We joined forces with the Maryland chapter of the Sierra Club and numerous other civic and neighborhood associations to fund a review of the draft environmental impact survey for the proposed expansion of I-495/I-270. Read the findings below.
Category: Climate change & energy
CSG Comments to TPB on Climate Action
October 21, 2020
Hon. Kelly Russell
Chair, National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board
President Pro Tem, Frederick Board of Aldermen
Re: Comments on need TPB climate action steps, travel survey, and transit-oriented centers Dear Chair Russell,
We are deeply concerned that TPB staff are not committing to VMT-reduction strategies in their input to the update of the COG climate plan. We have submitted comments to the CEEPC that apply equally to our input to the TPB Visualize2045 update.
TPB’s climate approach, as outlined in the October 15 memo by director Srikanth, is to focus on fuel efficient car standards, vehicle electrification, and the Transportation & Climate Initiative (TCI). Of the “bold, system-wide actions” the memo says are needed, there is no mention of regional strategies to reduce VMT. As detailed in the Driving Down Emissions report by SGA, EVs are not enough, and land use, urban design, and transit are essential for reducing VMT and transportation emissions, meeting our climate targets, and achieving equity, public health, and livability.
COG is setting a very ambitious goal for electrification in its draft climate plan, assuming that 34% of light passenger vehicles on the road in 2030 will be electric. California’s analyses show that even with significant adoption of EVs, rising VMT will cause rising emissions. Therefore, the CEAP and TPB need additional bold actions:
1. Set even stronger targets for housing and job growth in High-Capacity Transit (HCT) station areas by prioritizing close-in, walkable, mixed-use Activity Centers with high-frequency transit, and addressing the E-W economic and racial divide.
2. Make affordable housing in TOD locations a key part of the land use strategy, with specific goals and strategies.
3. Set clear targets to significantly reduce total and per capita VMT below the 2030 and 2050 baselines and increase non-auto mode shares well above baselines.
4. Include strategies to price existing lanes in congested travel markets rather than adding more HOT lanes and price parking across the region.
Your Travel Survey highlights the benefits of transit-oriented communities. The Core and Activity Centers have very high commute walk, bike, transit mode share, and very good non-commute mode shares. But major suburbs still have far to go on TOD, and recent road expansions are not helping.
We commend your Transit-Oriented Communities initiative, but urge you to place overwhelming priority in Visualize 2045 on transit, local street networks, and bike/pedestrian infrastructure, while slashing new highway capacity. We have just one decade to act on the climate crisis.
Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director
RELEASE: CSG hails today’s Driving Down Emissions report – calls for DC area action
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
October 14, 2020
Contact:
Stewart Schwartz, 703-599-6437
CSG hails new national climate, land use, and transportation report and issues a Call to Action to regional elected officials
Today, Smart Growth America (SGA) released Driving Down Emissions demonstrating that where and how we grow (i.e. land use and community design) is the critical piece for reducing emissions from transportation. CSG welcomed the report and issued a call to action to regional elected officials to act on their promises and move faster to implement more sustainable land use and transportation in order to fight climate change.
“We welcome this definitive report from SGA,” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. We’ve campaigned in the DC region for over two decades for a strong core city and regional network of walkable, transit-oriented communities – a regional vision validated by the findings of the SGA report. Our vision has been embraced by the Council of Governments (COG) and most local officials, and we’ve seen a strong shift to these transportation-efficient communities — but much more work needs to be done AND faster if we are going to do our part to slash emissions.”
“The SGA report highlights that transportation is now the number one source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Its share is even higher in the DC region where 34% of our greenhouse gas emissions are generated by on-road vehicles, and as illustrated by the SGA report it’s the location and design of development that is playing the central role in the amount of driving and emissions,” said Bill Pugh, Senior Policy Fellow for CSG.
