Contacts:
Stewart Schwartz, 703-599-6437
Kelly Blynn, 610-220-5378

MONTGOMERY COUNTY – Dozens of Montgomery residents packed the Montgomery County Planning Department headquarters in Silver Spring Thursday evening to support the Planning Department’s goal of advancing a new rapid transit system for Montgomery.

Citing the proposed system’s potential for offering the best solution to the County’s traffic challenges, reducing local air pollution from car emissions, and providing more affordable transit options and access to jobs for working families and young people, the residents asked the Planning Board to adopt the proposed system into Montgomery’s General Plan for transportation.

“For the past 14 years I have been commuting to work and running errands along 355 from Comus Road south thru Clarksburg to Germantown and have seen first-hand the impact development without infrastructure improvements has had on our local roads,” said Beth Daly, of Dickerson in northern Montgomery.” We need transit options to get up-county residents (and thru commuters from growing Frederick County and beyond) off the roads and to their work centers and back home. For that reason, I support the 355 North corridor of the BRT.”

Out of a full 3 hours of testimony, over 25 people testified in favor of the proposal, including representatives of well known organizations such as Montgomery County Sierra Club, the Action Committee for Transit, the Washington Area Bicyclists Association, the League of Women Voters, Friends of White Flint, and the Montgomery County Young Democrats.

“The proposed Rapid Transit System for Montgomery County, by shifting more trips from cars to transit, will help the environment by reducing the emissions that cause air pollution and global climate change,” Said Ethan Goffman of the Sierra Club. “Successful smart growth helps preserve Montgomery County’s open spaces and watersheds, which benefits everyone.”

Planning staff have spent over a year modeling transit ridership based on projected population and jobs growth to determine the corridors where transit offers the best solution to move more people as population and traffic continue to rise. Now, the Planning Board is reviewing the recommended corridors for inclusion in the master plan, which they will determine later this summer and then send on to the County Council.

While some civic activists have specific concerns with how the system might affect their neighborhoods, several voiced their support. “The Greater Colesville Civic Association has urged the county for decades to address the road congestion problem and the spillover effect of cut-through traffic in residential areas,” said Dan Wilhelm, on behalf of his civic association. ”The BRT corridors included in the Draft Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan are a good start to building the BRT network. Once implemented, the 10 proposed corridors will start to address the road congestion.

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Contact: Stewart Schwartz
202.244.4408 ext. 121
Cell: 703.599.6437

As Metro prepares to open the Silver Line later this year, the Coalition for Smarter Growth found it fitting to honor the work of Halpin, who led the planned transformation of Tysons into a walkable, sustainable urban area. Halpin, one of the original developers of Tysons Corner, not only put the area on the map in the first place, but led WEST*GROUP in completely rethinking the form and design of its holdings in Tysons.

“Without Jerry Halpin’s leadership, the new vision for Tysons might never have been realized. Tysons is the most important redevelopment initiative on the East Coast and Jerry Halpin is the most important private sector figure behind that initiative,” said Coalition for Smarter Growth Executive Director Stewart Schwartz.

“The Tysons plan and the redevelopment proposals that have followed are historic, and will provide critical lessons-learned as more and more suburban communities turn to walkable, transit-oriented development as the best way to address traffic, revitalize aging commercial corridors, and meet market demand in an era of rising fuel costs and changing demographics,” said Schwartz.

The Livable Community Leadership Award is bestowed annually on the Washington area individual or individuals who have made a particularly significant contribution to smart growth in the Washington region.

The Coalition also presented the third annual Sanders-Henn Community Hero Award to the Fairfax County staff, collectively. In keeping with the theme of the evening, the staff was honored for their inclusive and effective work that brought numerous stakeholders together to start the transformation of Tysons from an auto-dependent suburban center into a walkable, transit-oriented urban place.

“The development and implementation of the new plan to transform Tysons would not have been possible without the expertise and hard work of dozens of county staff members in planning, revitalization, transportation, housing, parks and public services,” Schwartz said.

The Sanders-Henn Community Hero Award is named in memory of Harry Sanders and Carl Henn, two of the region’s greatest volunteer smart growth advocates who both passed in 2010.

