Category: Priorities

This Wednesday, July 19, the COG Transportation Planning Board (TPB), will finalize the list of projects in their long-term study (details below). The public is invited to testify and your input is crucial, either in person or via email (using the button below).

What TPB is voting on

In light of studies showing our current long-range plans do not have enough capacity to handle future travel needs for our region, and if we don’t add major new transit and road capacity, congestion gets much worse, TPB is studying 10 major projects to see what impacts they would have, including two projects SMTA has long supported (because previous studies show they would be highly effective):

  • Regional Express Travel Network * Express toll lanes network (free to HOV and transit) with added lanes where feasible on existing limited access highways (including remaining portion of the Capital Beltway, I-270, Dulles Toll Road, U.S. 50); includes expanded American Legion Bridge.
  • Additional Northern Bridge Crossing / Corridor * New northern bridge crossing of Potomac River, as a multimodal corridor

Key Talking Points

We are urging TPB to support of the resolution as drafted by TPB staff and their Long-Range Planning Task Force. The key issue is whether or not remove any reference to new bridge crossings in this long-term study.

  • The only purpose of TPB Long-Range Planning Task Force was to look at major new projects like a new bridge, that are not in current plans. To take this out would be to abdicate TPB’s core responsibility to make sure the region has the facts and has looked at all options.
  • There are several potential bridge routes that have NO impact on the Agricultural Reserve that should be studied – we won’t know if this is viable or not until we look at the facts
  • Both I-270 express lanes AND a bridge are crucial – it’s not one or the other – and since I-270 is already in the plan, the only question is to study a bridge crossing or not
  • Previous studies show a new bridge could divert from 40,000 to 105,000 trips a day OFF the American Legion Bridge, which is by far the region’s worst traffic choke point. How could TPB justify a long-term study that did not include this?
  • A new bridge could save commuters 67,000 hours per day
  • Why are bridge opponents so afraid of a study? Regional leaders need to ask them why they don’t want the public to have the facts.

How to testify

  • In Person: Show up at the Council of Governments between 11:15 and 11:30am, Wednesday, July 19th (you need to be there early to sign up, just ask for the public comment list. Each speaker gets 3 minutes and several of us will be there to assist you). The office is walking distance from Union Station and there is plenty of parking in nearby garages. Here is the address: 777 North Capitol Street NE, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20002
  • Written Comments: If you are sending comments, it is preferable to send them via this form/link or by email at least the day before and the staff will distribute them to the TPB members. TRY TO DO THIS TODAY. Your comments do not have to be long, but use any of the talking points above, or your own words to clearly state why the region needs to study all options for traffic relief.

14317513_10154549555773781_4197299944284408040_nArea leaders, including U.S. Representatives John Delaney and Chris Van Hollen, and a host of local and state officials from Montgomery and Frederick Counties, gathered today to launch a new coalition effort to re-start two long-delayed project studies that hold great promise for unlocking the severe traffic nightmare that is I-270 during both rush-hours. Congressman Delaney is the group’s Honorary Chair and played a key role in its creation.

The bipartisan group of business, civic and elected leaders will press for multimodal solutions, including new express-toll lanes and regional bus-rapid-transit (BRT) using those new lanes, with the current general-purpose lanes remaining free of charge. Two project studies, the I-270/US 15 Multimodal Corridor Study and the Western Mobility Study have been on hold for decades and would be necessary to complete before any long-term construction projects to add significant new lane capacity could begin.  The Fix270Now coalition is urging leaders in both parties to make restarting those project studies a top priority, and to include a multimodal express-toll and BRT alternative, running from the Virginia side of the American Legion Bridge, up the 270 Spur and the entire I-270 corridor, all the way to Frederick.

In the short term, the coalition is supporting efforts by Governor Larry Hogan to upgrade key interchanges and provide an additional $100 million to explore innovative congestion management strategies.

In the long-run, studies show the addition of new toll lanes integrated with a regional BRT system that includes the long-planned Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT) would improve peak-hours speeds for outbound travelers in the afternoon rush-hour by up to 87%, and for inbound morning rush-hour travelers by up to 70%.

