Category: News

Flexible commuter benefits bill reintroduced in DC

Posted on by Cheryl Cort

On February 19, 2019, D.C. Councilmembers Charles Allen and Mary Cheh reintroduced the parking cash-out bill, B23-148. This bill will require employers that subsidize parking for an employee’s commute to offer a transit benefit of equal value, or provide cash. It doesnt impose a cost or a new benefit, it simply lets an employee choose to use an employer-provided commute benefit for something other than driving and parking.

What’s the next step?: voting it out of the Transportation & Environment committee and into the full Council. Councilmembers Todd (Ward 4), and McDuffie (Ward 5) have not yet said if they will support the bill. If you are a business owner or constituent, let your councilmember know you support this sensible bill to let an employee use an employer’s parking benefit for an alternative commute.

Here are the options an employer can provide as an alternative to employees for a parking-only subsidy:

  • transit benefit of equal value to parking subsidy
  • cash of equal value to parking subsidy
  • increased health coverage benefit
  • cease to offer parking subsidies
  • Transportation Demand Management Plan that helps achieve the moveDC plan goal of under 25% commute trips by car or taxi

The bill has one major change: it exempts parking that is owned — rather than leased or paid for — by an employer. While we are disappointed in this exemption, we still believe the bill covering employers that lease or pay for employee commuter parking will have important benefits.  These benefits include: reduced traffic congestion (especially in downtown); increased bus speeds; increased transit, walk, and bike commutes; reduced greenhouse gas and other pollutant emissions; and fewer traffic crashes. View the factsheet here, or learn more about the campaign here.

Coming Up: A book talk, a brown-bag lunch, and Bus to Work Day

Posted on by Alex Baca

Happy February! Read on for upcoming CSG events and public meetings where your voice is needed in support of people-friendly streets and neighborhoods.

Upcoming Events

Book Talk: Christof Spieler: An Opinionated Atlas of U.S. Transit
Tues., Feb. 5, 5:30-8 p.m.
Smith Public Trust

Join us and Island Press for a talk with Houston-based community leader, urban planner, and transit enthusiast Christof Spieler, whose book Trains, Buses, People: An Opinionated Atlas of U.S. Transit profiles 47 metropolitan rail and bus systems. Spieler takes an honest look at what makes good and bad transit and is not afraid to look at what went wrong; at this talk, he’ll give a brief presentation and answer questions. Cash bar available. This event is free, but please register here.

Brown-Bag Lunch: Making Workforce Housing Work
Thurs., Feb. 7, 12-1:30 p.m.
West End Library Meeting Room

Join Somerset Development Company project manager Patrick McAnaney, Enterprise Community Partners Mid-Atlantic State & Local Policy Director Melissa Bondi, and CSG Policy Director Cheryl Cort to discuss the results of a new research paper about workforce housing in D.C. Workforce housing policies and subsidies are intended to fill the gap between what workers earn and what they can afford—but those that exist don’t fully account for the fact that eight of the 20 most common types of jobs in D.C. earn well below what it costs to afford rent or own a home in the city. We’ll discuss the numbers behind workforce housing, and possible solutions. Bring your lunch! This event is free, but please register here.

Save the Date: Prince Livable Communities Leadership Award reception
Tues., April 23, 5 p.m.
Tico

Save the date for CSG’s annual Prince Livable Communities Leadership Award reception! We will return to Tico, on 14th Street in D.C., to honor smart-growth champions in our region. More information and ticket sales coming soon.

Stand Up for Smart Growth

The following public meetings and open comment periods are great opportunities to tell decisionmakers that you’d like people who walk, bike, and take transit to be prioritized in projects.

D.C.
Bus to Work Day
Mon., Feb. 4
14th and Buchanan streets NW
Ward 4 Councilmember Brandon Todd has introduced legislation to designate Feb. 4 as Bus to Work Day in D.C., coinciding with National Transit Equity Day. Councilmember Todd will be taking the 7:45 a.m. 59 bus to work from 14th and Buchanan streets; join him by taking the bus for your commute, too. Learn more here.

Rock Creek East I Livability Meeting
Wed., Feb. 6, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library
Learn more here; register here

20th/21st/22nd Street Cycletrack
Comments open until Wed., Feb. 13
Learn more and submit comments here, or email megan.kanagy@dc.gov

D.C. Council Oversight Hearings

  • DDOT Performance Hearing: Mon. Feb. 25, 11 a.m.
  • DDOT Budget Hearing: Thurs., April 11, 11 a.m.
  • Office of Planning Performance Hearing: Thurs., Feb. 28, 11 a.m.
  • Office of Planning Budget Hearing: Tues., March 26, 11 a.m.

