Chapter 1, ACCS Strategic Plan

This text-only version is offered as a more accessible alternative to this PDF document: Arlington County Commuter Services Transportation Demand Management Plan (PDF, 2.6 MB).

Text-Only Table of Contents

OVERVIEW OF THE TDM PROGRAM

Arlington County Commuter Services (ACCS) is the Transportation Demand Management (TDM) provider for Arlington County, Virginia. Every year, ACCS updates its Strategic Plan in order to focus resources and energy toward providing Arlington residents, employees, businesses, and visitors with transportation information and services that support a vibrant and livable community. This TDM plan, with a six-year outlook spanning Fiscal Years 2018 through 2023, also serves to meet state reporting requirements. As such, this plan follows state-defined guidelines.

Through innovative TDM programs, Arlington County has been able to change travel behavior by making it easy for residents, employees, and visitors to use all available transportation options to meet their travel needs. As shown in the annual Arlington County Transportation Division Performance Report, TDM strategies and programs correspond with a decrease in the percentage of drive alone trips, which in turn helps maximize the overall efficiency of the transportation system, reducing congestion, and improving the environment and air quality.

HISTORY        

Arlington County Commuter Services is the Transportation Demand Management (TDM) agency for Arlington County, Virginia. Established in 1989, ACCS provides information and innovative services that change travel behavior by making it easy and intuitive for users of Arlington’s transportation network to choose walking, biking, public transit, and sharing the ride to meet their travel needs to, from, and within the County. ACCS originally began by providing transit marketing, transit fare media sales outlets (the Commuter Stores®), and employer services. These services have evolved, developed and grown over the history of ACCS. The County’s rapid population and employment growth over this period, which includes the development of the transit-oriented Rosslyn-Ballston and Jefferson Davis corridors, necessitated greater promotion of multi-modal transportation options in order to not only maintain, but also enhance the quality of life in Arlington.  

From 1989 to 2002, ACCS operated within Arlington’s Department of Public Works as the Commuter Assistance Program. In 2002, the Commuter Assistance Program changed its name to Arlington County Commuter Services (ACCS) as part of a rebranding effort to reflect a wider scope of programming and services. At the end of 2010, reflecting the elevated status of TDM with the Transportation Division, ACCS was made its own Bureau, reporting to the Transportation Director along with the Transportation, Engineering & Operations, Transit, Planning, and Development Bureaus.

Programming began with the launch of the “Transit Store” in Ballston in 1989, which continues to provide residents, workers and visitors access to transit options information, fare media sales, and highly rated customer service today under the name “Commuter Store®.”   This concept now includes four locations and three Mobile Commuter Stores®. ACCS expanded in the 1990s, adding sophisticated marketing capabilities and cutting edge websites in addition to its retail stores. In 1998, ACCS played an integral role in informing the public about the introduction of Arlington’s fixed-route bus service, Arlington Transit (ART). That same year, ACCS scaled-up employer services programming and began providing employer and residential sales and services through a new program – Arlington Transportation Partners (ATP). The addition of ATP consolidated employer services that were formerly provided by several small area transportation management associations, making it possible for ACCS to serve employers across Arlington County in a more streamlined manner. By 1999, ACCS had launched its fare media sales and transit benefit services through a new online portal, CommuterDirect.com®.

In the early to mid-2000s, ACCS further expanded to include specific walk and bike programming via the WalkArlington and BikeArlington initiatives. In 2003, the TDM for Site Plan Development program began as a mechanism through which to coordinate large development projects with TDM infrastructure and services and to ensure that property managers comply with TDM responsibilities. In 2006, ACCS began its first research program. The following year, the Arlington’s Car-Free Diet Program was launched. In 2008, the program opened a new Commuter Store in Shirlington and installed the first real-time transit information display in the County. By 2010, along with the introduction of Capital Bikeshare in Arlington, the ACCS research program evolved into Mobility Lab, an original repository of TDM research, a convener of thought leaders, a laboratory to test and pilot new tech solutions for public transportation, and a communications platform for disseminating best practices in TDM. It was a Mobility Lab program that eventually birthed TransitScreen, an innovative technology that provides consolidated, real-time information on transit in a given area.  Finally, in the last few years, ACCS has developed even more targeted marketing and technology to support the provision of TDM services. The graphic below (Figure 1) shows a timeline of ACCS’ programmatic expansions from 1989 to the present.