“The DC region is at a literal crossroads. Right now, major land use and transportation decisions before our elected officials will determine whether this region fuels more sprawl, driving, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and worsens racial and social equity, OR chooses the course committed to at COG — to invest in transit-oriented development, transit and more affordable housing close to jobs and transit, to address racial and economic inequity, and reduce emissions,” said Jane Lyons, Maryland Advocacy Manager for CSG.
“Massive highway expansion such as the high-occupancy toll lanes in Virginia and Maryland, the recently approved Route 28 bypass in Prince William, and numerous arterial road widenings will mean more driving and emissions, and more spread-out development,” said Sonya Breehey, Virginia Advocacy Manager for CSG. “This must end.”
“Failure to incentivize and prioritize development at Metro stations and in aging commercial corridors will mean failure to reduce driving and emissions,” said Cheryl Cort, Policy Director for CSG. “Meanwhile approving more sprawling development in Prince William’s Rural Crescent or in rural areas in outer suburbs located 30 miles or more from the core of the DC region will mean even more driving and emissions,” said Breehey.
Driving Down Emissions summarizes decades of studies showing that highway expansion actually creates more traffic: “New highways, roads, and lanes induce more driving (VMT), which leads to more emissions and ultimately more congestion, a feedback loop referred to as “induced demand.” A recent study suggests driving increases in exact proportion with increases in lane-mileage—a 10 percent increase in lane miles can lead to a 10 percent increase in driving.”
“SGA offers five recommendations for how we can grow equitably and efficiently to reduce vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions. This region offers examples, which we highlight below, for how we are trying to do this but also examples where we are falling short,” said Pugh.
SGA’s FIVE RECOMMENDATIONS AND A SNAPSHOT ON ACTIONS IN THE DC REGION
1) Meet the demand for homes in walkable, compact neighborhoods
- Last fall, thanks to years of CSG advocacy, our region adopted a set of regional housing targets to ensure that enough housing is produced by 2030 and that 75% of new units are located in Regional Activity Centers or near high-capacity transit. (MWCOG board resolution, September 11, 2019)
- While this is a good start, not all Regional Activity Centers are walkable or compact. Households in the Gainesville activity center in Prince William County, VA drive between 23,000 and 25,000 miles per year on average, while those in the mixed-use Mosaic District of Fairfax County, walking distance from the Metro, drive on average 15,000 to 16,000 miles per year. Households across the entire District of Columbia drive 12,000 miles per year on average, and the share of DC residents who walk, bike and take transit to work is well over 50% of all work trips.
- The COG 2019 State of the Commute Report shows that 75% of workers in outer suburban locations drive alone to work compared with only 37% in the region’s core jurisdictions (DC, Alexandria, Arlington). 58% of commuters in the core commuted by transit, walking or biking. (MWCOG).
2) Build safer, walkable streets
- CSG and partners have campaigned for Vision Zero, including street design changes necessary to end deaths and serious injuries for all users.
- Many local jurisdictions have adopted Vision Zero and Complete Streets policies, added protected bike lanes, and traffic calming, but much more needs to be done as pedestrian deaths in particular continue to increase.
- Among the many local places we are working, we are currently campaigning in Fairfax for redesign of Richmond Highway (Route 1) and reducing the speed from 45 mph to 35 mph. In this year alone, four people have been killed walking along or trying to cross Richmond Highway.
- Unfortunately, jurisdictions in the DC region are lagging counterpart regions in Europe and the U.S. in implementing protected bicycle lanes, dedicated bus lanes, and shared streets for people — a need spotlighted during the pandemic.
3) Set targets for VMT and GHG emissions reductions
- The regional Council of Governments is currently updating its Climate and Energy Action Plan and looking for ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 50% below 2005 levels by 2030. We probably need to do even more, and this is a crucial opportunity to set clear targets for reducing both total and per capita vehicle miles traveled to meet our 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal.
