The Coalition for Smarter Growth appreciates the opportunity to provide feedback on the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission’s (NVTC’s) proposed 2024-2025 Work Plan. Our mission is to promote walkable, inclusive transit-friendly communities as the most sustainable and equitable way for the region to grow and prosper, and we appreciate the important work of NVTC. 

First, great news! Thanks to many generous donors like you, we met our end-of-year fundraising goal! Your support enables us to field our team and work with you to shape a more sustainable and livable future. But we have big challenges ahead and need your help to take action on the following issues in the coming weeks.

“According to the TPB staff summary, the ‘overarching themes’ of the almost 1,000 comments submitted by the public on proposed regional transportation projects were ‘strong positive sentiment’ toward rail, bus, walking and biking projects and ‘strong negative sentiment towards roadway widening and expansion projects.’ We’ve seen this pattern over the years on various TPB plans, with the public repeatedly calling for a shift in spending priorities to emphasize walking, biking, transit and investments to meet safety and climate goals,” said Bill Pugh, AICP, Senior Policy Fellow for CSG. 

Maryland Governor Moore recently committed an additional $150 million. Now, DC and Virginia must make a commitment as well. And we need even higher contributions from all three jurisdictions so Metro can avoid shifting capital repair funds towards operating costs. 

Our groups support world-class transit and agree that funding WMATA (Metro) should be our region’s #1 transportation funding priority but not at the expense of other transit. Virginia, Maryland, and DC should put ALL transit and green, sustainable transportation first, and shift funds from highway expansion to transit.