VIRGINIA — “Our groups pressed for major progress at every step of the legislative process, including pushing for the needs of the Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads regions, funding for local roads, substantially more funding for transit, and most of all – for a meaningful, on-going evaluation of VDOT spending,” said Jeff Painter Executive Director for the Virginia League of Conservation Voters. “While a number of the priorities we recommended were included, such as funding for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, for intercity rail, for Dulles Rail, and for road maintenance, there remains a great need for thorough evaluation of how and where all of these new taxpayer dollars will be spent.”
Category: News
Senate Vote Passes $880 Million Highway Reform
The state Senate has passed the first long-term reform to Virginia’s floundering 27-year-old system for funding repairs and upkeep of its 58,000-mile network of highways.
The 25-15 vote sends to Gov. Bob McDonnell what would be the defining policy legacy in the fourth and final year of the single, non-renewable term Virginia allows its governors.
It would replace Virginia’s 17 1/2 cents-per-gallon retail gasoline tax with a 3.5 percent wholesale tax on gasoline and a 6 percent levy on diesel fuel. It boosts statewide sales taxes from 5 percent to 5.3 percent. It increases the titling tax on car sales and adds a $100 registration fee for fuel-sipping hybrid vehicles. It also rules out proposed tolls on Interstate 95 south of Petersburg.
“Giving localities the responsibility to raise taxes to pay for a limited range of projects, while most existing revenue is diverted to wasteful new highway projects, is not a good deal. Over the long term, it will result in local tax base, not state transportation revenues, covering the cost of the transportation systems that serve the majority of Virginians,” Chris Miller, President of The Piedmont Environmental Council said in a statement.
The Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth said it is now up legislators and local elected officials to watch-dog how the money is spent.
“Where we spend our tax dollars and whether we are supporting more efficient, smarter growth with our transportation investments should be a central topic of this year’s Governors race,” he said.
Photo courtesy of WUSA9
Coalition for Smarter Growth presses for Maryland transit funding
The Coalition for Smarter Growth has launched an advocacy campaign called “Get Maryland Moving,” BethesdaNow.com reports. The effort is intended to prod lawmakers in Annapolis to provide transportation funding for projects designed to ease congestion.
Coalition for Smarter Growth Speaks Out on Rapid Transit
The Coalition for Smarter Growth has released the following regarding Rapid Transit in Montgomery County:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 21st, 2013
Contacts: Stewart Schwartz, Coalition for Smarter Growth, (703) 599-6437
Montgomery Planners Propose 78-Mile Rapid Transit system
Today, Montgomery County planning staff present to the Planning Board a 78-mile version of the proposed Rapid Transit System, based on several months of data-driven modeling and analysis. The Rapid Transit System would be a premium, reliable transit service using dedicated lanes as much as possible to bypass traffic, running frequently throughout the day, and stopping at enhanced stations featuring real time arrival information and efficient boarding like that found on Metro.
“The Rapid Transit System will complement the Purple Line and our Metro system, offering high quality transit to more of Montgomery County and helping to address traffic and future economic development. It is an essential investment, providing residents more affordable transportation and a better option than sitting in traffic,” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth.
Facing an additional 200,000 residents, 200,000 new jobs, and a 22% increase in the amount of time residents will spend on roadways by 2040, planners know that the county’s roadways, already overburdened with traffic, will be unable to handle additional vehicles. Their analysis, forecasting ridership to 2040, demonstrated that dedicating lanes to transit on several corridors could move more people per lane than individual vehicles, while improving traffic countywide. They are recommending a phased approach based on that data, with a first phase that would include two lanes dedicated to the Rapid Transit System in the center of Rockville Pike and northern US29, and one reversible lane in the direction of rush hour traffic on parts of Georgia Ave, Viers Mill/University Blvd, and New Hampshire Avenue. Their models show that their recommended network would attract a ridership of approximately 184,000 daily riders by 2040.
Said Lindsay Hoffman of Friends of White Flint, “We’ve come together in our neighborhoods and supported a vision for a walkable community in White Flint where it will be possible to leave the car at home and live a healthier, more affordable lifestyle. Improved and expanded transit service on Rockville Pike is critical to making that vision possible, and we as residents will need to work together to ensure this proposal meets our communities’ needs and becomes a reality.”
“The planning staff’s network is smaller than the full Transit Task Force proposal but also much larger than the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) proposal. The staff’s analysis is both rigorous and practical, and results in a network that can be effectively implemented,” concluded Schwartz.
In the planning staff’s brief, they reported, “ITDP did not do any ridership forecasting, whereas our transportation modeling work has shown that the forecast 2040 ridership on MD355 is far higher and we are confident that we should begin planning for a two-lane median busway for most of this corridor.”
