Re: NoVA transportation needs to prioritize transit funding and service enhancement, roadway safety, alternatives to road capacity expansion, and climate action Chairs and directors of Northern Virginia transportation agencies: The Coalition for Smarter Growth (CSG) appreciates your gathering together to hear from the public and stakeholders and share information on

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“That the additional capacity of the HOT lanes would generate more traffic trying to travel to and from the lanes via connecting roads like Route 1, Telegraph and Van Dorn wouldn’t be surprising,” Bill Pugh, a senior policy fellow at the organization, said in a statement released by CSG after the committee meeting.

“In addition to ignoring induced demand and relying on flawed traffic models, VDOT’s study is compromised at the outset by its ‘conclusions-first’ approach,” said Pugh. “The agency’s stated project purpose is ‘to extend and provide continuity of the Express Lanes system’ and their evaluation criteria reinforce this predetermined conclusion. They have also excluded viable alternatives from study.”

In short, sustainable land use, transit, and a fix-it-first and resilience-first approach to Maryland transportation and infrastructure spending is essential for Maryland’s future.