Coalition for Smarter Growth executive director Stewart Schwartz acknowledges that if Howze had won, advocates for the streetcar would have interpreted it as a win for the project.
“It would have a been a positive for the streetcar for sure,” Schwartz says. But he also says that supporters of the streetcar do not view Vihstadt’s victory last week as a sign that voters are rejecting the streetcar.
In the days following Vihstadt’s re-election victory, the Coalition for Smarter Growth – which supports the streetcar – said the election shouldn’t be taken as a de-facto referendum on the project. “We are confident that the streetcar will continue to stand up to scrutiny,” the organization said. Its executive director, Stewart Schwartz, said he couldn’t get into the politics of the matter because he worked for a non-profit that isn’t allowed to take political stances. But he said the organization would “join with Arlingtonians in making a substantive case for this as a critical long-term economic-development and transportation investment.”
In the days following Vihstadt’s re-election victory, the Coalition for Smarter Growth – which supports the streetcar – said the election shouldn’t be taken as a de-facto referendum on the project.
“We are confident that the streetcar will continue to stand up to scrutiny,” the organization said.
Its executive director, Stewart Schwartz, said he couldn’t get into the politics of the matter because he worked for a non-profit that isn’t allowed to take political stances. But he said the organization would “join with Arlingtonians in making a substantive case for this as a critical long-term economic-development and transportation investment.”
But a hard look at the streetcar and the record of transit and transit-oriented development in the region demonstrates that new transit investments are a critical economic development tool for Northern Virginia, according to the coalition. A 2013 study for the U.S. calculated that the economic value of transit for a jurisdiction could be up to $1.5 to $1.8 billion.
Stewart Schwartz, who lives on Church Hill and works in Washington, believes that what’s important to businesspeople is not necessarily speed but reliability. “If you can know that you’re going to be 90, 100 percent reliable, then you can make your meetings in Washington or vice versa,” he said. “But you won’t take the train if the train is routinely late. We know now that (Interstate) 95 is completely unreliable from Fredericksburg north in terms of on-time performance. What would make the train competitive is reliable on-time performance.” Schwartz is executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth and commutes to Washington three times a week.
Dear Senators, Delegates, Supervisors and Director:
We understand that the next public meetings have been delayed to October and that analysis work is continuing, but wanted to communicate to you three key issues of concern.
[PDF] Decades in the making, Phase 1 of the Silver Line has arrived in Fairfax County and new buildings are appearing at the Wiehle-Reston East and Tysons Metro stations. We have a rare opportunity to witness a new phase of the county and the region as old suburbs are retrofitted and new walkable, urban, and sustainable destinations emerge.
With the opening of the Silver Line last week, advocates for car-free commuting are calling attention to remaining bicycle and pedestrian safety challenges around the new stations.
The opening of the Silver Line has highlighted challenges for pedestrians and bicyclists in Tysons and to a lesser extent, in Reston.
Virginia officials have known for years that Metro was coming to Tysons. Yet when the four stations opened, commuters found dreadful and dangerous walking and biking conditions. Why?