Study Finds Trend Away From Solo Commuting by Car : Transit: Researchers say 22% in Southland are not driving to work alone. Average trip time has not increased over last year.

Fostered in part by anti-pollution regulations designed to lure lone drivers out of their cars, 22% of Southern Californians say they now commute by car-pool, bus, bicycle or foot--a significant increase over last year, a survey by Commuter Transportation Services Inc. shows.

In its third annual State of the Commute report, the nonprofit group that operates the Commuter Computer ride-sharing service said Los Angeles County has the region’s lowest rate of people commuting alone, 76%, while Orange County has the highest rate, 86%, and the worst traffic congestion.

The report, which is scheduled to be released today, is based on a survey of 2,568 commuters in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. It found the region is bucking a national trend that saw alternative commuting fall one-third in the last decade. During that time, alternative commuting in Southern California climbed by nearly 30%.

Surveyors queried telephone respondents about their “primary” way of commuting--the way they travel three or more days a week--as well as the length of their commutes in miles and minutes. They also explored commuters’ perceptions of whether traffic is improving or worsening.

The report found that despite a population boom in Southern California, the amount of time spent commuting last year did not increase. Commuters in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties averaged half an hour to and from work, while Riverside and San Bernardino County commuters took slightly longer.

One in three San Bernardino commuters drive to jobs outside their county, the report found, and drivers in San Bernardino and Riverside counties face the region’s longest average trip--21 miles, more than double the national average. The average commute in Los Angeles and Orange counties is 15.5 miles.

Surprisingly, about one-third of all drivers in Los Angeles and Orange counties rated freeway traffic as good, despite growing concern about congestion. Half the respondents rated rush-hour traffic as “always bad” or “more often bad” and the rest wrote it off as “mixed.”

The afternoon rush hours were considered worse than the morning crush.

Commuting patterns reflected sex and status, with male corporate executives the least likely to consider getting out of their cars. About 19% of men commute by car-pool, bus or other means, while 24% of women share a ride.

Differences are even sharper among social classes--about 7% of senior managers use some kind of alternative commute, while 33% of maintenance workers do, primarily by bus. Secretarial and clerical workers are the most frequent car-poolers--20% choose to do so.

Clean-air programs designed to reduce auto emissions are paying dividends on the freeways, too. Alternative commutes are most popular at companies that are required by anti-pollution regulations to promote ride-sharing.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District requires companies with 100 or more workers to promote, even subsidize, alternatives to driving alone. Some firms provide gifts, shorter hours or other benefits to car-poolers, while others pay part of the cost of bus passes. Fully 27% of employees at these firms use alternatives, contrasted with 18% at other companies.

Lone commuters were very selective about the alternatives they would consider, favoring car-pools and van-pools over buses and trains. However, commuter trains rated consistently more attractive than buses among these drivers, even though trains are less common, less convenient and usually more expensive than buses.

Commuter Transportation Services is funded by Caltrans and other government agencies to promote car-pooling, van-pooling and other “alternative” methods of commuting--that is, other than by commuting alone in a car.

The car-pool advocates were cautiously pleased with the results. Although the rate of alternative commuting is growing, they warned, it is not growing fast enough to match growth in the region, which has three of the nation’s 10 fastest-growing cities--and one of its longest average commutes.