In short, the public understands that “induced demand” is real, even if they are not aware of the term itself. Today, when officials in the DC region are planning for at least 900 more lane miles of highway and arterial road expansion and amid the ongoing debate over high-occupancy toll lanes for 495/270 in Maryland and 495 through Alexandria, the Coalition for Smarter Growth (CSG) urged officials to reconsider these plans.
Category: Stopping Sprawl & Highway Projects
Induced Demand: an overview for Metro DC
induced driving, induced travel, and generated travel, is the widely documented phenomenon in which widening major roads and highways results in more driving (vehicle miles traveled) that generally cancels out any congestion-reduction benefits in as little as five to ten years.
TAKE ACTION: Fix our region’s multi-billion $ transportation plan
You have a chance now to speak out against wasteful road expansion and FOR smart growth, with better transit, safer streets for walking and biking, and also better maintaining the roads we’ve already built to handle climate change. With so much at stake, including our regional goals for climate, equity, safety and reducing sprawl, your voice is critical.
TAKE ACTION: A townhouse ban is not the way to guide us to smart, equitable development
Prince George’s County Council is considering a bill to freeze new townhouse construction for 2 years. We agree that too much growth is occurring outside priority centers, leading to increased traffic and high infrastructure costs, while diverting resources from existing communities. But a townhouse ban is an overly broad, indiscriminate approach that overlooks the underlying problems of Prince George’s zoning: too much single family zoning across the vast acres outside the beltway, and not enough flexible residential and mixed use zoning inside the beltway.
CSG in the News: Loudoun County Breaks Ground On A New “Missing Link” Road
Schwartz says officials appear to be building an outer beltway link by link rather than drawing attention to it by calling it an outer beltway. “They’ve condemned Northern Virginia into a ceaseless cycle of road building. It is not enhancing the quality of life.”
Testimony: MD State Highway Administration FY24 budget oversight hearing
The Transform Maryland Transportation Coalition is asking MDOT to flex 50% of the federal funds, as allowed by federal law, from the Surface Transportation Block Grant and National Highway Performance Program formulas towards needed investments in eligible transit, safer streets, bicycle, and pedestrian projects, and vehicle electrification.
Event Materials: Redesigning Pennsylvania Avenue
Check out the event recording and presentation materials! Doug Davies (Director Planning + Design) and Kevin Keeley (Senior Planner) of VHB presented their projects for Penn Avenue West and Penn Ave Southeast, exploring the very different designs and challenges along the same corridor.
RELEASE: TransAction Vote
Tonight, the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) will vote on a proposed $75 billion transportation plan for the region. The “TransAction” plan provides a laundry list of projects through the year 2045 from which the agency can pick and choose for funding decisions.
New UN climate report points to compact cities, moving people not just electric cars, to cut emissions
This week, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres stated starkly “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator.” The agency’s Emissions Gap Report 2022: The Closing Window is an alarming read, finding that the adopted policies of all the world’s nations would lead to global warming of 2.8°C over this century – an apocalyptic outcome.
PW Digital Gateway Environmental Coalition Opposition Letter
We, the undersigned thirty (30) organizations, write to you today regarding Comprehensive Plan Amendment #CPA2021-00004, the PW Digital Gateway. On behalf of our millions of members and supporters in Prince William County, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and nationwide, we urge you to vote “No” on this proposal.