Category: News

CSG in the news: In D.C., pedestrians must walk at their own risk

Posted on by Alex Baca

Washington Post Express, Oct. 22, 2018

Alex Baca, an activist with the Coalition for Smarter Growth, said her jaw was broken when she was hit by a car while riding her bike. A third of the people in her office have been hit by cars, she said.

Many vented that the city isn’t putting in bike lanes fast enough or taking other measures to make biking or walking safer.

“Frankly, right now no one believes Vision Zero is a serious undertaking,” City Councilman Charles Allen, D-Ward 6, said at the hearing.

Read more here.

CSG in the news: Why won’t Loudoun County’s terrible zombie Potomac Bridge proposal die?

Posted on by Alex Baca

Greater Greater Washington, Oct. 19, 2019

GGWash has covered this proposal before; it’s one that has appeared in one form or another for years. Alex’s organization, the Coalition for Smarter Growth, has fought against such a bridge and a related outer beltway in 1988, 2001, 2004, 2015, 2017, and again on October 10 of this year (see the press release).

Regional transportation studies show that a bridge like this makes little sense from an economic perspective or as a congestion reduction measure. Besides its pure impracticality, the political obstacles are numerous: Maryland ostensibly owns the Potomac, and so has significant say in whatever happens around it; Maryland’s governor, along with the Montgomery County Council, opposes the project; and any road on the Maryland side would pass directly through Montgomery’s well-protected agricultural reserve.

The Potomac Zombie Bridge is a ghost of 20th-century land-use planning that’s still haunting us in 2018. Why won’t it die?

Read more here.

CSG in the news: Cyclist, pedestrian safety top priority of new D.C. regional transportation plan

Posted on by Alex Baca

Washington Times, Oct. 17, 2018:

Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, spoke in the public comments portion of Wednesday’s meeting to oppose the highway expansion projects.

“The never-ending widening embodied in this plan represents potentially billions of dollars in wasted money,” Mr. Schwartz said.

Visualize 2045 notes that 5.7 million people currently live in national capital area and projects the population to increase to 6.9 million by 2045.

Read more here.

RELEASE: Bridge Boondoggle: Smart-growth groups respond to Loudoun’s push for upper Potomac River bridges

Posted on by Alex Baca

Coalition for Smarter Growth, Piedmont Environmental Council, Montgomery Countryside Alliance

Press Statement
For Immediate Release
October 10, 2018

Contact:
Stewart Schwartz, CSG, (703) 599-6437
Gem Bingol, PEC, (703) 431-6941
Caroline Taylor, MCA, (301) 461-9831

Recently, the Loudoun County Board voted to support and push for a new and controversial upper Potomac bridge, based on a county-funded study.

The Coalition for Smarter Growth and allies responded, citing years of studies that demonstrate the bridge is not needed, would waste tax dollars, and would destroy neighborhoods and the environment.

“An upper Potomac Bridge and associated outer beltway would be a boondoggle, wasting billions of dollars, diverting funding from true transportation needs, fueling more sprawl and traffic, and greatly harming neighborhoods and environmental resources,” says Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “A bridge didn’t make sense in 1988, 2001, 2004, 2015, or 2017 — when it’s been studied before — and it doesn’t make sense now.”

CSG, the Piedmont Environmental Council, and the Montgomery Countryside Alliance were critical of Loudoun County for not including three previous studies in their analysis: the 2001 “Wolf” study, the 2003-2004 Council of Governments/Virginia Department of Transportation origin and destination study, and the 2015 Virginia Department of Transportation origins and destination study.

“The Loudoun County study ignores the clear findings of VDOT’s 2015 origins and destination study of Potomac River crossings, which do not support a new upriver crossing,” says Schwartz.

The 2015 VDOT study is definitive. It shows that that just 5 percent of Virginia trips crossing the American Legion Bridge today, and 4 percent in 2040, are the “U-shaped commutes” that might use an upriver bridge. All other trips — 95 percent — are either “L-shaped” (60 percent) and best served by the location of the American Legion Bridge and its alignment with the largest job centers in Fairfax and Montgomery Counties, or are trips that cross the American Legion and have destinations along and inside the Beltway (35 percent — these are not discussed in the briefing).

“The 2015 study concluded that the American Legion Bridge has the worst congestion and need for improvement among Potomac River road bridges, and we are pleased the governors of Virginia and Maryland are now focused on multimodal improvements at the American Legion Bridge,” says Schwartz.

The 2015 VDOT findings confirm the previous origin and destination study for the American Legion Bridge (2003/2004), which tracked both Virginia and Maryland commuters crossing that bridge and found a similarly low percentage of “U-shaped commuters.”