Maryland cannot afford further delay on proven steps to keep traffic in the state’s number-one job-creation corridor moving.  SMTA is strongly supporting this effort, as both I-270 and the American Legion Bridge are among our top-priority projects that area transportation experts identified as urgent investment priorities to support our region’s economy and protect our quality-of-life. Please take a moment to add your support for this important effort by using the “sign-up” button at Fix270Now.org. Let’s get Maryland moving!

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Morning rush-hour conditions created the perfect backdrop for the launching of Fix270Now.

pln_logo_sharp_smallPurple Line Now is hosting a forum at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Services center September 29th to explore Denver’s experience with a light-rail line delivered through a public-private partnership, as is also the case with Maryland’s Purple Line.

Guests are invited to sign up in advance to attend. Click this link to RSVP.

The Purple Line is one of SMTA’s top-priority projects and would help connect the region and more effectively utilize our current Metro system, enabling tens of thousands more residents to enjoy faster, more efficient east-west trips from Bethesda to College Park and other destinations and spark greater economic investment in key inside-the-Beltway communities.

Construction was expected to begin by the end of 2016, however, legal challenges have once again delayed this priority project. More information is available at the Purple Line Now website, including updates on the project’s status and this latest court challenge.

 

A recent poll released today at a briefing of area leaders shows transportation is by far the top long-term concern for residents of the Greater Washington Region. Overwhelming majorities also favor significant new investments in both the area’s highway and mass transit networks. Large majorities in this regional poll of 800 residents in Maryland, DC and Virginia support:

  • Investing in the core capacity of the existing Metro system (though not necessarily its further expansion);
  • plus major new multi-modal investments to widen and redesign several highway corridors, including I-270, the Capital Beltway,  portions of I-66, and the American Legion Bridge, adding new express-toll lanes and regional bus-rapid-transit service on each;
  • as well as Virginia’s Bi-County Parkway, a new Potomac River bridge crossing north of the American Legion Bridge, and two new transit lines in Maryland, the Purple Line and Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT).

Public support for all of these projects was exceptionally strong, ranging from 4-to-1 to 12-to-1 margins, in all cases. The survey was conducted by OpinionWorks and commissioned by the Suburban Maryland Transportation Alliance (SMTA) and the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance (NVTA).  A summary of findings is provided in our April 18th press release.

“Washington-area residents are clearly fed up with traffic and want to see more investment in both transit and roads,” said SMTA Chair Jennifer Russel. “We need to stop looking at this as a ‘roads vs. transit’ issue; people want to see a lot more investment in both.”

In addition to the findings on several major transit and road projects that have been recommended by area experts, the poll also found:

  • Area residents see transportation as the greatest long-term issue or challenge facing the region, by a 3-to-1 margin over the next highest answer (jobs/economy) to an open-ended question
  • Residents give the region’s transportation an average grade of “C”, but by a margin of nearly 2-to-1 feel it is getting worse instead of better
  • Residents identify “reducing traffic congestion and delays” as the most important transportation priority for the region by a margin of nearly 2-to-1 over the next highest answer (maintenance)
  • 84% of area residents favor investing in both roads and transit, rather than one or the other
  • 80% of commuters drive or carpool to work; 18% use transit; 4% walk or bike (NOTE: commuting accounts for 20% of all daily trips)
  • 86% of non-commuting trips are by car; 5% use transit; 8% walk or bike (NOTE: non-commuting trips account for 80% of all daily trips)

Among the major projects tested:

  • 67% favor the Purple Line in Maryland (44% strongly support), only 10% are opposed (5% strongly)
  • 59% favor the CCT in Maryland (34% strongly), only 9% are opposed (7% strongly)
  • 70% favor widening I-66 outside the Beltway in Virginia (34% strongly), 12% are opposed (6% strongly)
  • 70% favor widening/redesigning I-270 as a multi-modal corridor in Maryland (47% strongly), only 10% are opposed (5% strongly)
  • 54% favor the Bi-County Parkway in Virginia (25% strongly); 13% are opposed (6% strongly)
  • 71% favor widening/redesigning the Maryland Beltway to add express-toll lanes and regional express-bus service (47% strongly), 11% are opposed (7% strongly)
  • 59% favor adding new express-toll lanes and regional express-bus service to the American Legion Bridge (36% strongly), 13% are opposed (7% strongly)
  • 59% favor building a new bridge crossing north of the American Legion Bridge (39% strongly), 11% are opposed (7% strongly)
  • 75% favor investing in new Metro cars to provide 8-car trains (51% strongly), only 6% are opposed (3% strongly)

Other key findings:

  • By a large majority (67% to 27%), area residents feel Metro should focus more on maintenance and system reliability, as opposed to further expansion of the system.
  • 60% of residents say they would be willing to pay a little more to fund projects that reduce congestion, with 36% opposed; although there is no consensus on a specific funding proposal (none of those tested reached majority support)

The results were unveiled at a briefing today at Marriott International, Inc., before an audience of business and community leaders, including U.S. Congressman John Delaney, Montgomery County Council President Nancy Floreen, Maryland Deputy Secretary of Transportation James Ports, and many others.  Here is the slideshow by OpinionWorks that was presented at the event.

NVTA President David Birtwistle noted the importance of these new findings: “There’s a real consensus among experts that these are the kinds of investments we need to make to significantly reduce congestion; and now we know the public is on the same page.”  “It’s time to get moving,” he concluded.

A similar list of projects has been tested using the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s (COG) regional traffic model, and significant improvements in congestion relief, travel time savings, economic growth and transit ridership were found. With a new willingness in Maryland and Virginia to consider toll-financing and public-private-partnerships, several viable options now exist to fund major new transportation projects of this magnitude without relying on more limited traditional sources.

Richard Parsons, SMTA Vice Chair, pointed out ongoing effort at COG’s Transportation Planning Board to study other unfunded projects not in the region’s Constrained Long-Range Plan: “Regional leaders are now in the process of looking at our current long-range plans, which everyone knows are not sustainable, and it would be a good idea to include these game-changing projects in that study.” “There are solutions to our traffic problems, and the public clearly and overwhelmingly supports them,” he concluded.

A total of 800 randomly-selected adult residents of the greater Washington region were interviewed by telephone December 1-5, 2015 by OpinionWorks LLC, a highly-respected independent research organization based in Annapolis that has done significant public opinion work in the DC region on environmental, transportation and other issues. The results of this survey have a potential sampling error of no greater than +/-3.5% at the 95% confidence level.

The Baltimore Sun reports today that Governor Hogan, after riding some of Japan’s most advanced maglev (Magnetic Levitation) train systems, some of which can exceed 300 mph, he will seek $28 million in grants to study bringing this technology to the Baltimore-Washington corridor.

Here is a link to the Baltimore Sun article:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-hogan-maglev-20150604-story.html

Various proposals have been put forward to introduce Maglev technology into the United States, and particularly the crowded Northeast corridor, as a way to provide more efficient city-to-city service. Cost estimates for a Maglev line from DC to Baltimore run into the billions, perhaps as much as $10 billion for construction, although operating costs for Maglev tend to be much lower than other transit modes because they can be more fully automated and have much few moving parts (wheels, brakes, bearings, etc.) that require extensive ongoing maintenance with heavy and light rail systems.

Moving forward with a study, as the Governor apparently wants to do, will answer a lot more questions about the practicality of such a system, but this is not anything that will likely be implemented soon, and much more immediate priorities for the DC region remain unfunded — a topic that will be the focus of SMTA’s upcoming Transportation Summit on June 12th.

Stay tuned.  Maglev may be a topic we’ll be hearing a lot more about in the future.

After several meetings with Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn and other senior Hogan Administration figures, SMTA and other Purple Line supporters continue to present our case.  Today, County Executives Ike Leggett and Rushern Baker met with Governor Larry Hogan in Annapolis.  Initial press reports indicate it went pretty well, but it now seems likely a decision won’t be made until June.

