Author: Alex Baca

CSG in the news: Amazon plans to offer incentives to push future Arlington employees to use public transit

Posted on by Alex Baca

ARLNow, Dec. 19, 2018:

The move is quite welcome news for county leaders and transit advocates alike, who are anxious to see the tech giant embrace public transportation in the area. Though Metro’s rail service may well have its problems, many around Arlington hope Amazon’s 25,000 workers embrace transit to ease pressure on the county’s congested roads.

“Ideally, Amazon employees here will be like those in Seattle where a significant number live within walking distance of the headquarters,” said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the transit advocacy-focused Coalition for Smarter Growth. “But for the rest, offering essentially free transit passes is basically the single most powerful thing they could do to make a difference.”

Read more here.

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CSG in the news: D.C. fails to take up Comprehensive Plan amendments, pushes issue to 2019

Posted on by Alex Baca

Bisnow, Dec. 14, 2018:

Advocates are not happy that the council pushed the Comprehensive Plan amendment to 2019. Coalition for Smarter Growth Policy Director Cheryl Cort said the group is pushing the council to take up the amendments early next year. “We are frustrated that it was not moved forward,” Cort said. “We would have liked to have this Comprehensive Plan be a higher priority, but we know the council is still engaged, and the chairman has not forgotten about it.”

…

“The PUD process is being crippled by all the meritless appeals,” Cort said. “We used to get some appeals, which makes sense, but now pretty much everything is being appealed and it’s crippling our ability to redevelop larger affordable housing sites.” 

The D.C. Council held a hearing on the amendments in March that lasted over 13 hours and had 273 people signed up to testify. Many top D.C. developers, including JBG Smith, EYA, Trammell Crow, MRP Realty, MidCity Development and Menkiti Group testified in support of the amendments. Advocates like Cort also testified in favor of the amendments, while other anti-development activists like Chris Otten testified in opposition to the changes. 

Read more here.

CSG in the news: Amazon won transportation perks for its Crystal City HQ2

Posted on by Alex Baca

Streetsblog, Nov. 14, 2018:

In addition, the agreement also calls for the expansion of the Crystal City/Potomac Yard Metroway bus rapid transit, which runs buses on partially dedicated lanes from Crystal City to the Pentagon and northern Alexandria.

Sustainable transportation advocates like Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, said the proposal looks solid.

“Those all look like the investments we need,” Schwartz said.

Read more here.

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CSG in the news: 25,000 new jobs are coming to Northern Virginia. Does that mean more traffic jams?

Posted on by Alex Baca

WAMU, Nov. 14, 2018:

Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, a D.C.-area nonprofit addressing how the region grows, says the region should be excited, not worried.

“This location will have significantly less impact on the region’s transportation network in particular, then would a location 30 miles outside the core for sure,” Schwartz said.

…

Schwartz says housing and transportation in the region aren’t maxed out.

“We have a lot of capacity, not just at Crystal City, but at Potomac Yard, Pentagon City and really a number of other Metro stations in the region,” Schwartz said. “By focusing growth at our Metro stations, we’ll maximize the number of people who aren’t driving, and actually make the Metro system work better as well. It will be used all day in both directions. And so Metro itself will improve its operating funding posture as a result.”

Schwartz said Metro will need to increase train frequency and create more dedicated bus lanes in the region to speed up buses and increase reliability.

“This that was an area where Seattle made a major commitment and the results prove that it works for increasing ridership and reducing the amount of driving,” Schwartz said.

…

Schwartz said building more housing near transit is a key way to decrease single car driving.

“When you provide more housing and more affordable housing close to jobs, and close to high-frequency transit, you are helping reduce long-distance commutes and cars on the road,” Schwartz said.

…

Schwartz says Amazon has picked a good spot for a walkable, mixed-use development with a strong transit presence.

“It’s a testament to the long-time commitment Arlington and neighboring jurisdictions has had to transform development,” Schwartz said. “Arlington was a pioneer in this type of planning, and has a plan in place for Crystal City, one that will continue to transform it into a modern vibrant people-oriented place.”

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CSG in the news: Amazon could be boon or bust for Metro and the region’s transportation infrastructure

Posted on by Alex Baca

Washington Post, Nov. 13, 2018:

“Amazon was looking for an urban and transit-oriented environment, and they certainly have found one in the most pro-transit, pro-smart-growth jurisdiction in the country in Arlington County,” said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “It’s a good thing in that we would be focusing these jobs where we have excellent transit and close to the core of the region so that the jobs are accessible 360 degrees around.”