Figure 1 Text Only

1992 Crystal City Commuter Store Opens

1993 Rosslyn Commuter Store Opens

1997 CommuterPage.com Launches

1998 Employee Services Becomes Arlington Transportation Partners

1999 Commuter Information Center Begins Operations, CommuterDirect.com Launches

2003 WalkArlington Program Launches, Distribution Center Launches, TDM for Site Plan Development Program Launches

2006 BikeArlington Program Launches, Research Program Launches

2007 Car-Free Diet Initiative Launches

2008 Shirlington Commuter Store Opens, Real-Time Transit Information Display Launches

2010 Mobility Lab Launches, Capital Bikeshare Arlington Launches

2012 Transit Tech Initiative Launches, Hispanic Language Marketing Initiative Launches

2014 CarfreeAtoZ.com Launches

2015 ATP Launches Vanpool Connect Initiative, BikeArlington Debuts Comfort Bike Map and Premieres Documentary Film Series, ACCS Launches TDM for Schools Program, ACCS Recognizes 29 Bicycle Friendly Businesses

2016 ATP Employer Services Surpasses 800 Members, ACCS Recognizes 35 Bicycle Friendly Businesses, Bike to Work Day Sees Over 3,000 Attendees

Awards

As shown in Table 1, over the years, ACCS has received numerous awards recognizing the successes of its programs.

Table 1: ACCS Awards

GOVERNANCE

ACCS is a bureau within Arlington’s Transportation Division which operates under the Department of Environmental Services (DES). Like all other Arlington County government departments, DES is overseen by the Arlington County Manager. The County Manager is appointed by and reports to the Arlington County Board, which has five members elected at-large on staggered four-year terms:

• Jay Fisette, 2017 Arlington County Board Chair (Next Election: 2017);
• Katie Cristol, 2017 Arlington County Board Vice Chair (Next Election: 2019)
• Libby Garvey (Next Election: 2020);
• John Vihstadt (Next Election: 2018); and
• Christian Dorsey (Next Election: 2019).

Three advisory committees and one commission in Arlington County provide input to the County government and maintain contact with ACCS on various programs:

• The Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee, consisting of at least 15 members appointed by the County Manager, seeks to focus attention and resources on the role of bicycles and bicycling in the County. With the Arlington Master Transportation Plan’s bicycle section as a guide, the Committee advises the County Manager on issues related to bicycle safety and education, as well as maintenance of bicycle facilities. The Committee acts as a forum for citizen comments and coordinates with BikeArlington (an ACCS initiative) as well as Capital Bikeshare.
• The Transit Advisory Committee is made up of 15 members appointed by the County Manager who live or work in Arlington. The role of this committee is to advise the County Manager and staff on the implementation of the transit element of the Master Transportation Plan and on issues related to transit in Arlington, including Metrorail and Metrobus, Arlington Transit (ART), and STAR.
• The Pedestrian Advisory Committee, comprised entirely of volunteers, advises the County Manager on pedestrian issues in Arlington, including those that relate directly to the pedestrian element of the Master Transportation Plan. The Committee is closely connected to WalkArlington, an ACCS program.

In addition to these advisory committees, Arlington’s Transportation Commission, consisting of anywhere from seven to 13 members appointed by the County Board, acts as an advisory body to the County Board on virtually all transportation issues, including streets, transit, pedestrians, taxis, and bicycles. Like the Bicycle Advisory Committee, the Transportation Commission monitors Arlington’s transportation system as it relates to the Master Transportation Plan.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND STAFFING

ACCS provides TDM services to residents, employees, businesses, and visitors. On a business to business level, ACCS works with Arlington business managers and executives, property managers, and hotel managers who, in turn, work with their respective employees, tenants (both commercial and residential), and guests to utilize travel options such as public transit, biking, walking, and sharing the ride. These businesses serve as intermediaries between ACCS and the traveling public and efficiently extends ACCS’ outreach capabilities beyond simply direct contacts. On a direct end-user, or business to consumer level, ACCS provides information and education to residents, employees, and visitors via County-wide information campaigns, customized events, retail displays, commuter websites, direct mail, stationary and mobile commuter retail stores, as well as at bus stops.

