Study: Linton Hall, Dale City among worst commutes

What was once a small town in Prince William has grown to not only become an area of dense suburban sprawl — it is now ranked the nation’s worst commuter town.

Linton Hall now holds the title of worst small town to commute from, according to a new report by Forbes magazine.

The area lies just west of Bristow, with a population of around 20,000. Linton Hall’s population exploded at more than 650 percent between 1990 and 2000, according to county figures.

The magazine based its study of the worst 100 U.S. towns on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which found the average commute from Linton Hall to Washington, D.C., took 46.3 minutes, 17 minutes longer than the average commutes in both New York City and Los Angeles.

Forbes said the Washington area has 18 towns on the top 100 list, the most for any metro area in the country.

Chicago comes in second with 16 of its suburbs on the list.

The data also said just 4 percent of Linton Hall residents used public transportation. Three quarters of the population there choose to drive alone.

While the numbers are eye-catching, area residents said the lack of public transportation in the area makes driving the only viable option.

“I work in Chantilly which is only 16 miles away and it will take me anywhere from 40 to 55 minutes to get to work at 5:30 in the morning,” said Wayne White, a teacher who lives off of nearby Sudley Manor Drive. “My wife works in the same area and she leaves at 7:45 a.m. and it takes her anywhere from an hour to an hour-and-a-half to get to work.”

OmniRide commuter bus service started its Linton Hall Metro Direct line in 2004, ferrying passengers from stops along Linton Hall Road to and from the West Falls Church Metro station four times during the morning and afternoon.

The service has been a success but the lack of adequate commuter parking stops more people from using it, said Christine Rodrigo, spokeswoman for the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission.

“We have a commuter lot at Limestone Drive, but other than that there are not any other commuter parking lots, so people who use the service tend to drive to the one commuter lot or walk to a stop that may be near their house. The lack of parking commuter parking is what is inhibiting the growth of the service,” Rodrigo said.

Some commuters said they have seen the commuter buses in the area but didn’t know about commuter shuttle to Metro. And since the area has grown exponentially without public transportation in place, some would still opt to drive their car.

“To be honest I have never seen a cab around here. I wouldn’t even know where to catch a bus. I wouldn’t even know how to ride a bus,” said Angie Paulraj, who drives Interstate 66 to get to her accounting job in Reston.

Paulraj said she was lucky enough to have a best friend work with her, one that she has been carpooling with for the past seven years. If it weren’t for the one HOV express lane on I-66, she said she would be unable to describe how bad her commute to work would be.

Paulraj and other area commuters do see some light at the end of the tunnel, after Linton Hall Road is widened from two to four lanes, from Sudley Manor Drive to Va. 28.

The expansion is slated to be complete in August of next year at a price tag of nearly $43 million.

Coming in at No. 6 on the list was nearby Dale City, with an average commute time of 41.3 minutes. With a population of more than 63,000, Forbes said 68 percent of residents drive to work alone.
The two best small commuter towns in the country were Cedar City, Utah, and Ponca City, Okla. Both towns had average commute times under 13 minutes, said Forbes.

Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.