The reception, held in the beautiful headquarters space donated by National Trust for Historic Preservation, attracted leading conservationists, civic activists, government officials, mixed-use and transit-oriented developers, architects, housing experts, planners and attorneys. Event sponsors ranged from development and architecture firms to leading housing and conservation advocates.

Previous awardees include:

• Evan Goldman (2012), Vice President Development, Federal Realty Investment Trust
• David Bowers (2011), Vice President and Impact Market Leader for Enterprise Community Partners
• Harriet Tregoning (2010), Director of the D.C. Office of Planning
• Congressman Gerry Connolly (2009), former Chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
• Bob Peck (2008), former President of the Greater Washington Board of Trade
• Dan Tangherlini (2007), former City Administrator, former Director of DDOT, and Metro General Manager
• James O. Gibson (2006), longtime leader of advocacy for urban communities in the foundation, government and non-profit sectors
• Leslie Steen (2005), non-profit housing developer
• Chris Zimmerman (2004), Arlington County Board Member

About Jerry Halpin

From his service in World War II with the Navy Seabees, to work as a leading developer, to his charitable activities, Jerry Halpin has accomplished more than most people could do in several lifetimes. But it’s his leadership of the WEST*GROUP team in transforming the company’s own vision and development model for Tysons, that the Coalition for Smarter Growth most wants to recognize. Halpin has been synonymous with Tysons since its rise in the early 1960s when WEST*GROUP became the largest single landowner and developer in the nation’s most well-known “Edge City.” But most important for the future of the Washington region, Jerry Halpin and his colleagues were among the first to see the potential and importance for transit investment and smart growth redevelopment for an area becoming overwhelmed by traffic.

Even before the launch of the Tysons Task Force, Halpin had commissioned the internationally renowned architecture firm Skidmore Owings Merrill to boldly rethink Tysons, studying the models of Arlington County, the nation’s great cities, and new urbanism. They created a vision of interconnected streets, restored streams, grand public parks and plazas, and a vibrant mix of uses, capturing it all in detailed illustrations and an astounding Tysons scale model. Jerry and his colleagues played a leading role in winning the support of other Tysons developers for a new vision, in setting a standard of commitment to funding community benefits, and in the development of the new urban plan for Tysons.

The Sanders-Henn Community Hero Award

The Sanders-Henn Community Hero Award honors local residents who demonstrate records of service and dedication to their community and make outstanding contributions to smart growth in the region. This annual award is named in honor of two of the smart growth community’s greatest volunteer advocates, Harry Sanders and Carl Henn, both of whom passed in 2010.

The 2013 recipient of the Sanders-Henn Community Hero Award is the Fairfax County staff, collectively for the inclusive process they planned and executed for Tysons. Planning for the future of our communities and transforming auto-dependent suburban centers into walkable, transit-oriented urban places is at its best when everyone is at the table. Fairfax County ensured that was the case in a multi-year planning process. The development and implementation of the new plan to transform Tysons would not have been possible without the expertise and hard work of dozens of county staff members in planning, revitalization, transportation, housing, parks and public services.

About the Coalition for Smarter Growth

The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading organization in the Washington D.C. region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. Our mission is to promote walkable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities, and the land use and transportation policies needed to make those communities flourish. The Coalition’s website is www.smartergrowth.net.

Photos from the event are available online at http://www.flickr.com/photos/14016848@N00/sets/72157633494507263/

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We are seeking a graduate student or new professional with a demonstrated interest in and knowledge of smart growth, urban design, and/or aging in place to work with our Managing Director, Policy Director, and Communications Manager as the primary author on a new report to be issued this fall or winter on the intersection of smart growth policies and opportunities to age in place in the D.C. region. A preferred candidate will be able to:

• Independently (or with light direction from staff) research existing aging in place policies, programs, and opportunities in the region and across the country
• Think critically about the policy implications of various programs, and synthesize arguments into a clear written report
• Write in a clear, concise voice using language that is appealing to laypeople.