Internally, ACCS staff work with Arlington County planners and agencies, including other planners within the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services (DES), the Department of Community Planning, Housing, and Development (CPHD), Arlington Economic Development (AED), and the Transportation Commission. In this supporting role, ACCS represents the “voice of the customer,” providing end-user insights and customer-oriented programming concepts.  ACCS’ primary role is that of a TDM agency; however, per direction and with support from the Arlington County Board, ACCS has grown to provide additional transportation functions and services. ACCS staff work with Arlington’s Transit bureau to design, maintain, and replace all transit-related signage around the County. Additionally, ACCS’ sales and marketing expertise is leveraged across the Transportation Division.

ACCS executes external and internal functions through nine business units, each of which is listed and described in Table 2.

Table 2: ACCS Business Unit Descriptions

In order to meet the needs of the County and consistently provide award winning programs and services, ACCS has developed an organizational structure that is efficient, results-oriented, and cost-effective.  ACCS’ Bureau Chief is at the head of organizational structure; reporting to him are the Director of Marketing, the Director of the TDM for Site Plan Development program, and the two major long-term contract managers that provide management and oversight to the contracts under which the remaining business units operate. Staff working in ACCS business units fall into three categories:

Full Time Arlington County staff members:

• ACCS Bureau Chief;
• Marketing Director; and
• Transportation Research and Site Plan Development Manager.

Long-term contracts:

• The Destination Sales & Marketing Group, Ltd. (Operators of Arlington Transportation Partners, Bike Arlington, Walk Arlington, TDM for Site Plan Development, Capital Bikeshare and Mobility Lab);
• The Convention Store, Inc. (Managers of the Commuter Stores®, CommuterDirect.com®, and Distribution); and
• NeoNiche Strategies and Pulsar Advertising (Managers of Marketing programs).

Other long-term contractors and subcontractors, including:

• Redmon Group;
• LDA Consulting;
• Southeastern Institute of Research (SIR);
• MetroBike LLC;
• Nelson Nygaard; and
• Foursquare Integrated Transportation Planning.

The organizational chart below (Figure 2) identifies departments, reporting relationships, and identifies under which contractors and Arlington staff members operate. Currently unfilled positions are marked by blank white boxes.

ORGANIZATION CHART OMITTED FROM TEXT-ONLY VERSION

TDM SERVICE AREA

Arlington County is 26 square miles located directly across the Potomac River from Washington, DC. As one of the most densely populated jurisdictions in the country, Arlington is nationally recognized for its long-standing commitment to smart growth principles and transit-oriented development, concentrating development density around transit stations.

Population

Recent County numbers estimate Arlington’s population to be 220,400, reflecting an increase of 6.1 percent since 2010. The County’s population is forecast to grow to approximately 283,000 persons by 2040.  Arlington is also racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse; according to the 2015 One-Year American Community Survey (ACS), approximately 28 percent of Arlington’s residents belong to a non-White racial group.

Recent County-compiled numbers also indicate that nearly 29,000 people move to Arlington each year. Approximately 92 percent of these new residents come from inside the U.S.; the remaining number come from international locations. In keeping with a regional trend of west and south migration within the Washington, D.C. region, Arlington has consistently gained population from Montgomery County, MD and the District of Columbia. Currently, Arlington’s domestic out-migration rate is higher than its domestic in-migration rate; the County loses, on average, over 24,000 residents per year to places such as Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, and Prince George’s Counties, as well as the City of Alexandria. However, domestic resident loss has largely been recaptured by international in-migration.