- As detailed in the SGA report, numerous studies have shown that more fuel efficient or fully electric vehicles are not sufficient to meet our transportation climate goals, and we must also reduce the need to drive. The region’s next climate plan and next update of its long-range transportation plan must clearly show how we do this.
4) Provide transportation options and make transit a priority
- CSG campaigned successfully for the first-ever dedicated funding for Metro with business allies in the MetroNow coalition and is campaigning for Better Buses — focusing on frequent, reliable, and affordable service. CSG won additional funding in Virginia for transit when the state transportation funding structure was amended earlier this year.
- The Transportation Planning Board, the states of Maryland and Virginia, the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and many local governments, are still far too focused on expanding road capacity.
5) Prioritize connecting people to destinations
- We’ve learned that accessibility to daily needs is more important than long-distance “mobility.” DC, Arlington, Alexandria, Bethesda, Silver Spring, Falls Church, Tysons and the Mosaic District all show that proximity matters. Creating walkable, bike-friendly, mixed-use communities with frequent transit means that people can drive less and meet their daily needs.
- The 2016 GreenPlace study by CSG A study of five transit-oriented projects in DC showed daily household VMT and CO2 output per household to be far lower than regional averages. The analysis found that the TOD projects averaged 17 to 25.5 daily VMT per household and 16-25 lbs of daily carbon output per household, compared to regional averages of 45 daily VMT and 69.4 lbs daily carbon output.
- The 2010 CSG Cooler Communities study found that a development site with high walkability, mix of uses, and frequent transit service will have reduced CO2 emissions compared with a less accessible site, including in our suburbs. In addition, location, not just design, of development makes a huge difference. Hypothetical relocation of TOD projects to non-TOD suburban locations in the DC region increased CO2 emissions. Conversely, hypothetically relocating a non-TOD suburban development to a suburban TOD location reduced CO2 emissions. For example, the New Carrollton Transit District Plan reduced CO2 emissions by 11.2% when compared against relocating the plan build-out to auto-dependent Konterra.
A note about the pandemic and telecommuting:
The rise in telecommuting is expected to endure and will represent an estimated 10-15% reduction in work trips after the pandemic. This adds to further support for an end to highway expansion. However, most daily trips will continue to be non-work trips, but this reinforces the need to make all communities more walkable with nearby access to goods, services, and recreation.
CSG’s Call to Action in the DC Region:
“Unfortunately, we have much more to do in the DC region if we are going to drive down emissions to the levels necessary to stem climate change,” said Schwartz. Among the actions we need from our elected officials are:
1) Every local government needs to accelerate and incentivize transit-oriented development, supported by their state governments. The “Connect Greater Washington” study shows that TOD buildout will maximize the efficiency and farebox recovery for Metro, while reducing vehicle miles traveled and land lost to parking.
2) Every level of government should treat funding for affordable housing as a top infrastructure priority. $100 million for affordable housing near jobs and transit is worth far more than $100 million spent on another ineffective interchange. Housing that is affordable and in the right locations reduces driving and increases walking, biking and transit use, provides family security and health benefits, and results in better educational outcomes for children, while also driving down emissions.
3) Suburban and rural jurisdictions need to stem sprawl, protect farms, forests and rural landscapes that secure our drinking water, while focusing growth in existing towns, and ensuring new communities are compact, built on a grid of local streets, and connected to transit.
4) The next Council of Governments regional Constrained Long-Range Transportation Plan needs to cancel hundreds of lane miles of highway and arterial expansion and shift the funding to transit, local street networks, and bicycle pedestrian investment that support transit-oriented communities. The same is true for the next Northern Virginia Transportation Authority regional plan and state and local jurisdiction plans.
5) Every level of government needs to stop using vehicle level of service and “congestion reduction” as metrics for deciding what transportation investments to make. These measures ignore the real problem of induced demand and make our communities unwalkable and unlivable, leading to more driving and emissions.
