Category: Transportation

CSG Sign-on letter re: transportation projects in FY21 budget and FY21-26 CIP

Posted on by Emily Maurer

February 26, 2020

Montgomery County Council

Council Office Building

100 Maryland Ave

Rockville, MD 20850

Re: Transportation Projects in the FY 21 Capital Budget and FY21-26

Dear Council President Katz and County Council Members,

We, the undersigned, are writing to express our support for the following amendments to the FY 21 Capital Budget and FY 21-26 Capital Improvements Program. 

Fully dedicated bus rapid transit lanes on Route 29: Montgomery County has been studying a bus rapid transit (BRT) network for nearly a decade. The first line of the planned countywide network is set to open this May without the fully dedicated right of way that is necessary for bus rapid transit to truly be rapid. The highest quality of service is necessary to show county residents what BRT can do, and why the rest of the network must be funded and built. 

The proposed CIP includes $2 million for preliminary engineering of BRT on Veirs Mill Road and $14 million for BRT system development, which includes New Hampshire Avenue and the North Bethesda Transitway. Aside from Route 29, no priority BRT corridor construction funding has been identified — financing for the full 82-mile network remains elusive. This means at least another six years of study without any action, and with a bus rapid transit line that isn’t actually rapid. 

Together, the $16 million budgeted for preliminary engineering along these three future BRT lines can be put to better, more immediate use by diverting it to the construction of dedicated median BRT lanes on the southern portion of Route 29. 

The 2013 Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan called for dedicated lanes on the Route 29 corridor, and this promise of gold standard BRT should be fulfilled. Two years ago, the County Council commissioned a study evaluating dedicated bus lanes in the southern portion of Route 29, which should be shared with the Council immediately so that resources can be prioritized on the existing BRT corridor — instead of continuing feasibility studies for unfunded BRT routes. 

White Flint northern Metro entrance: Provided the reasons above, we also support diverting the $15 million allotted to preliminary engineering of BRT on MD-355 to fund a second entrance at the north of the White Flint Metro station. 

A 2015 report found that Montgomery County’s most successful office clusters are in walkable, transit accessible locations. Marriott’s move from an industrial office park to downtown Bethesda showcased this trend. Business leaders have testified that the second Metro entrance is a must to attract prospective office tenants. 

Those who live or work within a half-mile walkshed of transit are significantly more likely to use it. Achieving the staging requirements in the White Flint Master Plan is dependent upon new investments in transit accessibility. Simply put, the northern Metro entrance is necessary for an economically vibrant Pike District. As Montgomery looks to keep itself competitive with Northern Virginia, county leadership must prioritize smart growth infrastructure. 

Express bus service on northern MD-355 and Veirs Mill Road: While pursuing gold standard BRT on MD-355 and Veirs Mill Road, we should mirror the success of Ride On extRa and provide express bus service on northern MD-355 and Veirs Mill Road. We should also update the existing bus/right turn only stencils on Veirs Mill Road, pursue a countywide redesign and upgrade of Ride On, and seek funding sources for the BRT system. 

Veirs Mill Road is the highest ridership bus corridor in the state of Maryland, and is also vital to bridging the east-west socioeconomic divide. At the same time, residents in Gaithersburg, Germantown, and Clarksburg have dire, unmet transportation needs. One of the highest daily travel flows in the region is from Clarksburg to Germantown, with 4,000 to 5,000 daily trips on all modes. Ride On extRa Route 101 along MD-355 increased ridership by 11 percent and reduced travel times by 25 percent. 

Improving our transit system is important for climate, equity, and economic development goals. Transportation is our number one source of greenhouse gas emissions. Commute times are one of the best indicators of socioeconomic mobility, and people who rely on bus service have some of the longest commutes in the county. Our economic growth has stagnated. 

We must take bold action to create change, and these three priority investments — funding dedicated lanes on Route 29 for Gold Standard BRT, a second entrance to the White Flint Metro Station, and express bus on Veirs Mill Road — will demonstrate the boldness that Montgomery County residents and businesses want to see. 

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. 

Signed, 

Denisse Guitarra | Maryland Conservation Advocate | Audubon Naturalist Society 

Julio Murillo | Government & Strategic Relations Specialist | CASA 

Nanci Wilkinson | Chair, Environmental Justice Ministry | Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church 

Jane Lyons | Maryland Advocacy Manager | Coalition for Smarter Growth 

Diane Hibino and Kathy McGuire | Co-Presidents | League of Women Voters of Montgomery County 

Walter Weiss | President | Montgomery County Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions 

Michael DeLong | President | Montgomery County Young Democrats 

Shruti Bhatnagar | Chair | Sierra Club, Montgomery Group 

Margaret Schoap | Organizer | Transit Alternatives to Mid-County Extended 

CC: County Executive Marc Elrich

CSG in the News: “Metro Might Charge Bus Riders More For Paying In Cash. How Will It Affect Low-Income Riders?”