Employment and Commute

Arlington County houses approximately 211,000 at-place employees. The County’s unemployment rate was estimated in 2015 to be 2.9 percent. The 2015 One-Year ACS estimates the County’s workforce participation rate – which indicates the percentage of the County’s population aged 16 and over that is employed or considered in the labor force – to be 79.7 percent. Since 2005, Arlington’s total employment has grown by an average of 1.1 percent per year, or 11 percent in all. Jobs in Arlington are forecast to grow by 36 percent (to 301,300) by 2040.   ,   

Arlington has approximately 9,262 employment establishments.   With between one and nine employees each, 76 percent of these establishments are relatively small. Just under three percent of employers house 100 or more employees; the remaining 21 percent of employers are mid-sized, employing between 10 and 99 workers. Federal, state, or local government employees make up 23 percent of Arlington’s labor force, as do employees working in the professional, scientific, and technical services sectors. According to the U.S. Census Bureau Local Dynamics Program, in 2015, the three employment industries with the highest rates of turnover in Arlington were Accommodation and Food Services, Construction, and Retail Trade.  

Table 3 shows Arlington’s commute mode share according to the 2015 Five-Year ACS. While just over half of Arlington’s workforce drives alone to work, 26 percent ride public transit. Six percent of workers carpool or vanpool to work. Approximately 14 percent of the workforce walks, bikes, teleworks, or uses another means to arrive at a job site.

Table 3: Commute Mode Share in Arlington (2015 Five-Year ACS)

According to the 2014 Five-Year ACS,  of Arlington residents who are employed, approximately 81 percent work outside the County, while the remaining 19 percent work in Arlington. Of all workers employed in Arlington, 85 percent live outside the County, while 15 percent also live in Arlington. Popular employment locations include Washington, D.C., Fairfax County, the City of Alexandria, and Prince George’s County. Via the 2014 Five-Year ACS, these figures are summarized below:

• 125,233 persons are employed in Arlington and live outside the County;
• 92,784 persons live in Arlington and are employed outside the County; and
• 21,181 persons are employed in Arlington and also live in the County.

Public Transit

Residents, employees, and visitors in Arlington are served by robust public transit:

• 15 ART bus routes operated by Arlington Transit, a bureau of the County’s Transportation Division. In FY2015, approximately 2.8 million riders used ART. ART weekday service runs between 5:30 AM and 1:00 AM with slightly reduced weekend service;
• 23 Metrobus lines operated by WMATA. In FY2015, Metrobus lines operating in Arlington had approximately 13.6 million riders. Metrobus weekday service runs between 4:00 AM and 2:00 AM with slightly reduced weekend service;
• 11 Metrorail stations (on the Blue, Yellow, Orange, and Silver Lines) operated by WMATA. Major transit hubs include the Rosslyn, Pentagon, Pentagon City, and Crystal City Metrorail stations, which together accounted for nearly 60 percent of the Metrorail ridership in Arlington County in FY2015. Metrorail operates fairly frequent service seven days per week;
• One Virginia Railway Express (VRE) station, Crystal City. The station offers connections to VRE Manassas and Fredericksburg Lines. VRE operates only on weekdays;
• Eight “OmniRide” commuter bus lines, operated by the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC). Within Arlington, PRTC provides service to destinations including the Pentagon, Crystal City, Rosslyn, and Ballston. OmniRide service operates only on weekdays; and
• 88 Capital Bikeshare stations, each offering bicycles for short-term rentals or to long-term members.

In addition to these providers, several Fairfax Connector and Loudoun County Transit bus routes service various locations in Arlington from points west. The Pentagon Transit Center is also served by an expansive Department of Defense (DoD) shuttle system available to DoD employees and contractors. Finally, Northern Virginia is served by an extensive “Slug-Line” (informal ridesharing) network that allows frequent commuters to carpool from Park-and-Rides to popular employment destinations.

Approximately half of Arlington residents and 75 percent of jobs are within a quarter-mile of the County’s Primary Transit Network, a subset of the County’s transit system (including bus and rail) providing service every 15 minutes or more for at least 75 percent of the day. Moreover, 90 percent of residents and 95 percent of jobs are located within a quarter-mile of a bus stop, while 34 percent of residents and 77 percent of jobs are located within a quarter-mile of a Metrorail station.