“The SGA report confirms what officials in the DC region know and what the vast majority have committed to at COG and at the local level. We need every local elected official to follow-through on these commitments if we are going to grow sustainably, equitably and competitively, and beat climate change in the process,” concluded Schwartz.
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STATEMENT: Call to Action for Local Officials on Equity and Sustainability
For immediate release
May 14, 2020
Contact: Stewart Schwartz | 703-599-6437 (cell)
Cheryl Cort | 202-251-7516 (cell)
A call to action for sustainable and equitable communities in the wake of COVID-19
The COVID-19 crisis has exposed long-standing inequities and highlights the need and opportunities for fundamental reforms. The saying, “never waste a crisis,” is true and we urge our elected officials, government staff – all of us — to work together and take-action now to address the following 10 priorities:
1) Provide living wages and health protection for essential workers – people who work in public safety, health care, transit, grocery stores and the food supply network, pharmacies, trash collection, teachers, day care and elder care, and a range of other occupations are our essential workers, and should be paid a living wage and provided the health protection and security they need.
2) Provide affordable housing and a real economic safety net – far too many people live day-to-day with no margin of safety and need a living wage and rental assistance; affordable, clean, and secure homes; health care; day care; affordable transit; and the opportunity to save and climb the economic ladder.
3) Provide equitable access to health care and healthy environments – far too many people lack access to good health care and need nearby and equitable access to primary care and specialists, fresh healthy food, parks and recreation, safe places to walk and bike, and clean air and water.
4) Address racial disparities now – the racial disparities in COVID-19 illness and death, and in access to health care, job losses, share of workers in essential services with exposure risks, exposure to air pollution from highways, and risk of eviction and homelessness have never been more starkly exposed and must be addressed with the equivalent of a Marshall Plan.
5) Slash air pollution – air pollution has long contributed to respiratory and cardiac illness and has recently been found to contribute to higher levels of COVID-19 illness. We are seeing dramatic drops in air pollution due to the big decline in driving, with clear blue skies across the world, and should not waste this opportunity to slash air pollution from cars, trucks, and industry.
6) Slash greenhouse gas emissions – similar to other pollution, emissions of CO2 during stay-at-home orders have plunged — to 1995 levels. Oil demand has also declined 30% to 1995 levels. The health and economic causes of the decline are absolutely nothing to cheer, but the decline reminds us of the imperative and the opportunity to rapidly shift to renewable energy and electric vehicles, green buildings, and reduced driving through transit and walkable communities. Moreover, the societal and economic disruption of the pandemic illustrates why we must head off the disruption that would come from uncontrolled climate change – in which a warmer planet will fuel more disease pandemics along with rising sea levels, flooding, droughts, fires, and human dislocation.
7) Provide streets for people – the disappearance of traffic on city and suburban streets, the booming demand to walk and bike, and the lack of enough safe space for walking and bicycling, starkly illustrates how much of our public space is consumed by cars. We have a unique opportunity to widen sidewalks, and install protected bicycle lanes and dedicated bus lanes, creating more livable communities with fewer cars, and reduced air and noise pollution.
8) Expand parks and open space – we are learning how important it is to have nearby parks and greenways for our health and well-being, and that too many people lack parks and trails that they can safely walk to. We need to expand our park, greenway and trail networks as part of walkable, sustainable communities.
9) Save, restore, and expand transit – Transit, especially our buses, has been critical during COVID-19 to getting health care and other essential workers to their jobs. We’ve seen that transit is truly an essential public service. We need personal protection for transit drivers and riders, and enhanced, frequent cleaning. Looking ahead, the economic recovery of our cities and our metropolitan region will depend on the restoration of transit – which supports growth with less traffic and pollution. We will also need expanded transit to fight climate change. We must prioritize funding for transit, dedicated bus lanes and network redesigns for frequent, reliable service, and expanded access to transit for those most in need.
