Of the town’s employed people, 4,619 (41.81%) work within Westerly. Of the rest – those who commute outside of Westerly – 36.7% commute to New London, CT. Westerly is seen as a bedroom community for New London, and an increasing number of residents also commute to Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun, two casinos in Connecticut. Connecticut's Shoreline East rail runs to New London, only one stop from Westerly. The stretch of rail from New London to Providence is the only part of the New York to Boston corridor not connected by commuter rail. Despite low ridership numbers generally, Connecticut has been interested in extending Shoreline East to Westerly. A major barrier to frequent rail service in Connecticut is the series of drawbridges along the path – they are the intersections of boat and train traffic, however, Shoreline East is currently planning renovations to all stations on their line.

Year 2000 Draft Census data detail commuting patterns to and from Westerly and current and proposed stations along the rail line. The tables we present below do not include other commuters from proximate towns – Charlestown, West Warwick, Quonset/Davisville, etc. – who might use commuter rail. (Data sets include number of workers/commuters and percent of commuters from origin to destination)

Potential future rail commuters from Westerly to RI towns with existing train stations:
Commuting to:

Providence 138 workers 1.25%
Warwick 158 workers 1.43%
East Greenwich 16 workers 0.14%
North Kingstown 195 workers 1.77%
South Kingstown 462 workers 4.18%
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Totals 969 workers 8.77%

Potential future rail commuters from other RI towns to Westerly:
Commuting from:

Providence 28 workers 0.04%
Warwick 85 workers 0.20%
East Greenwich 26 workers 0.43%
North Kingstown 149 workers 1.08%
South Kingstown 352 workers 2.62%
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Totals 640 workers -------

TOTAL potential rail commuters to/from Westerly: 1609 workers

1995 forecasts by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation estimated that, with the extension of the commuter rail to Westerly, daily boardings at Westerly Station for the Year 2000 would be 268. This is equivalent to a 17% capture rate, when comparing it with our commuting data. The consulting firm Cambridge Systematics, Inc. arrived at this figure by looking at journey-to-work data, creating computer models, comparing Rhode Island to other metropolitan areas, and determining capture rates. Significantly, the estimate does not factor in TOD or other potential methods of capturing a larger percentage of commuters. It also only looks at weekday commuter rail. Both Westerly and South Kingstown are major beach destinations, with tourists coming from both north and south during summer weekends. The commuter rail line could be an appealing alternative to congestion on I-95 if it were to run on the weekends, especially if there were public transportation/RIPTA service linking the Westerly Station with the beaches.