The Montgomery County Planning Board will now have a month to review the staff’s recommendations before they release a draft for public hearings to be held in the beginning of May. After public hearings, the Planning Board will submit their draft proposal to the County Council.
The Smart (Growth) Crowd Weighs In
My smart growth buddies have issued a critique of the compromise transportation-funding deal. Among the highlights in the press release issued jointly today by the Coalition for Smarter Growth and the Piedmont Environmental Council:
Cutting gas taxes by up to one-third reduces the tie between transportation use and funding. “Transportation, unlike our schools, is like an electric utility, yet the primary fee—the gas tax—hasn’t been increased in 27 years. Transit users have been paying increased fares, year after year, yet road users would see a reduction in daily travel costs under the bill, leading to a potential shift from transit to driving, more driving and more congestion.”
The proposal feeds wasteful spending. “The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is squandering most of the $3 billion in borrowed funds authorized by the General Assembly in 2011 and we can expect more of the same.” Hard-to-justify projects include the Charlottesville Bypass, the Coalfields Expressway and the Route 460 Connector. Another $1.25 billion in funds raised by the tax restructuring will be lavished upon a Northern Virginia Outer Beltway.
The proposal offers no statewide funding for local road needs. “VDOT has zeroed out funding for local roads over the past few years. Instead, the bill will make Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads increase sales taxes and wholesale gas taxes to pay for local roads. This is a major step toward devolution and passing on the cost of local roads to Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.”
The compromise pushes all new transit funding — the 0.3 cent addition to the sales tax — into the General Fund, forcing it to compete with schools, health care and other public services. “Dulles Rail should long ago have been funded through the Transportation Trust Fund. It should not be a bargaining chip to get Northern Virginians to agree to taking General Fund revenues.”
Bacon’s bottom line: I agree with most of this critique — the General Assembly compromise enables a dysfunctional Business As Usual. I do take exception with one point, however. I believe that all modes of transportation should stand on their own two feet, so to speak. I don’t believe in subsidizing rail or mass transit any more than I believe in subsidizing roads. We need to create a level playing field — put each mode on a user-fee basis — and let the most economical mode win.
Would it then be impossible to finance new rail projects? Not necessarily. We could make rail more viable if we could figure out how to tap a portion of the real estate value created by rail projects to help finance the construction. That’s where we need to concentrate our energy, not how to stick non-users with the bill.
Photo courtesy of Bacon’s Rebellion
Read the original article here >>
New bus rapid transit proposal centers around Route 355
Route 355 is the only road in Montgomery County that could support a two-way bus lane, county planners said Thursday as they presented a scaled-back bus rapid system to the county’s Planning Board.
Planners are pitching a 78-mile system that would include eight corridors in the center and downcounty regions. Some would include new lanes in the current medians, one of which is a two-lane system and others that call for a one-lane track, and mixing the buses in with existing traffic.
The new version is about half of the 160-mile system proposed by a task force appointed by County Executive Ike Leggett. A report from the New York-based Institution for Transportation and Development Policy suggested that system would not have enough riders.
The buses in the new system would run down Route 355, Colesville Road/Route 29, Georgia Avenue, New Hampshire Avenue, Randolph Road, Veirs Mill Road, University Boulevard and the proposed North Bethesda Transitway between Old Georgetown Road and Interstate 270.
But Route 355 is the only road that could hold two lanes down the median and provide enough bus riders to make the new construction worth it.
Master Planner Larry Cole pitched building the bus system on Route 355/Rockville Pike and U.S. 29/Colesville Road first because these are the roads predicted to have the most riders and they can stand alone without other corridors feeding into them.
Some commissioners questioned why some corridors were chosen over others and what the methodology was behind determining ridership and congestion. There was also discussion of what was more beneficial for drivers and potential BRT riders: dedicated curb lanes or bus lanes in medians?
Planning commissioner Norman Dreyfuss asked whether Cole had considered creating new median lanes for cars instead of the buses to alleviate congestion on certain corridors and keep buses on the curb for pedestrian safety.
Cole said county staff was still working on the specifics of the system.
Area transportation advocates backed the plan, saying county planners are being realistic about the service they can provide the county.
“The staff’s analysis is both rigorous and practical,” said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “And results in a network that can be effectively implemented.”
A public hearing is scheduled for March 18.
Photo courtesy of Washington Examiner
Planners Say Rockville Pike Could Handle Major Bus Rapid Transit System
Montgomery County planners think Rockville Pike is the county’s best candidate for a “true” Bus Rapid Transit route, meaning the traffic-clogged artery could support a two-lane median busway similar to major systems that serve millions of riders in other countries.
