing behaviors and how to meet people where they are. Some respondents are already on track for a more multimodal-friendly transit habit, with 36% saying they are “car lite,” with fewer cars than the number of people in their household.

That trend is a promising one, given Movability’s research found the likelihood of vanpooling or other shared-transit usage decreases with every additional vehicle a household owns.

“We wanted to understand the decisions people were making and what their barriers are, and so now we have a better sense of that and what their standards are,” Stern said.

The full commuter survey analysis is available online . Those interested in learning more about shared or active commute transit options can find tips and resources on Movability’s Get There Central Texas platform.

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