10) Invest in urban placemaking – The past two decades have seen a boom in our cities, towns and urbanizing suburban communities because of the economic, social, creative, health, and environmental benefits, including fighting climate change. Contrary to the charges of those who advocate against cities, what we are facing now is a health crisis and a failure to plan and act to stem a pandemic, not a failure of walkable urban places. We are social creatures and coming together has been key to the progress of civilization, innovation, the arts, and society. Looking ahead we must continue to invest in urban places while addressing the areas where we have fallen short, in affordable housing, equitable access to health care, healthy food, parks and safe streets, and in frequent, reliable and affordable public transit.
In summary, we call on our leaders to place top priority in the following areas for social and economic equity, opportunity, and action:
- Racial and social equity
- Affordable housing
- Tenant protection
- Living wages
- Worker safety
- Health care
- Healthy food
- Day care and elder care
- Education and teachers
- Safe streets
- Parks, greenways and trails
- Transit
- Clean air and clean water
- Climate change
- Walkable, inclusive, transit-oriented urban places
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Thoughts about where we live on this Earth Day
Where we live and how we design our communities matters
Today we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day, when millions of people took to the streets to demand better stewardship of the planet that is our home. While we may not be able to gather in the same way on this day, we can reflect on actions we can take.
Just as natural systems on our Earth are interconnected, so too are land use, housing, transportation, and our environment. Reliance on cars is the single largest source of carbon emissions in the U.S. and a major contributor to respiratory illnesses, however, by designing our communities to reduce reliance on vehicles we can create a safer, healthier world.
That’s why CSG has campaigned for walkable, transit-oriented communities. We recently released a presentation and fact sheet summarizing the benefits of transit-oriented communities for fighting climate change.
Amid the COVID-19 crisis, people are rediscovering the value of walking and bicycling, and the need for parks, greenways, and safe streets for our quality of life. Dedicating more space for bicycling and walking on our streets will allow for better physical distancing and reduce air pollution and carbon emissions.
Just as we need to focus on stopping future pandemics with science, preparation, and global cooperation, we will need to do the same if we are going to address the existential threat of climate change. We are social creatures and our walkable cities, towns, and urban neighborhoods offer important social, economic, and environmental benefits that we will continue to depend upon as a society.
So, thank you for supporting CSG and more sustainable communities. We wish you the best on this Earth Day and hope that you and your families are safe and healthy.
All the best,
Stewart, Cheryl, Jane, Sonya, Emily and Alina
Photo credit: Jane Lyons
Environment Virginia Webinar Presentation
A presentation given for Environment Virginia’s webinar Getting Virginia to Destination: Zero Carbon on the link between transit-oriented development and reducing carbon emissions in Virginia.
Full webinar available for viewing here.
NoVA Conservation Cafe Webinar: Meet the New NoVa Eco-Advocates!
We are changing next Thursday’s Conservation Cafe: Meet the New NoVA Eco-Advocates to an online webinar in response to closure of Fairfax County facilities and the need for social distancing. Please join us online from the comfort of your home to meet the new local advocates, hear about 2020 priorities, and share your thoughts on how we can work better together for a healthier environment in Northern Virginia.
Smart growth, environmental and active transportation organizations are staffing up in Northern Virginia and we want to hear from you. The event is a panel discussion featuring new staff from the Coalition for Smarter Growth, the Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling, the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, the Audubon Naturalist Society, and Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions. Elenor Hodges, Executive Director of EcoAction Arlington will be our moderator.
This is a free webinar, but registration is required. Register today with our partners at the Audubon Naturalist Society.
Hope you can make it!
CSG in the News: Guest Commentary: A Tour of West Falls Church & the Railroad Cottages
LOCAL COMMENTARY
Guest Commentary: A Tour of West Falls Church & the Railroad Cottages
September 27, 2019, by FCNP.com, the Falls Church News-Press
By Stewart Schwartz & Sonya Breehey
The best way to understand how to make our communities more sustainable and livable, is to get out and walk. That’s why the Coalition for Smarter Growth led one of our signature walking tours, this time in West Falls Church, from George Mason High School to the Railroad Cottages, along the W&OD Trail, and back along Broad Street (Route 7). We were joined by 40 people for the tour, meeting up at the Capital Bikeshare station next to Haycock Road. A number of our attendees arrived by bike and Metro.