CSG in the News: “Metro Might Charge Bus Riders More For Paying In Cash. How Will It Affect Low-Income Riders?”

Posted on by Emily Maurer

By Margaret Barthel | WAMU | February 25, 2020

Metro will hold three public meetings this week to solicit feedback on its proposed 2021 budget. The agency is suggesting a number of significant service changes, including fare changes, cuts to bus routes, free transfers between bus and rail and the return of late-night rail service.

In one proposal, Metro is suggesting a 25-cent surcharge — on top of the regular fare — for people paying cash to board the bus, or using cash to add value to their SmarTrip cards on the bus.

That’s been the subject of some concern from advocates worried about the way the proposal could affect low-income riders, especially those who are unbanked or under-banked. More than half of Metrobus riders make less than $30,000 per year, and a significant majority are people of color.

Speeding Buses Up

Metro wants to make bus trips more efficient, which could make the bus a more appealing transit option — one of the goals of the Bus Transformation Project, a vision for the region’s buses that the Metro Board endorsed last month.

But last year, a report found that buses on some of the system’s busiest routes arrive on schedule just 60% of the time and move less than 10 miles per hour, on average. Bus ridership has declined by 12% in the past 5 years, and the agency hopes to recoup its losses.

One way to do that is to minimize the “dwell time” a bus spends at a stop, waiting for passengers to board and pay for their ride. According to Metro research, payment takes 2-4 seconds with a SmarTrip card, but as long as 20 seconds for people paying in cash or loading a SmarTrip card with cash. About 96% of Metro passengers use SmarTrip cards, with 4% paying in cash on the bus.

A 25-cent surcharge on paying in cash would penalize those riders and, Metro hopes, would incentivize them switching over to SmarTrip cards instead.

“You could position it as a $2.25 bus fare with a 25-cent discount for using SmarTrip,” said Metro spokesperson Dan Stessel.

General Manager Paul Wiedefeld pointed out at a D.C. Council oversight hearing that a SmarTrip card can help riders unlock other savings, too, in the form of passes.

One such discount is also included in Metro’s proposed budget: a decrease in the price of a 7-day bus pass from $15 to $12. But that still requires riders to come up with $12 upfront, a fact Wiedefeld acknowledged.

“Now we’ve got to figure out how we get that done — how do we come up with that $12,” he said.

He suggested that Metro might work with the District to spread the word, perhaps through “book mobile-type things.” Another option Wiedefeld mentioned: a program modeled after Kids Ride Free, where the District could subsidize transit passes for low-income residents.

George Jones, who leads the nonprofit Bread for the City, told WAMU that the low-income residents his organization serves would be hard-pressed to switch to paying upfront for Metro passes.

“You’re talking about people who predominantly use buses, who probably aren’t just readily paying for transportation in advance, in long-term blocks, like those of us who have a Metro card we reload every month,” he said.

‘This Is Not The Way’ 

While some advocates agree that speeding up buses is an important priority, they also raise concerns about how the proposed cash surcharge could affect low-income riders.

“We all agree we need to speed up the boarding process, but this is not the way,” said Cheryl Cort, the policy director at the Coalition for Smarter Growth, a transit advocacy group.

“Some people don’t have easy access to load a SmarTrip card other than on the bus,” said Katherine Kortum, a transit policy expert and member of the Metro Riders’ Advisory Council. “Not everybody has access to the credit cards and the online access needed in order to top up a card online.”

About 8% of D.C. households are unbanked, and 21.2% are underbanked, according to a 2017 analysis from the FDIC.

“We’re talking about folks who are, at any moment, struggling just to figure out how to get from one place to another,” said Jones. He noted that Bread for the City spent around $50,000 last year in transportation assistance.

Kortum also notes that many bus riders don’t have close by Metro stations where they might add money to a SmarTrip card with cash. In addition to its own Commuter Stores, Metro has retail partnerships with some CVS and Giant locations to provide riders with additional places to add cash value to a SmarTrip. Just three of those places are east of the river.

Metro officials told the D.C. Council that there are about 500 retailers across the region where riders can buy or reload SmarTrip cards, predominantly CVS locations.

Cort told WAMU she hopes Metro will ultimately go cashless — but that that would be paired with deeply discounted or free fare passes for low-income residents, as well as many more options for fare loading.

View the full story on WAMU here.

CSG Comments Re: WMATA FY2021 Budget

Posted on by Emily Maurer

A copy of the letter below was sent on Tuesday, February 13, 2020 to the WMATA Board of Directors.