More information for budget hearings here and performance hearings here

Maryland
Montgomery County ADU Regulation Hearing
Tues., Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m.
3rd Floor hearing room, Council office building, 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville
ZTA 19-01 would remove certain regulations on ADUs to make them easier and more affordable to build. Read more here, and see a fact sheet here. You must sign up to testify at this meeting, or you can submit comments by email to County.Council@montgomerycountymd.gov

Virginia
Plan Lee Highway Kickoff Meeting
Tues., Feb. 12, 7 p.m.
Washington-Lee High School
Learn more here

West Falls Church Economic Development Project Town Hall and Council Meeting
Town Hall: Sun., Feb. 24 at 2 p.m.
City Council: Mon., Feb. 25, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.
Community Center, 223 Little Falls St., Falls Church
Learn more here

Loudoun 2040 Comprehensive Plan Work Sessions
Thurs., Jan. 31, Feb. 7, Feb. 14, and Feb. 28
Dulles Room, Loudoun County Government Center, 1 Harrison Street SE, Leesburg
Learn more here

And, stay up to date with what’s going on with Amazon here.

Regional
Metro Budget Open Houses and Hearings
Thurs., Jan. 31
Greenbelt Library, 11 Crescent Road
Open house at 6 p.m., public hearing at 6:30 p.m.

Tues., Feb. 5 (rescheduled from Jan. 29)
Metro HQ, 600 5th St. NW
Open house at 5:30 p.m., public hearing at 6 p.m.

More information here. If you missed the Jan. 30 open house in Alexandria, or can’t attend the above meetings, take the online survey.

CSG In the News

Executive Director Stewart Schwartz was quoted in Alexandria Living‘s coverage of the Embark Richmond Highway plan (for more on the plan, read Greater Greater Washington):
“Overall, it’s a very positive vision for the future for really the oldest corridor in the county, “ said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, a DC-based advocacy group. “It would create walkable, transit oriented-communities with a network of streets, strong bicycling infrastructure… [and] green ecological corridors running through it.”
Engagement Director Alex Baca was on The Kojo Nnamdi Show to discuss regional housing needs and how to make housing affordable for different generations.

In Case You Missed It

Smart-growth supporters—like you!—raised over $152,000 during our annual year-end campaign. Over 30 percent of our budget comes from individual contributions, and we can’t thank you enough for your gift. If you’d like to give to the Coalition for Smarter Growth, smartergrowth.net/donate is always open.

Thanks, and we hope to see you soon!

Support a livable, walkable D.C. region today!

Photo by Flickr user MW Transit User

CSG in the news: The Richmond Highway corridor could be getting more housing, shops, and fast buses

Posted on by Alex Baca

Greater Greater Washington, Jan. 10, 2019:

Southeast Fairfax County has a mix of housing options and occupies a prime location by Huntington Metro Station, which acts as a gateway to the corridor (in fact, the the CBC next to the station is called North Gateway). As the Coalition for Smarter Growth indicated in its 2017 report on the corridor, ensuring the corridor has adequate affordable housing is vital to ensuring many different kinds of people can afford to live here, not just those with a large bank account. The county should focus on this in order to avoid pricing people out of the corridor and into other parts of the county farther from transit and with more sprawl.

Read more here.

CSG in the news: Richmond Highway embarks on a new era

Posted on by Alex Baca

Alexandria Living, Jan. 6, 2019:

The “transit-oriented design” will place emphasis on multimodal forms of transportation, with BRT running through the CBCs from the Huntington Metro station to Fort Belvoir. Dedicated bike lanes and large, connected sidewalks will be up and down the corridor along Route 1, making a place known for being less-than-friendly to pedestrians and bikers into something urbanists can get excited about.

“Overall, it’s a very positive vision for the future for really the oldest corridor in the county, “ said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, a DC-based advocacy group. “It would create walkable, transit oriented-communities with a network of streets, strong bicycling infrastructure… [and] green ecological corridors running through it.”

Read more here.

Continue reading “CSG in the news: Richmond Highway embarks on a new era” →

CSG in the news: Amazon plans to offer incentives to push future Arlington employees to use public transit

Posted on by Alex Baca

ARLNow, Dec. 19, 2018:

The move is quite welcome news for county leaders and transit advocates alike, who are anxious to see the tech giant embrace public transportation in the area. Though Metro’s rail service may well have its problems, many around Arlington hope Amazon’s 25,000 workers embrace transit to ease pressure on the county’s congested roads.

