Transportation Impacts of the 2013 Federal Government Shutdown in Northern Virginia

Abstract

AbstractThis paper investigated the impact that the 2013 United States federal government shutdown had on the transportation system in Northern Virginia. Transit ridership data before and during the shutdown were provided by three transit agencies operating in Washington, DC, and its Northern Virginia suburbs. A month of pre-shutdown road volumes and travel times were collected for comparison with the 2-week shutdown period and 2 weeks after the shutdown. As expected, roadway volumes, high occupancy vehicle (HOV) volumes, and transit ridership all saw reductions during the shutdown, with impacts being larger in the second week of the shutdown than the first week. The modes that saw the largest impacts were HOV and the local bus service in the counties surrounding Washington, DC. This is likely unsurprising since these modes are often used by work travelers for their daily commute. Changes were more modest for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) system, arterials, and freeway general...