Category: Maryland

Better Buses for Prince George’s

Better Buses for Prince George’s

Posted on by Cheryl Cort
The Bus 028 photo courtesy of Prince George’s Department of Public Works and Transportation

On July 20, 2021, local and regional bus experts, along with stakeholders discussed where we are and where we want to be with Prince George’s bus service.

View the event recording on YouTube.

Speaker presentations: 

Anthony Foster, Chief, Transit Planning, Prince George’s County Department of Public Works & Transportation

PGC DPWT Transit-UpdatesDownload

James Hamre, Director, Office of Bus Planning and Scheduling, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

WMATA Better Buses for Prince Georges PresentationDownload

John Hillegass, Manager, Regional Mobility & Infrastructure, Greater Washington Partnership

GWP RISE Prince Georges Better Buses discussionDownload

This event was co-sponsored by: RISE Prince George’s, Coalition for Smarter Growth, and MetroNow.

CSG Testimony: TPB Vote on Capital Beltway/I-270 & Long-Range Transportation Plan

CSG Testimony: TPB Vote on Capital Beltway/I-270 & Long-Range Transportation Plan

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa

July 20, 2021

Hon. Charles Allen
Chair, National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board

Re: TPB Vote on Capital Beltway/I-270 and the Long-Range Transportation Plan

Chair Allen and members of the TPB:

I will keep our comments short:

  1. Governor Hogan and MDOT have:
    • Completely failed to objectively study alternatives to the toll lanes
    • Put the P3 negotiations and contracts ahead of completion of the EIS, and biased the entire process for private toll lanes.
    • Run a scorched-earth political campaign which demonstrates their bias.
  2. The toll lane deals for 495Next in Virginia and for Maryland not only lack the commitment to transit funding we need, the non-compete provisions appear to prevent future Metrorail at the American Legion Bridge and other transit investments.
  3. Climate change is an existential threat. Contrary to MDOT arguments, highway expansion increases driving and CO2 emissions. It is astounding to see massive highway expansion proposed while the Arctic and Antarctic melts, the West burns, Europe floods, and shellfish cooks on the beaches of Canada.
  4. The toll lanes would reinforce the East-West economic divide in our region condemning Prince George’s commuters to either paying very high tolls or sitting in the general-purpose lane traffic that the toll road companies depend on to generate their profits.
  5. A far better alternative is Maryland investment in transit-oriented development on the east side of the region, which would increase jobs, shorten commutes, even out the flows on the Beltway and Metrorail, and help address the E-W economic and racial divide.

Therefore, we urge you to stand by your vote to remove the toll lanes from the TPB’s long range plan and honestly to take the same step for the 495Next project – in order to force objective consideration of alternatives, the climate impacts, and the development of the most sustainable and effective alternative with the least impact on parks and communities.

We are running out of time on the climate and are failing to do what needs to be done to address the E-W economic and racial divide. We need your leadership.

Thank you,

Stewart Schwartz
Executive Director

2021.07.20-Testimony-to-TPB-re-Md-Toll-lanesDownload
CSG Testimony: Attainable Housing Strategies

CSG Testimony: Attainable Housing Strategies

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa

We strongly support the direction of the Planning Department’s recommendations for more diverse housing typologies in Montgomery County, especially in places near transit, amenities, and jobs. Inequitable, unsustainable land use patterns are a systemic problem at the root of some of our most difficult social issues. Montgomery County should not be a place where your zip code can predict your future income, health, or other life outcomes.

Middle housing zoning reform will not change neighborhoods overnight or solve all our housing challenges. Rather, smart land use decisions will lay the foundation for a better, more just society where people can find a place to live that fits their needs, their income, and provides access to opportunities. It will help Montgomery County become a place where more people can choose to live car-lite or car-free and drive less; a place where more people can start a family or age-in-place.

CSG Comments: Draft Vision Zero 2030 Plan

CSG Comments: Draft Vision Zero 2030 Plan

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa

We commend Montgomery County for its commitment to ending all traffic fatalities and serious injuries. Vision Zero is important for many reasons, chief among them to make our transportation system one where all users can safely move. We cannot create great places for people to live, work, and play in Montgomery County if people do not feel safe getting there. The county also faces other challenges, such as the county’s rapidly aging population who would like to age-in-place and combating climate change, of which Vision Zero is a critical component of the solution.  