See the two articles below for details. 

http://wtop.com/sprawl-crawl/2015/05/gov-hogan-hears-purple-line-pitch-from-county-executives/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/montgomery-prince-georges-leaders-make-final-pitch-for-purple-line/2015/05/20/760f4f12-ff1a-11e4-8b6c-0dcce21e223d_story.html

We encourage all SMTA supporters to continue making the case that the transportation and economic benefits of the Purple Line make this a worthwhile project, and it will be one of the topics discussed at our Transportation Summit on June 12th, along with SMTA’s other regional priority projects. Register here for the Summit.

Business leaders from the Greater Washington Board of Trade, Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce, Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, other local Chambers and leaders in the building industry from across the Washington Region came together today at the University of Maryland for a strategy session with top political leaders on advancing the Purple Line, which is due to begin construction by the end of 2015.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has included initial funding in his first budget, and will be making a final decision on the project after a 90-day review period that coincides with an ongoing bid process involving dozens of private-sector firms seeking to participate in a public-private partnership to help fund and build the Purple Line.

Citing its profoundly positive economic impacts, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett, Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker, and County Council Chairs George Leventhal and Mel Franklin from the same counties, joined the mainly business crowd in calling upon the Governor to approve the project, which remains one of SMTA’s priority near-term projects.

The economic return on this $2.4 billion investment is significant — new studies indicate that over a 30-year period the Purple Line would create over 27,000 jobs, increase surrounding property values by $9.8 billion, and generate a positive return to federal, state and local governments of over $10 billion, or nearly 5 times the proposed investment.

The state is facing financial strains, and other pressing transportation needs to be funded to be sure, but the vast majority of the funding already committed to the Purple Line is project-specific and cannot be re-purposed (including some $900 million in federal funds that will go to another state if not used for the Purple Line).  The fact is, cutting the Purple Line now, as it nears the finish line in a decades-long review process, would be a huge setback for Maryland businesses, the local economy, and future state tax revenues.

The project is nearly shovel-ready and is slated to begin construction by the end of this Fiscal Year.  This means its benefits — including tens of thousands of new construction jobs, rising incomes and improved property values — will begin to be felt right away, providing an almost immediate boost to state and local revenues (without raising tax rates).  Not doing so would have the opposite effect, and could set back prospects for other public-private-partnerships significantly by discouraging other bidders from stepping forward.

In our view, the case for the Purple Line has been made.  It is a sound business investment and should move forward now, not later.  With a newly elected Governor committed to job growth and economic competitiveness as his top priorities, SMTA and the business leaders at today’s meeting all share the belief that the Purple Line would go a long way to get us there.

 

The Washington Post recently ran a provocative article submitted by two leading transportation experts, Alan Pisarski and Peter Samuel, entitled Expand the Intercounty Connector for a Truly Regional Transportation Network.

The authors note correctly that — contrary to the “spin” we often hear from anti-road activists — tens of thousands of people are using the Intercounty Connector (ICC) every day.  In fact, more passengers are traveling on the ICC each day than on the much more expensive Silver Line, traffic on the parallel section of the Beltway has dropped 8% since the ICC opened, and significant traffic relief is already being felt on surrounding local roads.  It is clearly a big success.  The question is, what’s next?

The idea of future extensions of the ICC — both to the west, into Northern Virginia, and to the east, to Route 50 in Prince George’s County are both worth exploring.  The economic benefits from tying our region together with a more efficient highway network could be extremely significant, and it would open up new possibilities for a truly regional bus-rapid transit network using the new capacity.

What do you think?  Give the article a read and share your comments here.  Does extending the ICC across the Potomac and over to Route 50 make sense to you?  What other priorities should we also be looking at that could deliver the same kind of game-changing impacts on congestion and overall transportation network performance across the Washington region?  Let us know.