The finding came today in a briefing from planners in front of the Montgomery County Planning Board and a little more than a week after it was revealed that an outside consultant found a potential 150-mile BRT system in Montgomery County would not have enough riders.
Today, planners presented a modified 87-mile BRT system they said would attract more riders than the outside report from the New York-based Institution for Transportation and Development Policy suggested.
“ITDP’s report’s focus is on which corridors are best suited to high-quality “true” BRT with frequent all day service. The report finds that MD355 is the best candidate for this treatment, but expresses a concern that if future BRT ridership is only double the existing bus ridership, it would be very low compared to other BRT operations nationwide,” reads the Planning Staff’s memo. “ITDP did not do any ridership forecasting however, whereas our transportation modeling work has shown that the forecast 2040 ridership on MD355 is far higher and we are confident that we should begin planning for a two-lane median busway for most of this corridor.”
The Planning Staff briefing also found that the proposed North Bethesda Transitway BRT route (with a previously estimated daily ridership of 8,000 to 10,000 riders) was a corridor that could stand alone, without the benefit of a county-wide network.
The Coalition for Smarter Growth, a D.C.-based nonprofit lobbying for smart growth initiatives and transit funding, had supportive words for the latest proposal.
“The planning staff’s network is smaller than the full Transit Task Force proposal but also much larger than the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) proposal. The staff’s analysis is both rigorous and practical, and results in a network that can be effectively implemented,” Coalition for Smarter Growth Stewart Schwartz said in a statement.
Daily ridership projections by 2040 presented at a Coalition for Smarter Growth meeting last week show between 44,000 and 49,000 riders for a southbound MD 355 system and between 22,000 and 34,000 riders for a northbound MD 355 system. The projections for the North Bethesda Transitway range from 4,000 daily riders to 10,000.
Photo by Juanman 3 via Wikipedia; route map via Montgomery County Planning Department
Why the Transportation Bill is Bad Public Policy and a Bad Deal for Virginia
VIRGINIA – “Look beyond the deal specifics and look at the real implications of the announced deal on HB2313, and you’ll see a bill that represents bad fiscal policy and bad transportation policy,” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “It’s a bad deal for Virginia. Without reforming VDOT spending the statewide component of the funding will be wasted, and all Virginians will have to pay for this waste. On the same day that the conference committee announced a deal proposing about $850 million per year in additional transportation funding, we learned that VDOT is wasting yet more of the $3 billion in funds approved by the General Assembly in 2011,” said Chris Miller, President of the Piedmont Environmental Council. “Yesterday, in a presentation to the Commonwealth Transportation Board, VDOT said it would allocate $869 million in borrowed federal funds to Route 460 and the Coalfields Expressway, two of the most wasteful projects to ever be proposed in Virginia. Then there is the $1.25 billion or so they propose to waste on the Charlottesville Bypass and the NoVA Outer Beltway. ”
Montgomery Planners Propose 78-Mile Rapid Transit system
Today, Montgomery County planning staff present to the Planning Board a 78-mile version of the proposed Rapid Transit System, based on several months of data-driven modeling and analysis. The Rapid Transit System would be a premium, reliable transit service using dedicated lanes as much as possible to bypass traffic, running frequently throughout the day, and stopping at enhanced stations featuring real time arrival information and efficient boarding like that found on Metro.
Advocates Form Coalition To Push For Purple Line Funds
A new coalition is advocating for dollars for state transportation projects, including the planned 16-mile Purple Line light rail that would connect Bethesda with New Carrollton, The Washington Post reports.
Get Maryland Moving, a coalition of groups, including the Montgomery County and Bethesda-Chevy Chase chambers of commerce, Purple Line Now, Action Committee for Transit, and the League of Women Voters of Maryland, is pushing for state legislators to make new revenue for transportation projects a top priority this legislative session, according to the group’s website.
Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach has proposed a 3-cent gas tax that would raise about $300 million for transportation projects, Patch reported.
But without a tax increase to fund the Purple Line, the project—along with Baltimore’s Red Line and the Corridor Cities Transitway through the Interstate 270 corridor—could be put on hold, Maryland transportation officials have said. Montgomery County officials and transportation advocates have argued that deferring the funds in the state’s transportation funding plan could stall the projects and make them less competitive for federal dollars.
Get Maryland Moving is encouraging Maryland residents to contact their legislators and sign a petition supporting transportation funding. The petition reads:
“No funding solution this year means that critical capital projects such as the Purple Line, Red Line, and MARC upgrades may be delayed for years or decades. We call on our leaders to take a different path: to invest in our future by securing funding for critical transit projects, road maintenance, and other investments to support smart, sustainable growth for Maryland.”
Photo courtesy of MTA