“First, it’s not surprising that some people experience time savings from using the high speed ICC over local roads, but how many trips out of the hundreds of thousands of daily trips in the area encompassing the Beltway, I-270 and I-95? ” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth.  ” The real question is whether  the fact that a small percentage of trips save time was worth the $3 billion cost of the ICC (more with debt costs), as compared to a wide range of other investments.”

Schwartz said this has been a recurring issues, noting that the state was highlighting a 33 minute time savings between Gaithersburg and in the ICC’s 2006 Environmental Impact Study even though state technical reports said such a trip was only a small percentage of overall travel.

Ben Ross of Action Committee for Transit stated, “Also buried in today’s report is the news that traffic in 2040 will be substantially lighter than previously expected.  The old forecast had more than 5650 cars per hour on some parts of the ICC in 2030. Even after ten additional years of what is projected as steadily growing traffic, all segments of the ICC are now expected to carry fewer than 4500 cars per hour.”

About the Coalition for Smarter Growth

The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading organization in the Washington D.C. region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. Our mission is to promote walkable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities, and the land use and transportation policies needed to make those communities flourish. To learn more, visit the Coalition’s website at www.smartergrowth.net.