CSG Testimony: Thrive 2050 to County Council

CSG Testimony: Thrive 2050 to County Council

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa

We strongly support the Planning Board’s draft of Thrive 2050, although we urge you to further strengthen certain areas. Thrive creates a vital blueprint for a county that is more affordable, walkable, prosperous, resilient, and racially and economically integrated, and recognizes that the best way to achieve that vision is through embracing the principles of inclusive smart growth, urbanism, and equitable transit-oriented development. 

The decisions you will make in this document will have generational implications for how we live, work, and play. The world in 2050 will be very different no matter what — the question is whether we allow our communities to evolve in order to preserve what we value the most: diversity, sustainability, affordability, prosperity, equity, and social mobility. 

RISE Prince George’s 5/18/21 event with Angie Rodgers

RISE Prince George’s 5/18/21 event with Angie Rodgers

Posted on by Cheryl Cort

On May 18, 2021, RISE Prince George’s convened a virtual event to discuss the future of housing & economic development in the County. The talk was titled: “We can’t have quality economic development without affordable housing: so how do we get it all?” with:

Angie Rodgers, Prince George’s Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Economic Development, and Scott Nordheimer, Co-Founder and Senior Advisor, Urban Atlantic (lead developer at the New Carrollton Metro Station) 

View the recording of the event on Youtube.

 Take the survey: Please answer this brief survey to let us know more about what you want from RISE Prince George’s. 

RISE Prince George’s event with Angie Rodgers – Materials

RISE Prince George’s PPT discussion of mission statement and advocacy theme

New Carrollton Station vision https://greaterwashingtonpartnership.com/capital-region-rail-vision/

Housing Opportunities for All Work Group https://pgccouncil.us/628/Housing-Opportunities-For-All-Work-Group

Housing Indicator Tool: A Dashboard for Measuring Progress Towards Meeting Regional Housing Needs

Missing Middle Housing study: to begin in FY22

RISE Prince George’s

RISE Prince George’s

Posted on by Cheryl Cort
Image: Cheryl Cort

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RISE Prince George’s Platform 2022

On December 13, 2021, we launched our RISE Prince George’s election platform to educate candidates and the public about how to build a better Prince George’s. We will be working with constituents and allies to reaching out to candidates targeted County Council and General Assembly races to build support with our future elected officials to build a more sustainable, prosperous and inclusive County.

Learn more >>>

RISE Prince George’s group meeting.

Mission Statement: RISE Prince George’s is a group of County residents and allies advocating for policies and practices that build shared, sustainable prosperity in Prince George’s County by creating safe, walkable, inclusive and transit-oriented communities.

Vision: We seek to build a prosperous, equitable and sustainable future Prince George’s that contains:

  • Multiple thriving transit-focused downtowns (North, Central, and Southern parts of the County)
  • Inclusive, safe, and connected neighborhoods and municipalities
  • Preserved open spaces and natural areas

Assumptions: With 15 Metro stations, another 11 Purple Line stations on the way, and 8 MARC stations, the County’s transit assets are THE competitive advantage – for promoting future job growth, local economic development, and generating needed increases in the County’s tax base. Prince George’s also has the benefit of planning for a future which currently forecasts increased job growth, demand to live near transit, and the need for more homes near jobs and transit.

Objective: Through developing a strategy for shared prosperity and equitable development that is generated from and advocated by and for Prince Georgians (and their allies), we can create a virtuous cycle of economic growth which retains homegrown talent and businesses, attracts new investment, and improves both people and places  – especially those historically excluded from wealth and opportunity.

Equitable economic development through transit-oriented development (TOD) will create the base of public and private resources that are necessary to support high-performing schools, community-oriented public safety services, increasing the amount of high-quality housing for people of all incomes close to jobs and essential services, as well as better employment, entrepreneurship, retail amenities, and wealth-building opportunities for all County residents.

How RISE Prince George’s will accomplish its vision: We will work with our members to educate, engage and mobilize for a policy agenda that reshapes policy and budget priorities to build on the County’s assets – transit, established communities, and the kinds of anchor institutions which drive job creation and economic growth.

We meet regularly (every 4-6 weeks), host programming (both virtual and, eventually, in-person) to educate/engage our members, and, in turn, formulate action plans for specific policy change campaigns.

