Convenient, Sustainable Transportation Choices 

To build a sustainable and equitable transportation system, we need to focus on moving people, not just cars. 

That means providing more transportation choices: expanding our transit network; providing frequent, reliable transit service; investing in protected bike lanes, trails, bikeshare, ample sidewalks, and safer streets; and focusing on maintaining existing road infrastructure instead of expanding highways and widening roads. 

These measures will make it possible for us to choose to drive less and meet more of our daily needs through options like transit, walking, biking, and scooting.

Provide convenient, frequent, and reliable public transit

Public transit, including our Metro system and local bus services, provides an affordable, convenient, and sustainable way to travel. It is essential for supporting our network of transit-oriented communities and corridors, and to a thriving, economically competitive, and inclusive D.C. region. 

To make public transit a great option for all, it must be frequent, fast, and reliable, have dedicated lanes as much as possible, and connect us to where we need to go — work, shopping, gathering with friends and family, and more.

Invest in safe, comfortable walking and biking 

For more people to choose walking and biking to get around, we must make these options safe, comfortable, and well-connected to the places we need to go. This includes investing in wider sidewalks, protected bike lanes, trails, high-visibility and shorter street crossings, and street trees

Wide, dangerous roads that prioritize speed make our roads less safe for everyone. Instead, we should design our streets for travel speeds that make them safer for all users – people walking, people biking, and people driving.

Shift away from highways and arterial road expansion

Transportation should connect our communities – not divide them. The vast expansion of highways and roads has separated our neighborhoods and resulted in sprawl development that requires driving to get to most places, adds more traffic, and increases climate emissions. 

In fact, data shows that widening major roads and highways actually results in more driving, canceling out any congestion-reduction benefits in as little as five to ten years, a phenomenon called “induced demand”. 

A more sustainable solution is creating walkable, transit-accessible communities with connected local street networks. Providing more opportunities to live in a walkable community and to walk, bike, and use transit is more effective in reducing the number of cars crowding arterial roads and highways.

Latest Happenings

Virginia: Draft State Rail Plan

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Earlier there was mention of the traffic trying to get to the Fairfax County Government Center for tonight’s hearing. This points out that our transportation problems are more truly land use problems–the result of poor land use planning. I am certain that the current Fairfax Board would not have placed the Government Center where it is today and would have linked it directly to a future Metrorail station.
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WalkScore Ranks DC In Top 10 Most Walkable Cities

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Today WalkScore.com released its national rankings of the most walkable and unwalkable communities in the United States, highlighting the District of Columbia’s neighborhoods as the 7th most walkable city in the country.
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Pedestrians Unsafe on Washington Region’s “Mean Streets”

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A few days before a regional pedestrian safety summit, the Coalition for Smarter Growth released a new study of pedestrian safety in the Washington, D.C., region. The report finds that suburban jurisdictions are the least safe for walkers, especially Fairfax County, Virginia, and Prince George’s County, Maryland. While jurisdictions are taking steps to improve safety, the Coalition is calling on our region’s leaders to redouble their efforts to ensure that walking is a safe means of travel, and to commit to reducing by half the number of pedestrian crashes that result in death and severe injury in our communities.
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Washington Area's Mean Streets

Washington Area’s Mean Streets

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A disturbing increase in the number of pedestrian deaths in the Washington, D.C., region is prompting public concern. In response, area officials have launched a “Street Smart” education campaign exhorting both walkers and motorists to watch out. Area jurisdictions are also stepping up law enforcement. Caution is always warranted and enforcement essential, but the only lasting way to ensure all users can travel safely is to design communities and streets that make walking and bicycling less risky and provide convenient connections. Each land use and transportation decision must consider and design for safe walking and bicycling.
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Depth of Opposition Grows to Massive I-81 Widening

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Seven citizens’ organizations – National Trust for Historic Preservation, Scenic Virginia, APVA Preservation Virginia, Virginia Organizing Project, Valley Conservation Council, Rockbridge Area Conservation Council and Sierra Club – Thursday joined a federal lawsuit to block plans to widen I-81 to eight or more lanes throughout most of western Virginia. (Amended Complaint) Meanwhile, the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates passed bills mandating legislative oversight of I-81 and prior approval should tolls be proposed.
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