While commuting from Herndon / Reston, VA to Washington, DC, Sameride riders save up to $300 a month on the Metrorail, bus or vanpool fares. At the same time, Sameride drivers use express lanes toll-free which saves them around $610 a month. Both Sameride riders and Sameride drivers commute up to 23 hours a month faster.
 

Ride Only

* Slug type of commute is available only one way from Herndon / Reston to Washington, DC

 

Drive Only

* Slug type of commute is available only one way from Herndon / Reston to Washington, DC

 

Ride and/or Drive

 
To determine time and cost of the commute from Herndon / Reston to Washington, DC and back we have used our own experience and surveyed commuters who are using commute options we have calculated time and cost for.

In case you have comments or want to share your commute time and cost, please leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

There are 3 ways how you can get from commuter lot in Herndon / Reston, VA to office in Washington, DC:

  1. Ride only;
  2. Drive only;
  3. Ride and/or Drive

Note that these definitions apply for the commute segment from Herndon, VA commuter lot to the office located in Washington, DC. This means that commuters who only ride still drive from their homes to the park and ride commuter lot.

So, if you are not driving at all and are only riding from Herndon, VA commuter lot to your office in Washington, DC, your commute options are:

  • take local bus + Metrorail;
  • take bus;
  • use Sameride Commute

If your preference is to drive only, you have options:

  • drive alone express lanes;
  • drive alone regular lane;
  • use Sameride Commute

Finally, if you are OK with riding some days and driving another you are able to:

  • vanpool;
  • carpool;
  • use Sameride Commute

It is up to you whether to ride or drive while using Sameride Commute. For example, you might drive today and ride tomorrow. So it is flexible in this regard. Actually, you don’t have to drive at all while using Sameride Commute.
 

General assumptions

Monthly time and costs
We have used average monthly time and average monthly cost for commute options as of October-December 2018. This makes sense as commuters who use public transportation like train and bus or use vanpool service are purchasing monthly tickets or paying monthly fees. Also, drivers who park in Washington, DC typically pay for parking on monthly basis. We use 20 commuting days in one month derived from 22 work days minus 2 days for telecommuting and other reasons for not commuting.

We did not make any adjustments for the tax deduction or compensation from the employer which depends or the residence status and the employer.

Commute start
We have used 8:00 am as a time when commuters arrive in their offices and 4:30 pm as a time when commuters leave their offices. So we were calculating commute duration based on commuting in respective hours. This seems to be the typical case for the majority of commuters for this commute route.

Commute locations
For morning pick-up location we have used Herndon-Monroe Park and Ride Commuter Lot in Herndon, VA:

  • Herndon-Monroe Commuter Lot, Nearest Address: 12528 Sunrise Valley Dr, Reston, VA 20191, USA.


See our post about all park and ride commuter lots in Herndon / Reston, VA area

We have used 500 12th Str NW, Washington, DC for the office location in Rosslyn as a middle point to highly concentrated employment areas in Washington, DC


Assumptions by commute options

Commute by Local Bus + Metrorail
We have used WMATA website as a source of price and time information between Wiehle-Reston East Metro station in Reston, VA and Metro Center Metro station in Washington, DC.

In addition to Metrorail, commuters will be using Fairfax Connector bus that cost $1.50 each way and takes 10 minutes.

Commute by Bus
We have used WMATA website as a source of price and time information between bus stops at Herndon-Monroe Park and Ride Commuter Lot at Sunrise Valley Dr (Address: 12528 Sunrise Valley Dr, Reston, VA 20191) and N Moore St & Rosslyn Station Bus Bay C, Arlington, VA.

Commuters who use commuter bus will be using other means of transportation to get to their office in Washington, DC.

Slugging
Slugging is available only one way (morning commute) from Herndon-Monroe Commuter Lot, Nearest Address: 12528 Sunrise Valley Dr, Reston, VA 20191.

Driving alone regular lanes
Drivers pay more than just fuel costs. In addition to gas, driving expenses include other costs such as maintenance, repair, and tires. We did not include relatively fixed driving cost related to car ownership: car depreciation, insurance, registration, license, taxes, finance charges, other costs such as car wash because those costs are not directly driven by the commute.

We have assumed that parking in Washington, DC costs $200.

For driving time we have used Google Map to estimate commute duration between Herndon-Monroe Commuter Lot, Nearest Address: 12528 Sunrise Valley Dr, Reston, VA and office at 500 12th Str NW, Washington, DC.

Driving alone express lanes
Driving alone express lane includes all cost of driving alone regular lanes. In addition, driving alone express lanes requires paying the toll. We have used expresslanes websites for toll and time calculation on I-66 Express Lanes and Dulles Toll Road for the commute time frames under consideration.

Driving and picking-up sluggers
Slugging is available only one way (morning commute) from Herndon-Monroe Commuter Lot.

Commute by Vanpool
Vanpool cost is calculated based on the fees vanpool providers are charging and the assumption of driving van 10% of the times for driving credit.

In addition to the driving time, we are adding 5 minutes each way for dropping off vanpool participants and waiting for pickups.

Commute by Carpool
Carpooling is another ridesharing option that is quite efficient.
For carpool, we are assuming that there are 2 people in the carpool who are taking turns in driving their own cars and share parking in Arlington, VA. That is why the cost of carpool is 1/2 of driving cost.

In addition to driving time, there are 2 minutes each way of waiting for carpooling partners at pick-up and for detouring for drop-off.

Using Sameride Commute

Sameride Commute allows drivers to use HOV/HOT express lanes without paying tolls and allows riders to commute for free. This type of commute is similar to slugging or carpooling but it is on-demand and provides commute to and from office (custom drop-off and pick-up). So it is more convenient and predictable both for drivers and riders. Commute time with Sameride is less than driving alone on express lanes because of using I-66 and Dulles Toll Road HOV-2 lanes.

Sameride Commute is the cheapest option to commute for riders – it’s free. And it is the best money- and time-saving option for drivers.

We have added 1 minute of waiting/detouring for Sameride commuters.

Flexibility is another criteria that we have compared commute option against. The smile emoji corresponds to the level of flexibility. Metrorail, bus, vanpool or carpool commuters are less flexible because of schedules and/or long-term commitments. Sameride Commute can be used once, every day or a few times a week when it is needed. Sameride doesn’t require any long-term commitments. Also, you can request/offer a ride for the time that works the best for you.


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