2020.02.13-CSG-Letter-re-WMATA-Budget-Final-2Download

Dear Chairman Smedberg, members of the WMATA Board, and GM Wiedefeld: 

The Coalition for Smarter Growth is a 23-year-old non-profit and leading organization in the D.C. region advocating for walkable, inclusive, transit-oriented communities. We partner with dozens of DC area conservation, housing, transit and smart growth non-profit, advocacy organizations, and the business community, and are founding members of the MetroNow coalition which was instrumental in helping WMATA win the first-ever dedicated funding for the agency. We also served on the Executive Committee of the Bus Transformation Project. Today, MetroNow and our non-profit partners are committed to winning implementation of the recommendations of the BTP, including dedicated bus lanes and network redesign for faster, more frequent and reliable service, more affordable fares for lower income residents, technology improvements for off-board fare collection, and more. 

We support a number of provisions in the draft budget but are concerned about others, particularly the proposed changes and cuts to bus service. 

We support: 

Restoration of late night service: Late night service is particularly important for service workers at late- night businesses, especially those who live in Virginia and Maryland. We support restoring late-night service, while still ensuring time for needed maintenance. 

Free transfers between bus and rail: Free transfers were a top recommendation from the Bus Transformation Project and the second-most requested bus improvement after bus lanes in the survey. They were the top recommendation among low-income riders along with more affordable fares overall. 

Low and lower pass costs: Lower pass costs are particularly helpful for lower-income riders and can support the transition to off-board fare collection which will speed buses. 

Improved weekend service for bus and rail: This will support the access to jobs for all those who do not have traditional Monday to Friday work schedules, and support the transition to car free and car-light living for the tens of thousands of residents moving into transit-oriented communities in the city and suburbs. 

We oppose: 

Increasing the cash fare for Metrobus: This should only be done in conjunction with a much-improved Metro SmarTrip Retail Outlet program, establishment of an off-board fare payment option for Priority Corridor Network routes, and a new integrated payment and trip planning system. 

Charging peak fares after midnight: This is inequitable for late-night workers. 

A $1 surcharge for MetroExtra: We should be encouraging people to use limited-stop service, which saves operating funds, increased ridership, and helps people get to their destinations faster. We should not create a two-tier system that hurts lower-income riders by discouraging their use of faster buses. 

Bus service changes and cuts: While some reconfigurations listed in the proposal may make sense, we have received significant negative feedback from our members about the proposed changes. To the extent that service cuts are being forced by the arbitrary 3% operating cost growth cap, we urge the Virginia and Maryland jurisdictions to remove the cap. 

We prefer that WMATA and the region initiate a process for bus network redesign. This process can start with the proposed development of common service standards for WMATA and local bus services based on the frequency and coverage needs of our region. But any allocation or reallocation of service to WMATA or the local jurisdictions and major service changes like those being proposed, should take place after a network redesign study. 

We also urge all area jurisdictions to continue to increase their operating funding necessary to expand bus service while making it faster, frequent and reliable. With climate change, we must maximize our investment in transit to support walkable, transit-oriented communities, access to jobs, and reduction in total vehicle miles traveled. 

Thank you, 

Stewart Schwartz Executive Director

CSG testimony supporting SB 548

Posted on by Emily Maurer

February 12, 2020

Finance Committee

Miller Senate Office Building, 3 East

Annapolis, MD 21401

SB 548, Transportation – I-270 Commuter Bus Route Study (Support) 

Testimony for February 12, 2020 

Jane Lyons, Maryland Advocacy Manager 

Thank you, Chair Kelley, Vice Chair Feldman, and Finance Committee members. This testimony on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, the leading organization in the D.C. region advocating for walkable, inclusive, transit-oriented communities. We support the continuous improvement of Maryland’s commuter bus service as an avenue for a more sustainable, prosperous future. 

SB 548 would require the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) to study and make recommendations on the feasibility of establishing a commuter bus route that connects Maryland residents along the I-270 corridor to job centers in Northern Virginia. Currently, there are no commuter buses or any express bus service that crosses from Maryland into Virginia, despite Northern Virginia emerging as a major employment hub. 

Increased commuter bus service will position Maryland as a competitive location for new jobs and housing as the DC region continues to grow. Although Maryland was not selected for Amazon’s HQ2, we can still take advantage of its proximity in National Landing by providing convenient public transit options from Maryland. 

Along with being a tool for economic development, commuter buses help to relieve congestion and protect the environment by taking single-occupancy vehicles off the road. At a time when the state is considering an $11 billion project to add new express toll lanes in a misguided attempt to decrease congestion, we need to look at our existing strategies for reducing the number of cars on our roads, of which commuter buses is one of our best and most cost effective strategies. 

Therefore, we urge you to support SB 548 so that MDOT will study a more sustainable transportation option that expands Marylander’s job opportunities. Thank you for your time.