Study: Gaithersburg-BWI Travel Time is Slower

It takes longer to travel from Gaithersburg to Baltimore/Washington International (BWI) Thurgood Marshall Airport, a travel-time study released by the Transportation Planning Board (TPB) has determined.

Travel time from Gaithersburg to BWI rose steadily during the morning (63 minutes in 2003 to 78.2 minutes in 2011), midday (50.7 minutes in 2003 to 53.9 minutes in 2011) and evening (51.8 minutes in 2003 to 82.7 minutes in 2011) over an eight year period, as reported in the Transportation Planning Board's most recent TPB Weekly Report.

But it doesn't stop there—lane-miles of congested highway during morning rush hour in the Washington region were projected to increase more than 100 percent in outer suburban areas from 2010 to 2040, the report states.

During that same time, lane-mile increases in the overall region are expected to increase by 38 percent.

The 2011 Ground Access Travel Time (GATT) Study was completed as part of a TPB Continuous Airport Systems Planning Program and looked at travel to BWI, IAD and DCA.

Gaithersburg is not alone. From most of the 15 plus residential and commercial centers that the National Capitol Region TPB studied, one-way travel times to airports by highway went up during the evening rush hour.

When it comes to airports, the report states the Federal Aviation Administration projects a 120 percent increase in local air passenger originations at BWI by 2040, compared to 2010 levels. It also cites a 220 percent increase projected at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) and a 40 percent increase at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) during that period.

The increase is just as dramatic in other areas, such as Tysons Corner, where travel time to National Airport jumped from 24.8 minutes to 44.3 minutes, according to the report.