Good morning, Mr. Secretary, Commissioner, Director, and members of the CTB. My name is Stewart Schwartz. I am the Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, a 29-year-old organization advocating for walkable, mixed-use, transit-oriented development as the most sustainable, effective, and competitive way to grow. We work in Virginia, DC, and Maryland.

We’ve supported dozens of comprehensive plans and helped win over 140 development projects comprising tens of millions of square feet and tens of thousands of housing units in walkable, transit-centered locations. This form of development reduces driving demand and emissions, increases walk, bike, and transit trips, and saves households money – especially given $4 per gallon gas and the $11,000 per year to own and operate a car per AAA.

Our partners include conservation and housing groups, transit advocates, business leaders, developers, architects, and planners. In recognition of our work we have received the Urban Land Institute Changemaker Award, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s Regional Partnership Award, and the Washington Business Journal’s Power 100 award.

We’ve participated in state, regional, and local transportation planning for 29 years. A few quick points regarding items on your workshop agenda, including your maintenance shortfalls and resilience needs:

1. The nation and state face a fiscal crisis. We must focus scarce resources overwhelmingly on fixing existing infrastructure first – roads, bridges, transit, aging water and sewer systems, schools, and more.
2. Smart growth – growing in our cities, towns, and urbanizing suburbs in walkable communities with transit focuses growth near existing infrastructure and helps address our housing needs and reduces driving demand.
3. We should also prioritize transit – to support this more efficient pattern of growth.
4. Induced demand is well-documented, and calls into question the never-ending quest to widen highways and arterials. The Houston Katy Freeway is now 22 lanes and congestion simply returned after each widening. The best approach is instead focusing on accessibility and proximity.
   1. FHWA research has shown that the ROI for highways has been declining since the completion of the interstate highway system.
   2. HOT lanes also induce additional demand although not to the extent of new general-purpose lanes.
5. Regarding the upcoming presentation on HOT lanes and 495 Southside.
   1. It shows how many issues were not addressed by the previous administration and that many questions raised by local governments and Maryland remain.
      1. The presentation doesn’t appear to address bottleneck at the eastern end and resulting delays
      2. It shows vehicles increasing by up to 21% which will mean increased traffic on connecting roads. This needs to be assessed well before any alternative is selected.
      3. It promises a tiny amount of money for transit. If done it should be publicly owned to generate far more public funding to support future Metrorail or light rail between Alexandria/Fairfax and Oxon Hill.
      4. The presentation doesn’t promise to correct the failure to study a range of legitimate alternatives including:

1.     Using the existing ROW for bus and/or HOV lanes

2.     Peak period shoulder lanes

3.     Applying VDOT’s RM3P program to the corridor

4.     HOTTER lanes – app supported mix of pay and reward system

5.     And longer-term transit-oriented development combined with BRT and/or Metrorail.

We heard yesterday about examining capacity expansion as a last resort.

2. HOT lanes require a massive investment and come at significant environmental cost in loss of trees, increased impervious surface, heat, air and water pollution, and carbon emissions.
3. They may provide an alternative for some commuters to avoid peak hour congestion, but they also induce more driving especially on connecting roads. Drivers seek to access the new capacity via connecting roads. Why else are the interchanges so massive? This adds traffic and pollution to places like Old Town, Huntington, etc.
4. Unlike transit with transit-oriented land use, HOT lanes contribute to increased auto-dependent development and regional vehicle miles traveled.
5. Many members of the CTB have extensive business experience. The most successful businesses break out of old paradigms, look at the big picture, consider the full range of alternatives, and find new and more cost-effective solutions.

We are at a turning point in our fiscal crisis, the long-term failure of road expansion, rising household transportation costs, loss of Virginia’s scenic and historic landscape, and the impacts of climate change. It is time for a new approach.

Thank you.

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