“Given the high potential cost of a new upriver bridge, including the 10 to 15 miles of highway that Maryland would need to build, scarce tax dollars are better used fixing existing congestion problems at the American Legion Bridge and the Rosslyn Metro Tunnel, and on local road improvements within Loudoun County,” says Schwartz.

“The Loudoun County study showed that any neighborhood chosen as the path for a new bridge would see negative impacts, including loss of homes and wetlands. It also ignored that the last time specific bridge crossings were proposed, in the 2001 study initiated by Congressman Frank Wolf, it prompted a massive outcry from neighborhoods on both sides of the river,” says Gem Bingol of the Piedmont Environmental Council. “The neighborhoods should not have the threat of this highway hanging over them when the road isn’t justified in the first place.”

In a Fairfax Times article dated May 29, 2001, “[Congressman] Wolf said communities in northern Fairfax and Loudoun counties and those in southern Montgomery County, Md., — particularly on the proposed bridge corridors — were simply too densely packed with homes.” Wolf also said, “Moving the route further west put the bridge into Maryland’s agricultural preserve and too far out to make a difference for commuters.”

“The bridge and highway would impact significant natural and historic resources, including the Potomac Heritage Trail, the C&O Canal National Historic Park, Broad Run, Seneca Creek, the Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve, and neighborhoods in eastern Loudoun and throughout Darnestown and North Potomac, Maryland,” said Caroline Taylor, executive director of the Montgomery Countryside Alliance. “As a result, and not surprisingly, Montgomery County and the State of Maryland remain adamantly opposed to the bridge and highway.”

In the 2017 Council of Governments study of long-range transportation plan priorities, Supervisor Ron Meyer of Loudoun County pitched the upper Potomac Bridge as a “game-changing” investment, but study results show it is not. It performed worst in meeting regional challenges, increased regional VMT and per capita VMT, ranked 6th in reducing vehicle hours of delay, and was among the scenarios that moved the needle very little on the remaining measures.

This almost precisely mirrors the findings in a recent Northern Virginia transaction plan analysis, which showed that the Northern Virginia network performed about the same with and without the bridge. In that case as well, other scenarios, such as compact land use, performed as well or better than the bridge. Additionally, the bridge would add traffic to area roads rather than reduce it, because it would induce demand for new trips rather than serving existing travel patterns.

“The bridge stands out from all the other scenarios for having the largest negative impact on air and water quality and open space,” says Bingol.

“This isn’t surprising. The bridge would directly impact the drinking water intakes for most of the region’s population; potentially impair the Piedmont groundwater aquifer, which serves as the sole source of drinking water in rural Montgomery County; create development pressure in the nationally recognized Agricultural Reserve; and increase vehicle miles traveled,” says Taylor.

“We urge Loudoun County to drop their push for an upper Potomac River bridge,” says Schwartz. “It won’t help traffic. It will, in fact, make traffic worse, while harming neighborhoods, drinking water, the Agriculture Reserve and environmental resources. And it will waste tax dollars.”

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About the Coalition for Smarter Growth
The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading organization in the Washington DC region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. Its 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. Learn more at smartergrowth.net.

CSG in the news: Will the ‘rethinking’ of the Washington region’s bus network lead anywhere?

Posted on by Alex Baca

Washington Post, Oct. 6, 2018

Some advocates and transportation officials say they expect Metro’s Bus Transformation Project to be a guide for such an overhaul. It will be difficult however, because bus service in the region is provided by as many as a dozen transit agencies, in addition to Metrobus. The multi-jurisdictional nature of the region also complicates any kind of regional approach.

The region needs commitments from the jurisdictions as much as from the service providers, said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. The jurisdictions control the roadways and are responsible for accessibility of bus stops, curbsides and traffic operation improvements that can contribute to better performance of buses. They decide whether to give up general traffic lanes for bus lanes and facilitate the implementation of a signal priority system that gives buses the right of way at traffic lights.

Read more here.

RELEASE: Coalition for Smarter Growth Responds to Failure of Regional Leaders to Address WMATA’s Ridership Challenges

Posted on by Alex Baca

Press Statement
For Immediate Release
October 3, 2018

Contact:
Stewart Schwartz, 703-599-6437 (c)
Aimee Custis, 202-431-7185 (c)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Sun., Sept. 30, 2018, the Washington Post ran a story detailing the failure of the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority board members to commit to increasing Metrorail service.

In Sunday’s Post story, the elected and appointed officials charged with the stewardship of our region’s rail and bus system refused to say that they would unite as a body to run more trains, more often, in order to increase ridership. Such a move would follow the demands of riders, the recommendations of consultants, and well-known industry best practices.

National Transit Database data show that Metrorail ridership is down about 25 percent from a decade ago. Five of the past 12 months have set new record lows.

