First, great news! Thanks to many generous donors like you, we met our end-of-year fundraising goal! Your support enables us to field our team and work with you to shape a more sustainable and livable future. But we have big challenges ahead and need your help to take action on the following issues in the coming weeks.
Author: Ayesha Amsa
RELEASE: Visualize 2050 public comments (Dec 2023)
“According to the TPB staff summary, the ‘overarching themes’ of the almost 1,000 comments submitted by the public on proposed regional transportation projects were ‘strong positive sentiment’ toward rail, bus, walking and biking projects and ‘strong negative sentiment towards roadway widening and expansion projects.’ We’ve seen this pattern over the years on various TPB plans, with the public repeatedly calling for a shift in spending priorities to emphasize walking, biking, transit and investments to meet safety and climate goals,” said Bill Pugh, AICP, Senior Policy Fellow for CSG.
TAKE ACTION: Say NO to the Metro death spiral!
Maryland Governor Moore recently committed an additional $150 million. Now, DC and Virginia must make a commitment as well. And we need even higher contributions from all three jurisdictions so Metro can avoid shifting capital repair funds towards operating costs.
Fund Metro – Statement of Principles
Our groups support world-class transit and agree that funding WMATA (Metro) should be our region’s #1 transportation funding priority but not at the expense of other transit. Virginia, Maryland, and DC should put ALL transit and green, sustainable transportation first, and shift funds from highway expansion to transit.
RELEASE: 18 Groups say FUND METRO!
In advance of the December 14 meeting of the WMATA board, a coalition of non-profit groups organized under the “Fund Metro!” banner are calling on Governor Moore, Governor Youngkin, Mayor Bowser, our legislators and our local elected officials to put transit first. For Metro that means paying 100% of the operating gap remaining after WMATA’s $100 million in cost savings and no shift of capital funds to operations.
Double your impact and help us finish the year strong!
From now until the end of the year, your donation’s impact will be doubled up to $50,000 by our generous matching donors – so any amount you give will go twice as far! With just 6 years to slash our greenhouse emissions, our campaign for more sustainable, liveable communities has never been more important. Your financial contributions are why we can continue this work. Thank you!
CSG testimony to Prince George’s House Delegation for 2024 session
Overall, CSG urges the delegation to act through legislation, administrative oversight, and budget oversight to prioritize transit, and redirect highway capacity expansion projects to sustainable multimodal transportation solutions. We also urge support for Rental Housing Works to ensure Prince George’s has the resources it needs for its robust affordable housing program.
Testimony: Support for bills voiding exclusionary covenants (B25-480, 482, 481)
We wish to express our support for B25-480, B25-482, and B25-481. We commend Councilmember Frumin and the other co-sponsors for bringing this legislation forward. This legislation advances the immediate goal of clearing obstacles to adding approximately 100 units of affordable housing for households earning 30-80 percent median family income to the Chevy Chase library site. Our affordable housing goals for the site is part of a shared statement with Washington Interfaith Network (WIN) and Ward3Vision.
Testimony: Opposition to Removing Transportation Planning Authority from MoCo Planning
CSG strongly opposes this bill, in particular the content of section 21-08. Transportation, land use, and housing decisions are intertwined. Decisions about transportation greatly affect our quality of life, shape how we move through our communities, and carry major equity and climate implications.
Helpful Resources
- Fact Sheet (updated Jan 15, 2024)
- Statement of Principles
- Informative briefings to the WMATA Board
- The Value of Transit to Northern Virginia
- Gov Youngkin’s proposed transportation budget urging service cuts at Metro (p. 10)
- Draft Maryland 6-Year Consolidated Transportation Program with $150 million for Metro but a 40% cut to state support for local transit among other cuts