PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release:
September 12, 2017

Contact:
Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director, Coalition for Smarter Growth
703-599-6437 (c), stewart@smartergrowth.net

CSG calls Governor Hogan’s $500 million pledge to Metro a “jumping-off place”

Washington, DC – The Coalition for Smarter Growth today thanked Maryland Governor Larry Hogan for proposing a much-needed infusion of additional funding for Metro, with the potential to be a catalyst for needed negotiation among DC, Maryland. and Virginia.

“We thank Governor Hogan for proposing $500 million over four years toward addressing Metro’s urgent capital funding needs, and we hope that his proposal will be a catalyst for urgent negotiations between the Governors of Virginia and Maryland and the Mayor of DC,” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth.

“However, the $500 million in additional funds needed each year from the three jurisdictions must be dedicated and bondable and continue for many years, not just four, and not only to restore the existing system but to ensure we can meet capacity needs including expansion of the Rosslyn tunnel,” said Schwartz.

“We, along with our partners in the ‘Fund it, Fix it Coalition,’ urge the Governors, Mayor, Congressional Delegation, state legislators and local elected officials to work with common purpose to find a funding solution for Metro, appropriately tailored to each jurisdiction, but dedicated and bondable,” said Schwartz. “If there wasn’t already reason enough to fix Metro, the region even has a new incentive – Amazon, which is looking to invest $5 billion and generate thousands of jobs for a second headquarters with good access to transit.”

“We urge a funding solution be adopted by the FY2019 budget season,” concluded Schwartz.

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About the Coalition for Smarter Growth: The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading organization in the Washington DC region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. Its mission is to promote walkable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities, and the land use and transportation policies and investments needed to make those communities flourish. smartergrowth.net

The Coalition for Smarter Growth is part of the Fund it, Fix it coalition, a partnership of 21 activist and advocacy organizations across the DC metropolitan area supporting dedicated funding for Metro. Read our statement of principles here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 18, 2017

CONTACT
Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director, Coalition for Smarter Growth
703-599-6437 (c), stewart@smartergrowth.net

They have a bridge to sell us…again. Coalition pushes back on yet another lobbying campaign for an upper Potomac Bridge

Washington, DC – Tomorrow, the region’s Transportation Planning Board will vote whether to include an upper Potomac Bridge for study as one option to add to the region’s long range transportation plan. Northern Virginia also has a draft transportation plan out for public comment (deadline of July 23) that includes not only the northern bridge, but also a southern bridge to Charles County, and the Bi-County Parkway between Prince William and Loudoun Counties – segments of an outer beltway long sought by developers of rural land in outer areas of the region.

“The upper Potomac Bridge and other segments of an outer beltway are back, as a result of the latest multimillion dollar lobbying campaign that began back in 2010,” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, whose partners in opposing the outer beltway include the region’s leading conservation and transportation reform groups.

In 2010, longtime Virginia developer John “Til” Hazel, the CEO of NVHomes Dwight Schar, and Montgomery and Loudoun developer Bob Buchanan, formed the 2030 Group with what we believe is an underlying and primary goal of pressing for an upper Potomac Bridge (Buchanan testimony in 2015 to Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board) as part of an outer beltway including the Bi-County Parkway. They in-turn provided funding to the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance and jump-started the Suburban Maryland Transportation Alliance (SMTA). The two groups did what many consider to be a “push-poll” to try to demonstrate support for a new bridge. The poll did not include information about costs, trade-offs, induced demand, land use, or other factors involved in real world transportation and land use planning.

“This is just the latest campaign spearheaded by Mr. Hazel and others for the bridge and outer beltway,” said Schwartz.  Previous efforts took place in 1980, 1988, 1997, 2000, and 2003.

“These projects would be totally at odds with the region’s vision in the Region Forward Plan and would undermine the network of transit-oriented development which is so much in demand today. It would worsen auto-dependent sprawl and traffic, worsen the east-west economic divide, and undermine efforts to fight climate change. Because of induced driving demand, it would add new traffic without reducing traffic at the American Legion Bridge,” said Schwartz “The upstream bridge would also represent a threat to the region’s drinking water supplies – creating a risk of toxic spills upstream from drinking water intakes during bridge construction and from tanker truck spills.”

“The bridge has been studied a number of times before and shown to not be needed while also risking great harm to neighborhoods and the environment,” said Schwartz. “Moreover, during a time when the market is demanding urban, transit-oriented environments, and when we need to reinvest in Metro to the tune of about $25 billion while fixing other existing needs like the American Legion Bridge, this upper bridge proposal is a wasteful diversion of time and potentially billions of dollars.”

“The TPB should not have to study it yet again, and Northern Virginia officials should be taking the bridges and outer beltway out of their draft plan,” said Schwartz.

In 2003-2004 VDOT and the TPB did an “Origin-Destination Study,” which tracked every morning rush hour license plate crossing the American Legion Bridge. It showed that only a small percentage of the trips could be considered the so called “U-shaped” commutes from Loudoun/W Fairfax to Frederick/Upcounty Montgomery that might use a new bridge. The overwhelming commutes were radial or to/from destinations on, inside or near the Beltway.