A successful candidate will be have produced a complete first draft of the new report before the end of their fellowship.

Requirements: This fellow must be self-motivated and detail-oriented with exemplary writing abilities. Journalistic, communications, or other tangible writing experience a must. Excellent organizational skills are necessary for success in this position. Knowledge of Microsoft Office is required, and Adobe CS knowledge is a plus.

Compensation and time frame: Fellowship is expected to be 20-30 hours/week, primarily at our offices near Union Station, but with possibility for telework as project progresses. While this is an unpaid fellowship, we highly encourage candidates to seek academic credit for their experience and we are willing to work with our fellows to make this happen, or to explore possibilities of using this report as a thesis.  A small transportation stipend may be available to help with commuting costs.

Application instructions: Interested applicants should send a cover letter, resume, short writing sample (journalistic or advocacy in style – see our email alerts for an idea of what we’re looking for)  to jobs@smartergrowth.net. Please put “Research Fellow” in the subject line. No faxes or phone calls please.

The Virginia Department of Transportation has released its traffic study for the proposed ‘north-south corridor of statewide significance,’ a 45-mile, multilane highway running west of both Dulles Airport and Manassas Battlefield and also connecting I-66 and Rt. 50. The study, based on population and job growth projections, found that if the new highway—the bi-county parkway—is not built traffic would increase significantly on some north-south routes. (The study’s executive summary is below.)

“By 2040 we anticipate the bi-county parkway is going to have 45,000 to 61,000 cars per day using the facility between Route 66 and Route 50,” said Maria Sinner, VDOT’s transportation and land use director in Prince William County.

Without the new highway “Gum Spring Road, Virginia Rt. 659, anticipates to increase in traffic anywhere from 70 percent to 203 percent,” Sinner said. “Rt. 15 is going to increase an additional 11 to 20 percent higher, depending on the segment.”

The debate over where Virginia should focus its congestion relief efforts centers on mountains of VDOT statistics showing which roads have the most traffic. Opponents of the proposal to spend an estimated $1 billion to construct another north-south highway—referred to by critics as an “outer beltway”—point to these figures to support their argument.

In Prince William, Rt. 15 (from Rt. 234 to the Loudoun County line) carries about 15,000 vehicles per day, according2011 VDOT traffic tables. Two other north-south routes, Rt. 234 (from Rt. 29 to Rt. 659) and Rt. 659 (from Rt. 234 to the Loudoun line), carry even fewer cars daily.

The major east-west route in Prince William in the general study area of the north-south corridor, however, is significantly more crowded.  I-66 (from Gainesville to Rt. 234) carries about 60,000 vehicles per day. The exception is the north-south Rt. 28 and its 54,000 daily vehicles. Rt. 28 carries traffic into Fairfax County to I-66 where travelers either turn onto the interstate for east-west movement or continue on Route 28.

“If they are saying that they need this road because of the pressures on Rt. 28 then this investment would be a complete failure, because their own [study] shows there is minimal effect on Rt. 28 north of I-66 if this road were to be built,” said Stewart Schwartz of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, a vocal opponent of the proposed bi-county parkway. VDOT’s traffic study found that Rt. 28 would see a one to two percent increase in traffic if the new highway is not constructed.

In Loudoun County, the north-south Rt. 659 carries between 8,000 and 16,000 vehicles per day, depending on the segment, while the east-west roadway Rt. 50 carries between 15,000 and 40,000, depending on the segment. Again, Rt. 28 in Loudoun is a north-south highway that carries as much traffic as the east-west routes, but Schwartz says those cars are traveling to job centers near and east of Dulles Airport. The proposed “outer beltway” would lie west of Dulles.

“If you look at current traffic numbers immediately around where this highway would be built around Manassas Battlefield, the traffic volumes north-south are very low, and the dominant traffic problem that we all recognize is on roads like I-66 and Rt. 50,” he said.

State transportation officials say they are attempting to tackle both east-west and north-south issues, pointing to plans to expand I-66 along with its interchanges at Rts. 15 and 28. It’s not an either-or proposition.

“We need to do both,” Sinner said.

