Author: Elena Sorokina

Testimony before the Hon. Mary M. Cheh, Chair, Committee on the Environment and Transportation regarding the Performance Oversight Hearing of DDOT

We want to commend the committee and the Mayor for the advances we are making in transportation to ensure that our streets, transit, walk and bicycling facilities help make our city a healthier, safer, more sustainable, and more attractive place to live and work. New services and improvements to offer better access and travel choices such as expanded Capital Bike Share, sped up limited-stop bus service, routine curb extensions in streetscape designs, extensive use of leading pedestrian intervals – demonstrate there is much to commend about the advances we have made in just a few years. Given the tremendous growth our city is experiencing, it’s clear that we cannot accommodate this growth unless we continue to increase the attractiveness of alternatives to driving and car ownership. Our city’s growth and vibrancy cannot be predicated on how many more cars it can jam onto its already congested roads.

Support affordable housing in public lands, B20-594 & Amend bill to shorten affordability terms B20-604

Please accept these comments on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth (CSG). The Coalition for
Smarter Growth is the leading organization working locally in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan 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 and investments needed to make those communities flourish.

RELEASE: Dangerous by Design – with 843 pedestrian fatalities in 10 years, still work to do for safe streets in DC region

RELEASE: Dangerous by Design – with 843 pedestrian fatalities in 10 years, still work to do for safe streets in DC region

Washington, D.C. – A new report, Dangerous by Design, released today by the National Complete Streets Coalition, a program of Smart Growth America, provides information on pedestrian fatalities and injuries and ranks every state, metro region and county based upon the degree of danger faced by pedestrians. Comparatively, the Washington, DC region is safer for pedestrians than many other regions in the nation, ranking 35 out of the 51 largest metro areas (with 1 being the most dangerous). At the same time, the report found that 843 pedestrians were killed in the region from 2003 to 2012 — an unacceptable number no matter the DC region’s current ranking – and the dangers for pedestrians along suburban arterial roads is particularly high.