We were welcomed by Mayor David Tarter and Councilmembers Letty Hardi, Phil Duncan and Ross Litkenhous from the City of Falls Church, Councilmember Pasha Majdi from the Town of Vienna, Delegate Marcus Simon, city planning commission and transportation commission members, staff, residents, and volunteer advocates from across Northern Virginia. Mayor Tarter provided an update on plans for the entire West Falls Church Metro area including Falls Church’s new high school and redevelopment area, the Virginia Tech campus, and the Metro station parking lots.
Walkable, mixed-use, mixed-income development next to our Metro stations is essential if we are to grow without making traffic worse and essential for cutting the transportation emissions that are now the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions in our region. Transit-oriented development will also expand the city’s tax base, providing funding for schools and other services.
Councilmember Hardi discussed safety issues facing people crossing Broad Street. Delegate Simon and others talked about safety issues along Shreve Road where a person was tragically killed by a vehicle as she walked on the sidewalk. The region is experiencing a big uptick in pedestrians and cyclists killed or injured by vehicles, and redesigning our streets to be safer for all users is imperative. Fortunately, a project is in the works to make the Route 7/Haycock Road intersection safer, and additional safe crossings are planned as part of the city’s redevelopment project. Meanwhile, Delegate Simon and other officials are pursuing safety improvements for Shreve Road.
We then walked a short distance along the W&OD to the Railroad Cottages — a highlight of the tour. When proposed, these 10 cottage style homes on 1.25 acres were the subject of significant concern from neighbors. The triangular site next to the W&OD trail originally allowed for four building sites. But in view of the significant housing needs in our region, and a desire to create environmentally sustainable homes with a sense of community, the project’s visionary development team proposed 10 cottages and a shared common house. The cottages are arranged along a central pathway, with cars parked away from the homes.
The homes were built to “Earthcraft Gold” energy-efficiency and sustainability standards and use Universal Design to allow for mobility when aging in place. It’s an 18-minute walk from the cottages to the West Falls Church Metro, 14 minutes by bike to the East Falls Church Metro on the W&OD trail, and a five-to-10-minute walk to a range of shopping and services along Broad Street. The stormwater management is cutting edge — controlling stormwater runoff to the same level as a healthy forest.
The residents of the Railroad Cottages graciously opened their doors to us, showing us their homes and describing what it’s like to live in the community. Project visionary Theresa Sullivan Twiford, architect Jack Wilbern of Butz Wilbern Architects, and developer Joe Wetzel of the Young Group, told us about the approval process and its many challenges.
Our planning and zoning rules in the region do not make it easy to build clustered homes, and the time and cost for special approvals adds to the cost of each new home. It is easier to build “by-right” very large, nearly full-lot occupying houses, which on this site would have cost $1.5 million or more, than to build these smaller 1340 to 1380 square foot homes.
Given our region’s housing needs, 10 homes within walking and bicycling distance to Metro are better than four. Still, at about $800,000 apiece, these homes remain out of reach for most families. They point the way, however, to the potential for smaller homes, and especially duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes, to provide more options with greater affordability.
We need to identify the best places for these homes in terms of access to transit, jobs and services, and make the design, zoning and approval process easier. Otherwise, our grown children and many sectors of our workforce will simply not be able to afford to live in our community. Creating more walkable, transit-oriented communities is how we can grow sustainably, provide the homes we need, and fight climate change. Fortunately, as the tour showed, the City of Falls Church is emerging as a leader in this effort.
Stewart Schwartz is the executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, and Sonya Breehey is their Northern Virginia advocacy manager.
View the guest commentary in the Falls Church News-Press here.