Supporters of building the 45-mile highway in the “corridor of statewide significance” also argue a new north-south highway can improve east-west traveling. A driver in Loudoun or western Fairfax trying to get to I-95 today might take Rt. 267 east to I-495 to I-95. A better connection south to I-95 would alleviate that east-west movement, this argument goes.

Moreover, planners say the case for a new north-south highway in Northern Virginia is obvious when you consider the impact of job and population growth in the region in 20 to 30 years.

Schwartz counters those projections fail to make a convincing case. “A lot of the projections are based on horse trading in between the counties and optimistic thinking.”

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Read the original article at WAMU >>

Following the ins and outs of the many redevelopment projects slated for White Flint isn’t easy.

So on Saturday a group of smart growth advocates put together a walking tour of the area to show about 50 area residents what is going on and what they hope to see happen to the strip malls and sidewalks of Rockville Pike.

The D.C.-based Coalition for Smarter Growth, a nonprofit funded by an environmental group, organized “White Flint: Drag to Desirable,” a two-hour tour of the area that included Tommy Mann from developer Federal Realty, County planner Nkosi Yearwood, resident Lindsay Hoffman from Friends of White Flint and Coalition executive director Stewart Schwartz.

They talked about plans for Federal Realty’s Pike & Rose project, underway at Mid-Pike Plaza, and developer LCOR’s North Bethesda Center on the east side of Rockville Pike near the White Flint Metro station. Yearwood answered questions about the realignment of Executive Boulevard, which the county hopes will one day run through what is now Mid-Pike Plaza and the Saab auto dealership across Old Georgetown Road.

Schwartz pointed out some of the less noticeable signs of car-oriented, older suburban planning that still exist on the Pike.

The high-speed right hand turn lane from Old Georgetown Road onto southbound Rockville Pike is one example. Drivers looking to get onto the Pike are more likely to look left for a gap in southbound traffic than to look right for pedestrians crossing at the crosswalk.

There is no tree buffer between the sidewalks of Rockville Pike and the road, a streetscaping tool that is apparent off the Pike near the Bethesda North Marriott and nearby apartment buildings.

Many asked about school overcrowding from new residents in mid-rise and high-rise apartments. The 2010 White Flint Sector Plan includes a new elementary school at the White Flint Mall redevelopment site. Yearwood fielded questions about public amenities, including a green space planned for near Wall Park.

And many wanted to know exactly what was going to be built and when. Mann answered questions about parking and retailers coming to Pike & Rose, the first major mixed-use development coming under the Sector Plan. Phase one will be done next year.

But residents found the bulk of redevelopment for White Flint is going to be a long process in which all the details — road construction, land ownership, the fate of existing small businesses, even a name — aren’t finalized.

Read the original story at Bethesda Now >>

Sam Zimbabwe, planning director for the District Department of Transportation, was also on the panel. From the look on his face, he knows that has his work cut out for him as the agency tries to bring some measure of rationality to the city’s tangle of parking regulations.

We all want to be able to park wherever we want, for as long as we want, and we want it to be free. But we might as well wish for a world of free and infinitely available ice cream. We can’t have it, and we give up a lot by trying to get there.

Parking management is pro-driver

The parking problem is one of economics (real estate in the city is valuable and scarce) and geometry (cars take up a lot of space). It is not, Tumlin emphasized, a question of ideology. It’s not wrong to own a car, not wrong to drive, and it’s not wrong to want to park conveniently. But like all good things in life, convenient parking comes at a cost.

What we all want most of all is availability: We want parking to be there exactly where we need it and exactly when we need it.

The best way to get there, he said, is by pricing parking accurately. The “correct” price for parking in any given place is one that keeps a couple of spots per block open. In practice, that means around 85% of the capacity is used—not less, not more. A world with 85% utilization of parking is a world of parking karma for everyone. You can always park where you need to. It’s every driver’s dream come true—if, that is, you’re willing to pay for that spot’s true value.

Small pricing differences make a big difference

Does this mean that parking is just a luxury for the rich? Well, no.