In 2015, VDOT did another study, this time looking just at Virginia commute origins and destinations and reconfirmed that just a small percentage of commutes were U-shaped — with the overwhelming majority radial or “L-shaped.” The study showed that the Rosslyn Metro tunnel carried the largest share of cross-Potomac trips, and concluded that the Rosslyn tunnel and American Legion Bridge were the locations needing high-priority investment.

An earlier study in 2000-2001 of actual upriver route options between Virginia and Maryland by the Federal Highway Administration, and initiated at the behest of Congressman Frank Wolf, resulted in a huge outcry on both sides of the river. The impact to neighborhoods was so severe that Congressman Wolf ordered the study to be halted. The following extract from the Fairfax Times, May 29, 2001, study captures what happened:

The Federal Highway Administration announced late last week that it was canceling its year-long, $2 million review of the so-called Techway at the request of U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th), who said it’s creating too much heartburn among area homeowners.

“I’m not going to be at war with the people I represent, saying this is better for you,” Wolf said to a gathering of Times reporters and editors Tuesday.

Wolf said communities in northern Fairfax and Loudoun counties and those in southern Montgomery County, Md.,–particularly on the proposed bridge corridors–were simply too densely packed with homes.

Wolf presented a map with a spaghetti-like maze of proposed routes for the new bridge and parkway, all bisecting mature communities. One proposal even had the road cutting across the heart of Great Falls before crossing the river near McLean.

But the threat of taking homes has always been a factor with this project, and Wolf couldn’t say why it’s taken so long for planners and elected officials to reach this conclusion.

Moving the route further west put the bridge into Maryland’s agricultural preserve and too far out to make a difference for commuters, Wolf said.

“I asked the Federal Highway Administration what the chances were of this road being built, and they said 10 percent was an optimistic figure,” Wolf said.

“Our groups urge the Transportation Planning Board to drop study of the upper Potomac Bridge – but if they do study it, they must ensure that the study accounts for induced development and induced traffic, harm to communities and the environment, the opportunity cost compared to other investments, and the impact on the east-west economic divide,” said Schwartz.

“At the same time, the TPB’s proposed transit packages, along with land use, and demand management represent the most sustainable and effective set of solutions that will reduce driving demand, improve access to jobs and housing, and reduce air, water, and greenhouse gas pollution.”

“Finally, we also urge the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority to delete the northern and southern bridges and the Bi-County Parkway from their draft ‘TransAction’ plan,” said Schwartz.

 

About the Coalition for Smarter Growth
The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading organization in the Washington DC region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. Its mission is to promote walkable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities, and the land use and transportation policies and investments needed to make those communities flourish. smartergrowth.net

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 22, 2017

CONTACT
Stewart Schwartz, Coalition for Smarter Growth
(703) 599-6437
stewart@smartergrowth.net

Coalition for Smarter Growth STATEMENT on Judge Leon’s ruling on the Purple Line

MARYLAND – In response to US District Judge Richard J. Leon’s 12-page opinion calling for more study of Metro’s impact on Purple Line ridership, Coalition for Smarter Growth Executive Director Stewart Schwartz issued the following statement.

“We already know that Metro ridership will make up only a limited percentage of Purple Line ridership. The Purple Line is a badly-needed east-west transit connection for access to jobs and revitalization, and significant ridership will be driven by that demand, as well as the revitalization inside the Beltway that the project will spur. We are also certain Metro ridership will recover as the system completes repairs and reforms. In an era of climate change, the most progressive transportation solution available is to build more transit.”

About the Coalition for Smarter Growth
The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading organization in the Washington DC region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. Its mission is to promote walkable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities, and the land use and transportation policies and investments needed to make those communities flourish. Learn more at smartergrowth.net.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 20, 2017

CONTACT
Stewart Schwartz, Coalition for Smarter Growth
(703) 599-6437
stewart@smartergrowth.net

Statement on WMATA General Manager Paul Wiedefeld’s ‘New Business Model’ proposal

WASHINGTON DC – WMATA General Manager Paul Wiedefeld released a proposal for a ‘new business model’ for Metro on Wednesday afternoon, to address operating costs and the $15.5 billion needed over the next 10 years for capital investments to make sure the system “remains safe and reliable.” Stewart Schwartz, the Executive Director of the pro-transit regional Coalition for Smarter Growth, responded to General Manager Wiedefeld’s proposal in the following statement:

“We have a lot of respect for the General Manager and his leadership. The General Manager’s plan is the best we’ve seen to date. His statement is bluntly honest about the situation and we generally endorse his proposals — although we will need more information about some of them.

General Manager Wiedefeld is providing critical recommendations for evaluation by the LaHood panel, which represents our best opportunity to develop shared facts and understanding about the challenges and best fixes for the system in time for legislative action on funding next year.

