Presentation by Karina Ricks, Associate Director for the Policy, Planning and Sustainability Administration, D.C. Department of Transportation
Presentation by Jim Hamre, Director of Bus Planning, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro)
The lack of affordable housing has long been a problem in the District. For some residents, this means that they are forced to live in housing that eats up nearly all of their paycheck, leaving little for other basic necessities such as food and clothing. For many others, the cost of housing is so high that they are forced to double up in homes and apartments, move out of their community, or live in their cars or out on the streets.
Our core position on the Metro budget proposal is to oppose the severe service cuts. In a joint campaign with partner conservation and transit advocacy groups, www.fairshareformetro.com, we advocate for $74 million in additional funding from the Metro jurisdictions. This will fund the $40 million unaccounted for and avoid the $34 million in service cuts. If the public is being asked to pay higher fares, then they should not also be asked to endure severe service cuts as well. It is fair to ask for the jurisdictional member governments to provide the additional funding.
We support the redevelopment proposal for the Skyland Shopping Center. We welcome this mixed use development that provides a modest amount of below market rate housing. Our chief concern is that the project is excessively over-parked – wasting resources on too much parking that could be used for more productive uses.
The Metrorail collision in June 2009 prompted a spate of articles about the Metrorail system. To evaluate the relative safety of Metrorail compared to driving, the Coalition for Smarter Growth collected the following statistics.
The DC Office of Planning is leading a Ward 3 Neighborhood Sustainability Indicators Pilot Project (the Sustainability Project). We joined with Ward 3 Vision to put together a working paper on sustainability.
This is a presentation to the Council of Non-Profit Housing and Economic Development.
We are here to express our support for the Sidewalk Assurance Act. Sidewalks should be included as a part of all roadways and all roadway construction projects almost without exception. This Act reflects the DDOT Departmental Order on its sidewalk construction policy and the DDOT Pedestrian Master Plan. An Act by the Council is needed to ensure consistent implementation of these polices in order to ensure safety on all public rights of way. The standard should simply be that if there is a paved road, there should be an ADA-compliant sidewalk. This is fundamentally a matter of safety for all public transportation facilities.
This report is a product of Smart Growth America (SGA), a coalition of national, state and local organizations working to improve the ways we plan and build our towns, cities, and metropolitan areas.
As part of that mission, SGA and our partners have been working with states and cities to help shape how they spend their stimulus funds. In March 2009, SGA issued Spending the Stimulus, a report describing the wide range of projects for which the bulk of the states’ ARRA transportation spending could be used.
The Coalition for Smarter Growth prioritizes the production and preservation of affordable housing, especially with access to transportation choices and jobs, as one critical element of truly interconnected, sustainable communities.