“Ideally, Amazon employees here will be like those in Seattle where a significant number live within walking distance of the headquarters,” said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the transit advocacy-focused Coalition for Smarter Growth. “But for the rest, offering essentially free transit passes is basically the single most powerful thing they could do to make a difference.”

Read more here.

Continue reading “CSG in the news: Amazon plans to offer incentives to push future Arlington employees to use public transit” →

CSG in the news: D.C. fails to take up Comprehensive Plan amendments, pushes issue to 2019

Posted on by Alex Baca

Bisnow, Dec. 14, 2018:

Advocates are not happy that the council pushed the Comprehensive Plan amendment to 2019. Coalition for Smarter Growth Policy Director Cheryl Cort said the group is pushing the council to take up the amendments early next year. “We are frustrated that it was not moved forward,” Cort said. “We would have liked to have this Comprehensive Plan be a higher priority, but we know the council is still engaged, and the chairman has not forgotten about it.”

…

“The PUD process is being crippled by all the meritless appeals,” Cort said. “We used to get some appeals, which makes sense, but now pretty much everything is being appealed and it’s crippling our ability to redevelop larger affordable housing sites.” 

The D.C. Council held a hearing on the amendments in March that lasted over 13 hours and had 273 people signed up to testify. Many top D.C. developers, including JBG Smith, EYA, Trammell Crow, MRP Realty, MidCity Development and Menkiti Group testified in support of the amendments. Advocates like Cort also testified in favor of the amendments, while other anti-development activists like Chris Otten testified in opposition to the changes. 

Read more here.

CSG in the news: Amazon won transportation perks for its Crystal City HQ2

Posted on by Alex Baca

Streetsblog, Nov. 14, 2018:

In addition, the agreement also calls for the expansion of the Crystal City/Potomac Yard Metroway bus rapid transit, which runs buses on partially dedicated lanes from Crystal City to the Pentagon and northern Alexandria.

Sustainable transportation advocates like Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, said the proposal looks solid.

“Those all look like the investments we need,” Schwartz said.

Read more here.

Continue reading “CSG in the news: Amazon won transportation perks for its Crystal City HQ2” →

CSG in the news: 25,000 new jobs are coming to Northern Virginia. Does that mean more traffic jams?

Posted on by Alex Baca

WAMU, Nov. 14, 2018:

Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, a D.C.-area nonprofit addressing how the region grows, says the region should be excited, not worried.

“This location will have significantly less impact on the region’s transportation network in particular, then would a location 30 miles outside the core for sure,” Schwartz said.

…

Schwartz says housing and transportation in the region aren’t maxed out.

“We have a lot of capacity, not just at Crystal City, but at Potomac Yard, Pentagon City and really a number of other Metro stations in the region,” Schwartz said. “By focusing growth at our Metro stations, we’ll maximize the number of people who aren’t driving, and actually make the Metro system work better as well. It will be used all day in both directions. And so Metro itself will improve its operating funding posture as a result.”

Schwartz said Metro will need to increase train frequency and create more dedicated bus lanes in the region to speed up buses and increase reliability.

“This that was an area where Seattle made a major commitment and the results prove that it works for increasing ridership and reducing the amount of driving,” Schwartz said.

…

Schwartz said building more housing near transit is a key way to decrease single car driving.

“When you provide more housing and more affordable housing close to jobs, and close to high-frequency transit, you are helping reduce long-distance commutes and cars on the road,” Schwartz said.

…

Schwartz says Amazon has picked a good spot for a walkable, mixed-use development with a strong transit presence.

“It’s a testament to the long-time commitment Arlington and neighboring jurisdictions has had to transform development,” Schwartz said. “Arlington was a pioneer in this type of planning, and has a plan in place for Crystal City, one that will continue to transform it into a modern vibrant people-oriented place.”

Read more here.

Continue reading “CSG in the news: 25,000 new jobs are coming to Northern Virginia. Does that mean more traffic jams?” →

CSG in the news: Amazon could be boon or bust for Metro and the region’s transportation infrastructure

Posted on by Alex Baca

Washington Post, Nov. 13, 2018:

“Amazon was looking for an urban and transit-oriented environment, and they certainly have found one in the most pro-transit, pro-smart-growth jurisdiction in the country in Arlington County,” said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “It’s a good thing in that we would be focusing these jobs where we have excellent transit and close to the core of the region so that the jobs are accessible 360 degrees around.”

Schwartz noted an added benefit: Amazon’s selection of Crystal City could lead to a new “reverse commute” in which riders are filling empty trains headed outbound from the District — in the opposite direction of rush-hour travel.

Read more here.

Continue reading “CSG in the news: Amazon could be boon or bust for Metro and the region’s transportation infrastructure” →