Finally, two paratransit services are offered in the region:

• MetroAccess, which is operated by WMATA; and
• Specialized Transit for Arlington Residents (STAR), which is operated by Arlington Transit.

PARTNERSHIPS

Partners and Advisory Groups

As listed below, ACCS currently engages in several partnerships across the region:

ACCS closely coordinates with Commuter Connections, a regional network of transportation demand management organizations coordinated by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG), the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Washington, D.C. region. ACCS is currently a member of the Commuter Connections regional network and sits on several of its working groups.

ACCS has been a part of the I-66 Outside the Beltway TDM Advisory Group as well as the I-66 Inside the Beltway TDM Advisory Group. Mobility Lab is currently leading the development of Transportation Management Plan measures for the I-66 Inside the Beltway project.

ACCS works directly with regional transit agencies, including WMATA, Maryland MTA, and VRE to sell fare media and administer WMATA’s transit tax benefit program, SmartBenefits®, through multi-year contracts with the Commuter Store®. The agency also provides marketing materials and deploys bus schedules as well as collateral material for ART.

ACCS has a close partnership with the District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT).  ACCS and DDOT work together to provide a comprehensive, similar approach to employer outreach through the goDCgo program.

Professional Memberships and Committee Affiliations

In addition, the Destination Sales & Marketing Group, Ltd., which staffs 30 of ACCS’ positions, maintains the following professional memberships and committee affiliations:

Memberships

• American Association of Public Opinion Researchers
• American Hotel and Lodging Association
• American Institute of Graphic Arts
• American Marketing Association
• American Planning Association/American Institute of Certified Planners
• American Public Transportation Association
• Arlington Chamber of Commerce
• Association for Commuter Transportation
• Association for Commuter Transportation Chesapeake Chapter
• Destination DC
• DC Surface Transportation Communicators
• Hotel Association of Washington D.C.
• Internet Marketing Association
• Leadership Arlington
• League of American Bicyclists
• National Association of City Transportation Officials
• North American Bikeshare Association
• Progressive Communicators of DC
• Public Relations Society of America
• Safe Routes to School National Partnership’s Healthy Food Task Force
• Society of Human Resource Management
• Transportation Research Board
• Urban Land Institute
• US Green Building Council
• Virginia Transit Association
• Washington Area Bicyclists Association
• Washington Area Concierge Association

Office Holders and Committee Positions

• Arlington Healthy Community Action Team
• Arlington Joint Committee for Transportation Choices (APS/DES)
• Association for Commuter Transportation – At-Large Board Member
• Association for Commuter Transportation – ACT Visioning Working Group
• Association for Commuter Transportation - Peer Advisory Leadership (PALs) Mentoring Committee
• Association for Commuter Transportation - Public Policy Committee
• Destination DC – Marketing Committee
• Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments – Bike to Work Day Committee Chair
• Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments – Bike to Work Day Planning Committee
• Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments – Car Free Day Committee
• Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments – Commuter Survey Group
• Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments – Marketing Committee
• Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments – Rideshare Committee & TDM 4.0 Working Group
• Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments – StreetSmart
• US Green Building Council – LEED Location and Transportation Technical Advisory Group
• Safe Routes to School National Partnership’s Healthy Food Task Force – Board Member
• Transportation Research Board – Survey Methodology Committee
• Transportation Research Board – TDM Committee Friend
• Virginia Department of Transportation – I-66 TDM Working Group
• Virginia Department of Transportation – NOVA TDM Working Group

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND PARTICIPATION

Outreach is conducted for specific projects as needed. For example, public input was sought and gathered for the Capital Bikeshare Transit Development Plan. ACCS’ also reports to and receives feedback from public commissions such as the Transportation Commission. Public feedback influences County decisions on programming, budgets, and priorities.

This text-only version is offered as a more accessible alternative to this PDF document: Arlington County Commuter Services Transportation Demand Management Plan (PDF, 2.6 MB).

Text-Only Table of Contents