Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance

Rock Bottom

It was a very simple matter.

Endorse the Transportation Planning Board Steering Committee’s decision to include a study of improving I-66 inside the Capital Beltway in the region’s 2005-2010 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The study is funded by federal and state dollars. It has been approved by Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation Board and is a continuation of a previously approved TPB study completed earlier this year that is already in the TIP.

Piece of cake, right? WRONG. Responding to parochial complaints from Arlington and District representatives, the regional Transportation Planning Board deferred consideration of this matter. Falls Church’s David Snyder was the only dissenter.

In short, at year’s end, the region’s transportation planning body could muster the resolve only to study whether to study addressing a major regional need.

Is anyone still unclear as to why our congestion is among the nation’s worst?

The TPB’s non-action followed testimony by the Alliance noting the Board’s failure to treat transportation like the serious matter it is. The Alliance pointed out that Hampton Roads recently adopted a regional plan with well-defined priorities, funding mechanisms and a land use study demonstrating that aggressive Smart Growth strategies have limited impact on reducing travel demand and do not justify removing any transportation projects from their plan. The Alliance observed that the Washington region has repeatedly ignored the need to address any of these fundamental issues and that a major motivating factor for Hampton Roads’ officials is to “to avoid the congestion that paralyzes the metropolitan Washington area.”

The text of the Alliance’s statement appears below.

“The Will Provides the Way”

Statement of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance

To National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board

(December 21, 2005)

The Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance endorses amending the TIP to include funding to study and widen I-66 inside the Capital Beltway, a need so obvious that most people can’t understand why new lanes haven’t already been added, particularly after 911.

However, my main focus is on regional planning. Accompanying my remarks is a summary of the Hampton Roads 2030 Regional Plan prepared for Governor-Elect Kaine’s town meeting in that area. The differences between Hampton Roads MPO’s approach and the TPB’s are stark and instructive.

First, the Hampton Roads plan is built around six major regional priorities upon which consensus have been achieved. Apart from public transit in general, the Washington area has no consensus priorities or performance based list.

Second, the Hampton Roads’ MPO acknowledges the necessity for new and expanded bridge/tunnel capacity. In contrast the TPB continues to view new bridges as unnecessary despite the fact that 80% of our Potomac River bridges are inside the Beltway while 60% or more of our population is outside. The perceived danger apparently is too many people might actually use them.

Third, Hampton Roads’ plan includes new funding, both tolls as well four agreed upon regional mechanisms. In contrast, the TPB publishes a Call for Action brochure which calls upon others to act.

Fourth, Hampton Roads’ Plan includes a Land Use Study, which demonstrates as does your Regional Mobility and Accessibility Study, that while aggressive transit-oriented land use strategies produce marginal travel savings, those benefits are not sufficient to justify removal of any improvements from their CLRP.

Two regions. Both with older inner cities and rapidly growing study. Hampton Roads is one state but consists of two distinct and competitive sub regions -- the Peninsula and South Side.

By empowering its transportation professionals to seek the best solutions, Hampton Roads has achieved consensus on a progressive transportation program and funding package. Ask why and they’ll tell you a primary motivation is to avoid the congestion that paralyzes the metropolitan Washington area.

Our neighbors to the south demonstrate where there is the political will there is a way. Here we continue to demonstrate that as long as there is no will to tackle the fundamental network and funding issues, there is no way we will ever meet our transportation needs.