The latest rankings by the Texas Transportation Institute place the Washington DC region at the top of the list, among all major metropolitan areas in the United States, in average travel delays.  Last year, we were tied with Chicago for first place, with an average of 70 hours wasted by each of us from sitting in traffic delays.  This year, the amount of time we waste in traffic has grown to a whopping 74 hours a year, nearly two full work weeks.

When you add up all the lost productivity, tons of wasted fuel, and other costs, each of us is wasting more than $1,400 per year, simply due to congestion.   Just for comparision, each of us would pay about $50 extra per year from a 10-cent increase in the gas tax, which could be used to fund a long list of projects that we know will cut travel times and congestion costs as much as 25%.  I would rather spend $50 to save $350, not to mention all that lost time. 

It is hard to see why state and local leaders are not making transportation investments a more urgent priority.  Voters in our region continue to rank traffic congestion as their number-one priority, yet elected officials continue to ignore transportation almost entirely. 

This has to change.  The Maryland legislature needs to act and it needs to act this year.  At least $800 million per year in new transportation funding has been recommended by the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission, along with new protections against diverting scarce transportation dollars for other uses.

We know exactly what we need to do to reduce congestion in our region.  It starts with building the new transit and road capacity we need to reduce delays and get people back to work.  All that’s missing is the political will among our elected representatives to make this a priority.  Maryland will not be able to sustain any level of economic recovery unless we take on this issue and invest in our infrastructure now.

 traffic
In the Metro section in Sunday’s Washington Post, transportation reporter Robert Thompson invited the two groups to “define the problem, propose solutions and tell us how we would know if their ideas worked.”  While there were commonalities in the solutions proposed, only SMTA had a realistic answer to addressing all modes of transportation and measurably reducing congestion, which continues to be the top threat to our economy and quality of life.  Here’s a brief summary:
  
SMTA Lays Out Balanced List of Transportation Priorities:  Citing the need for comprehensive solutions to our traffic problems in the Washington area, SMTA President Richard Parsons defines our top transportation problem as “too much traffic congestion.”  He cites years of traffic studies which show the primary cause is the lack of suburb-to-suburb transit and road capacity connecting our major activity centers in the region.  For solutions, most transportation experts recommend a combination of:  Investing in Metro reliability, new transit lines (Purple Line, Corridor Cities Transitway, regional bus-rapid-transit network), new highway and bridge capacity (including a regional network of high-occupancy-toll lanes on the Beltway and other key corridors), and more sustainable “transit-oriented-development” to concentrate future jobs and housing and reduce the need for future auto trips.  Studies show using all the tools in our toolbox would significantly reduce congestion, make travel times both shorter and more predictable for commuters, and keep our region more liveable, sustainable and economically vibrant.  One of the key problems, Parsons notes, is that “we’ve clouded the debate, allowing popular myths and wishful thinking to supersede sound research and expert analysis.” View the entire article here.     
 
Smart Growth Coalition Offers Familiar “Wishful Thinking” Approach that Won’t Reduce Congestion:  Coalition for Smarter Growth President Stewart Schwartz blames congestion on “bad land-use planning and poor location decisions by major employers.”  For solutions, he lays out a familiar list of land-use changes, most of which are good ideas, but are either already being done in Maryland (e.g. concentrating new development near metro stations), or too vague and unrealistic, like shifting employment from the 270 corridor to the east.  He offers no specifics on how these might impact future congestion levels.  Recent data from the Transportation Planning Board indicate that smart-growth land-use changes alone, without new transportation capacity, actually makes traffic congestion slightly worse.  Schwartz does cite the need for new transit capacity, which is a good thing.  However, transit only works for those relatively few commuters who can use it, and does nothing to address all the other non-commuting trips for which we also need to plan (interstate traffic, shipping and freight deliveries, errands, business-to-business travel, etc.), and which make up most of our daily trips.  By ignoring the mode of travel that accounts for roughly 90% of all daily trips in our State and region — our heavily congested roads — such prescriptions are simply not realistic and will have no impact on congestion in our lifetimes.