One of the most interesting findings of San Francisco’s experiments with parking pricing, according to Tumlin, is that demand is extremely sensitive to location. Right on a main drag like Valencia Street, parking might cost $4.50 an hour. Just around the corner on a side street, it might cost $2.50. Just another block away, garage parking might be available for $1.00. As in every other facet of life, you can choose to save money by giving up a little convenience.

Much of DC’s policy discussion on parking management focuses on “transit zones” vs. everywhere else. But there are a lot of things that affect demand for parking. The availability of transit nearby is one, but it’s just one of many. How dense is the neighborhood? Are there theaters, restaurants, or other attractions? Are there offices nearby? Just as in San Francisco, demand changes dramatically from block to block, and it’s hard to say exactly where the demand is without measuring it empirically.

Thus far, data collection on DC’s parking pilots has been thin. There has been a very long lag between collecting any data and adjustments to meter rates, and the data DDOT collects is not very fine-grained.

If and when DDOT collects more and more data on driving and parking patterns, we’ll start to have a better understanding of the microgeography of parking demand. Hopefully this bring us closer to pricing that reflects observed real-world demand, instead of crude lines drawn on a map by politicians.

Payment mechanisms make a big difference

Much metered parking throughout the country still uses 1947 technology: You pay by feeding quarters into a metal contraption. Out of quarters? You’re out of luck.

There’s much better technology available today, and in this area DC has been out in front. According to Zimbabwe, 42% of DC parking transactions are paid by phone or using the Parkmobile app.

The friction of having inconvenient payment mechanisms—whether it’s machines that only take quarters, or single-block machines that you have to walk five minutes to get to—is more of an issue for people than cost. If you can make payment seamless, then people don’t care quite as much about the actual cost, and you have less resistance to increased rates.

My experience with the Parkmobile app has been that it’s like magic: You tell the app you’re parking, it already knows where you are, and has your credit card and license plate on file, so there’s nothing more to do.

Ultimately, license-plate recognition coupled with smartphone apps will eliminate all of the friction of payment. Tumlin suggested you could even agree to have the city just automatically send you a parking bill at the end of each month based on how long you’ve parked and where.

Decriminalize parking now!

Another fascinating finding from San Francisco’s performance parking program is this: When you start charging the right price for parking, meter revenue goes up … and revenue from parking citations goes down by almost the same amount.

And when you think about it, that’s exactly how it should be. Sometimes you don’t have enough quarters on you, or you underestimate how long you’ll need to park, and can’t get back to the meter. That shouldn’t make you a lawbreaker. In some neighborhoods, Tumlin pointed out, driving to dinner and movie is a criminal act, because there’s no provision at all for out-of-zone parking for more than two hours.

In fact, the whole two-hour exception doesn’t make any sense at all. If you’re parking for an hour, you should pay for an hour. And if you need to park for three hours or eight hours, you should be allowed to pay for it.

Keep it simple, and don’t play favorites

DC currently has a lot of parking programs. There’s ordinary metered parking in commercial areas. There’s a residential parking permit program and a pilot visitor parking pass program. There are pilot performance parking programs in a handful of neighborhoods.

Recent legislation looked at how to provide for contractor parking. City leaders are working with churches to resolve conflicts over church parking on Sundays. There have been proposals for special teacher parking and firefighter parking.

DDOT recently unveiled a Parking Action Agenda (PDF) that vows to review all of these different programs and propose reforms. We can start by no longer treating all these different categories as exceptional.

As Tumlin forcefully argued, it’s not the government’s business why you want to park. Are you shopping? Babysitting? Going to church? Commuting to the nearest metro stop? Redoing someone’s kitchen? Making a delivery? Visiting a friend? Out on a date? (As Tumlin asked, “And what if your date goes better than expected?”)

It shouldn’t be the government’s job to make value judgments about people’s reasons for parking. So let’s eliminate complexity and preferential treatment. You don’t need a contractor parking program; you don’t need a visitor parking program; you don’t need a church parking program. You just need accurate pricing so that people can pay a fair price to park wherever they want, for as long as they want.

Read the original article at Greater Greater Washington >>