Summary of potential long-term policy agenda:

  • Win equitable placemaking and transit-oriented development projects that begin to demonstrate what an inclusive walkable urban and smart growth future in Prince George’s could look like
  • Win land use and housing policy changes to sustainably grow the economy, livability, community benefits and equity of opportunity among residents
  • Win key transportation investments and policies to greatly improve the quality, safety, affordability and reliability of public transportation and access to daily needs, especially for low income people and communities

We embrace the Prince George’s Rising proposed county-wide Alliance for Equity and Prosperity, and see our group contributing to it, specifically focused on the TOD organizing strategy for equity.

Join us! Sign up here.

CSG Testimony Re: DC-Baltimore Maglev

Posted on by Emily Maurer
CSG-Testimony-to-House-Subcommittee-on-Railroads-Pipelines-and-Hazardous-Materials-on-SCMAGLEVDownload

May 4, 2021 

House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure 

Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials 

2167 Rayburn House Office Building 

45 Independence Ave SW 

Washington, DC 20515 

Hearing: “When Unlimited Potential Meets Limited Resources: The Benefits and Challenges of High-Speed Rail and Emerging Rail Technologies” 

Testimony for May 5, 2021 

Jane Lyons, Maryland Advocacy Manager 

Please accept these comments on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, the leading organization in the Washington, DC region advocating for walkable, bikeable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities as the most sustainable and equitable way to grow and provide opportunities for all. We have strong partnerships with business, conservation, and affordable housing organizations, and received the 2017 Regional Partnership Award from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. 

We have been strong supporters of major rail improvements in the Northeast corridor, but are convinced that the proposed Baltimore-Washington Superconducting Magnetic Levitation (SCMAGLEV) project is the wrong technology and design for the Washington-Baltimore corridor and the NE Corridor as a whole. Therefore, we urge you to not provide federal financial support to this project. Instead, we urge significant investments in both the Amtrak and commuter rail improvement programs. 

The project would have a negative impact on racial and social equity. Construction would plow through majority Black Prince George’s County, but the residents of Prince George’s County would not be able to take advantage of the project, since the technology and design speed are such that there will only be stops in DC, at BWI Airport, and at Penn Station in Baltimore. Environmental Justice (EJ) communities would be disproportionately impacted, with 80 percent of impacted parcels located in EJ communities. 

Furthermore, the high projected cost of a one-way ticket sends a signal that this project is for the wealthiest white-collar commuters, not those who will suffer from the damage wrought by the project or those who need more accessible, frequent, and affordable transit. A $60 ticket for the SCMAGLEV would be about seven times more than an existing MARC commuter rail ticket for the same trip ($8) or existing Amtrak Acela ticket ($46). 

We are also concerned about the project’s negative effect on existing taxpayer investments in transit. The project is already diverting attention from repairing and improving our existing MARC and Amtrak infrastructure. If public funding is required for the Maglev, it could divert hundreds of millions of dollars in addition to fare revenue lost due to reduced ridership on Amtrak and MARC. 

The Maglev is a potential public-private partnership, and recent experience with P3s in Maryland and other states suggests that public funding will be required. Given that Maglev is a multi-billion dollar technology yet to be implemented anywhere in the U.S., this project could require significant public funding. 

The limited time savings is also not worth the cost and risk. The Acela Express between DC and Baltimore currently takes 30 minutes. While Maglev would cut time spent on the train in half, it doesn’t account for time spent getting to the station. The average total trip would go from 90 minutes to 75 minutes, which is not worth the risk, nor the costs to equity and environmental quality. 

Investing in the Maryland MARC and Amtrak NE Corridor expansion plans would more effectively serve the transit needs of our region and the NE Corridor. Upgrades to the existing rail system could also more easily be extended to other destinations like New York and Boston, than would be the case with Maglev which would need entirely new right-of-way through the very densely developed Northeast. Existing rail stations are located in more central and well-established transit hubs, like DC’s Union Station. A much more cost-effective solution would be to invest in improving our existing infrastructure and upgrade over time to high-speed rail standards. 

In conclusion, we urge you to pursue upgrades to the nation’s existing rail infrastructure, including high-speed rail, in lieu of the SCMAGLEV. Thank you for your time.