Schwartz noted an added benefit: Amazon’s selection of Crystal City could lead to a new “reverse commute” in which riders are filling empty trains headed outbound from the District — in the opposite direction of rush-hour travel.

Read more here.

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CSG in the news: Amazon’s choice of Crystal City powered by good transit

Posted on by Alex Baca

Streetsblog, Nov. 6, 2018:

Alex Baca of the D.C.-based Coalition for Smarter Growth said Amazon’s expansion into the region should result in zoning changes to expand urban housing development. The Washington Post reports the D.C. region has already been falling well-short of its goal to add 267,000 new housing units by 2026 — and Amazon’s 25,000-plus workers will add additional pressure.

About 1,200 units of housing — mostly high-rise — are already in the works for Crystal City, according to the local real estate site DC Urban Turf. But that’s not gonna cut it, said Baca.

Expanding housing options has been political unpopular, but it will be necessary if D.C. wants to keep housing affordable, she told Streetsblog.

“Amazon just exacerbates a lot of things we’ve been pressing on for a long time: Building more housing, especially more affordable housing, and building more bus and trail,” she added.

Read more here.

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CSG in the news: Revitalizing a flood plain? In Fairfax County, blighted parcel sparks sharp debate.

Posted on by Alex Baca

Washington Post, Oct. 30, 2018:

Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Washington-based Coalition for Smarter Growth, cited last year’s flooding in Houston after Hurricane Harvey and a 2004 flood in Richmond as proof of increasing storm risks in metropolitan areas. Those risks, he said, should play a larger role in development decisions.

If the project goes forward, “it would be very difficult for the county to legally deny projects in flood-plain areas in other parts of the county,” he said. “This is in a 100-year flood plain, but we know we’re seeing 500- and even 1,000-year storms hitting the region now.”

Read more here.

CSG in the news: Metro budget proposal includes more service to win back riders

Posted on by Alex Baca

Washington Post, Oct. 29, 2018:

Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the pro-transit Coalition for Smarter Growth, called the budget proposal “an important step in the right direction.” But, he said the budget does not adequately address one of the biggest issues that he says deters would-be riders from taking Metro, particularly on weekends.

“While the reduced weekend fare is welcome, better still for ridership would be an increase in frequency,” he said.

Read more here.

RELEASE: Coalition for Smarter Growth praises proposed WMATA budget, and calls for increased frequency

Posted on by Alex Baca

Press Statement
For Immediate Release
October 28, 2018

Contact:
Stewart Schwartz, (703) 599-6437
Aimee Custis, (202) 431-7185

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As reported in the Washington Post, proposed changes to WMATA’s upcoming budget, released this morning, Mon., Oct. 29, include “a flat $2 fare for subway trips taken on weekends, expanding the rush-hour window to include later times on weekday mornings and evenings and increase all trains to their maximum length of eight cars.”

“The improvements put forth in the coming fiscal year budget by General Manager Wiedefeld represent an important step in the right direction,” says Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, a leading pro-transit advocacy organization in the D.C. region.

“This spring, when the region stepped up to pass $500 million of new dedicated funding for WMATA, it was a show of how important frequent, reliable transit service is. A cold reality, however, is that that $500 million is for capital improvements, not for day-to-day operations,” says Schwartz. “With this budget, elected officials have a chance to take another step toward bringing WMATA back to the operational level of service our region needs.”

WMATA is critical to the D.C. region’s economy: It provides access to jobs and services for people at all levels of the workforce, and attracts and retains employers. CSG believes that $20 million in additional jurisdictional commitment is not too steep a price to pay for the improvements recommended by Wiedefeld.

However, a continual topic of concern is the systemically reduced frequency of off-peak and weekend service. This is not addressed in the general manager’s proposal. “While the reduced weekend fare is welcome, better still for ridership would be an increase in frequency,” says Schwartz. “We’d like to better understand whether alternate approaches to maintenance could allow for reduced single-tracking.”

Nonetheless, this proposed package of service improvements is a welcome and needed signal that WMATA recognizes the importance of competitive fares and service to attract and retain its riders.

“We hope that constituents will respond by communicating to their elected officials — and the WMATA board members those officials appoint — the importance of frequent, reliable transit service, as well as the need to provide sufficient operating funds to support this expansion of service,” says Schwartz.