“We know this is primarily due to unreliable service and unreasonable wait times for trains,” says Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. Schwartz continues, “These long wait times, especially during nights and weekends, have made other modes of transportation, like biking and ride-hailing, more attractive and more realistic to use than Metrorail.”

Schwartz says, “WMATA’s own consultants, hired to study declining ridership, have made clear to WMATA what has been intuitive to its customers for years: while there is increased competition from ridesharing services, low gas prices, and telecommuting, the primary cause of Metro’s ridership slide is reduced frequency, and especially reduced off-peak frequency on evenings and weekends.”

In his comments to the Post, board member Christian Dorsey did identify the need for “more service generally,” and “less disruption in service through closings and maintenance activities,” including during off-peak hours. But advocates say that taken in total, the WMATA board’s comments to the Post show Metro’s board pursuing goals that do not align with the realities of how transit works for the people who use it. As has been shown time and again, frequent, reliable service is the most important factor in attracting and retaining people who ride transit.

Moreover, elected officials in local and state jurisdictions where WMATA operates have not committed to providing the necessary operating funding to make frequent, reliable service possible.

While the Post reported solely on Metrorail, urgent attention must also be paid to Metrobus and other area bus services. A lack of political will to install and enforce dedicated bus lanes or signals — so buses can avoid the congestion of personal cars and move more people — means that bus performance is slowing alongside Metrorail.

“We support frequent, reliable public transit that connects the region. We stand fully behind WMATA when it takes steps to realize that reality,” says Schwartz. “We have worked closely with the agency as it has taken steps toward reform, fought for dedicated bus lanes, and campaigned successfully for its first-ever dedicated capital funding as part of the MetroNow coalition. We fought hard for this with the understanding that reliable financial resources for capital spending would enable WMATA, and its board, to focus on not just restoring, but improving, Metrorail service.

“WMATA’s stewards and elected officials representing the jurisdictions it serves are falling short in protecting the freedom and accessibility that transit service is central to providing to area residents. Frequent and reliable service increases transit ridership. It provides freedom and greater access to jobs and services. We need the board and regional elected officials to commit emphatically to improving service and ridership.”

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About the Coalition for Smarter Growth
The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading organization in the Washington DC region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. Its 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. Learn more at smartergrowth.net.

CSG in the news: We need to battle “cultural” obstacles to accessory apartments, say Hans Riemer and Tracy Loh

Posted on by Alex Baca

Greater Greater Washington, Oct. 3, 2018

Speaking of affluent, exclusive areas, Ward 3 Vision and the Coalition for Smarter Growth are hosting a forum on ADUs in Cleveland Park on Thursday, October 11. This follows others they have already held in Northeast DC and east of the Anacostia River, where there are a lot of opportunities for homeowners to add income and help meet the city’s housing need.

Read more here.

CSG in the news: Transit advocates decry Metro board’s ‘failure’ to take on ridership issue

Posted on by Alex Baca

Washington Post, Oct. 3, 2018:

A pro-transit coalition that backed Metro’s effort to secure $500 million a year dedicated funding from the region is calling out Metro leaders for their perceived inaction on the system’s lagging ridership.

In a lengthy missive Tuesday, the Coalition for Smarter Growth singled out the Metro board for its “failure” to commit to additional service, despite analysts and transit experts’ contention that ridership is largely responsive to train frequency. A story in Sunday’s Washington Post detailed how board members were not convinced that adding service was the best course for the system, which faces falling revenue and rising wages, along with a stated need for cutbacks to address decades of deferred maintenance.

“In Sunday’s Post story, the elected and appointed officials charged with the stewardship of our region’s rail and bus system refused to say that they would unite as a body to run more trains, more often, in order to increase ridership,” the Coalition wrote. “Such a move would follow the demands of riders, the recommendations of consultants, and well-known industry best practices.”

Read more here.

CSG in the news: D.C. Mayor Bowser Wants a 15 MPH Speed Limit

Posted on by Alex Baca

Streetsblog USA, Oct. 1, 2018:

“It is very evidently not a priority for the Mayor’s Office,” said cyclist Alex Baca of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, who broke her jaw and sustained dental injuries in a crash last year.

She added that Vision Zero has been little more than a “marketing effort” by City Hall.

“You’re not seeing DDOT really do anything that looks like Vision Zero in a measurable fashion,” she told Streetsblog.

For example, the city hasn’t moved to implement its Move D.C. Plan, which calls for 343 miles of bike infrastructure, 75 of which were to be protected bike lanes. In just one instance, a two-mile protected bike lane through the Shaw neighborhood has been delayed for nearly two years. The city has been changing and refining designs since 2016 related to pushback from churches over on-street car storage — often referred to as parking.

Read more here.