To be clear, General Manager Wiedefeld confirms that even with these major reforms, Metro needs additional revenue for both operating costs and capital needs. Metro is the backbone of our transportation network and regional economy, and as such, merits the funding needed to fully restore the system. For too long, our elected officials haven’t made Metro’s state of good repair needs a priority – year after year approving a regional transportation plan without fully funding Metro capital needs.

We hope that the unions will be full partners in the effort to fix WMATA and address rising costs. They know the system from the ground up and can offer much, but like riders and taxpayers, they too have to contribute to fixing the financial challenges facing the system.

We disagree with those who propose opening the compact which risks political gridlock and diverts the focus from the fixes we can do now and from the agreement we need to reach on dedicated funding. We agree with the General Manager and others who say that many reforms are possible without opening the compact.

We don’t think a control board, such as has been proposed by the Federal City Council, is necessary. Nor would major WMATA Board of Director restructuring be necessary to address the core operating and capital issues. A restructured board would still be responsible to the funding jurisdictions,” Schwartz concluded.

About the Coalition for Smarter Growth
The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading nonprofit organization in the Washington DC region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. With 24,000 supporters across the DC region, its mission is to promote walkable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities, and the land use and transportation policies and investments needed to make those communities flourish. Learn more at smartergrowth.net.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 8, 2017

CONTACT
Cheryl Cort, Coalition for Smarter Growth
202-251-7516
cheryl@smartergrowth.net

Groups laud flexible commute benefits bill to give employees more sustainable commute options 

Washington, DC – Today, DC Councilmembers Mary Cheh and Charles Allen introduced a bill to allow residents to opt for cash or transit benefits in lieu of an employer-provided parking space. DC environmental, transportation, and smart growth groups applauded the legislation.

“Enabling workers to choose a more sustainable commute is a winner for everyone. Instead of the current practice, which provides more incentive to drive, this bill allows for equal benefits to be offered to those who choose other commute modes. This bill lets workers convert an employer-paid parking space into cash and choose to walk, take transit, or bicycle rather than drive. It reduces traffic and pollution, incentivizes a healthier commute, gives workers flexibility in their commutes, and is paid for with a parking space that’s not needed,” said Cheryl Cort, the Policy Director at the Coalition for Smarter Growth.

More than 18 percent of DC residents walk or bike to work, but the only commute benefit offered by many employers is a parking space. This bill introduced today, named the Transportation Benefits Equity Act of 2017 [PDF of bill text], requires that if an employer provides a parking benefit to an employee, the worker can opt to take the equivalent value of the parking space, and instead walk, bike, or ride transit to work.

“Rather than a parking-only commute benefit, this gives people flexibility to choose to bicycle to work if they prefer. Why shouldn’t people who walk or bike to work be offered the same commute benefit as someone who prefers to drive?” asked Greg Billing, the Executive Director of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association.

Workers who are offered a subsidized parking space at work are far more likely to drive than if they do not receive a commute subsidy. While half of commuters to DC jobs drive when they do not receive any kind of commute benefit, the number jumps to 85% driving and parking when given free or subsidized parking.

“This is a painless way to cut traffic congestion and pollution, while making DC’s workplaces more competitive, and rewarding workers for making healthier choices. This bill would cement DC’s status as a transportation innovator and as the number one big city in America for people who walk and bike to work,” said Payton Chung of the Sierra Club DC Chapter.

“DC is tied for the highest walk and bike to work rate in the country. With this bill, even more residents will be attracted to walking and bicycling to work, rather than driving, incentivizing the most sustainable and healthiest kind of commuting there is. We see great value to employers in improved employee health and productivity and lower health insurance costs,” said Moira McCauley of All Walks DC, a pedestrian advocacy group.

The bill builds on DC’s Commuter Benefit law, which requires all employers with 20 or more employees to provide workers with the option to use their own pre-tax money to commute by transit. The small modifications employers were required to make to their payroll systems to administer pre-tax benefits also make for very easy administration of a flexible parking benefit that employees, can choose to swap for a tax-free transit benefit, taxable cash, or a combination of the two.

The bill would require an employer who provides a parking benefit to allow workers to opt for spending the equivalent value of that benefit on transit, and/or combine with taxable cash and walk or bicycle to work.

Employers would continue to offer whatever commuter benefits they choose, including parking benefits, but would also be required to flex a parking benefit to transit or taxable cash if the eligible employee requests it.

“Many workers are attracted to DC because it’s so walkable and bikable,“ said Cort. “More than one third of households don’t own a car. With this landmark flexible commuter benefits law, DC would top the list of cities offering the most sustainable commutes for their workforce. This is good for business, good for commuters, and good for the city.”

For more information, see our fact sheet: https://www.smartergrowth.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/bill-residents-parking-cashout-fact-sheet_CJ.pdf

About the Coalition for Smarter Growth

The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading organization in the Washington DC region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. Its mission is to promote walkable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities, and the land use and transportation policies and investments needed to make those communities flourish. Learn more at smartergrowth.net.

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