In the midst of painful budget cuts and transit fare increases, the Montgomery County Council is on the verge of voting to spend $89 million, or $80,000 per space, for a 1,150 space parking garage in the heart of the walking and biking-oriented Bethesda Row district. The new garage will be adjacent to the Capital Crescent Trail and a block away from the planned South entrance of the Bethesda Metro station. The Council’s transportation committee voted for the garage on Friday, before sending the issue to the full Council.

I am here today to speak on two specific tax policy issues, both of which could be targeted to more efficiently support those communities they were created to serve, and to appeal to the City Council to remain especially prudent and careful in exercising tax relief during lean economic cycles such as we are experiencing at the current time.

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.

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.

This Friday and next Wednesday, the Maryland House of Delegates Environmental Matters Committee will hold public hearings on bills that would stop state expenditures on controversial Intercounty Connector until Maryland agencies assess and disclose the highway’s climate and public health impacts.