Regional Survey Finds Real Consensus Among Transportation Experts on Regional Priorities

Posted on June 16, 2011 in: In the News • Study • Survey • Traffic Congestion

A joint regional survey of area transportation professionals most familiar with the region’s transportation challenges finds significant consensus on projects and solutions that would do the most to improve mobility and reduce congestion.

Regional/District

• Metro reliability and core capacity: Enhance maintenance, safety and reliability of existing system, and add new rolling stock, station and parking capacity, and new tracks/tunnels where needed
• New Potomac River Bridges: Construct new bridge north of American Legion Bridge, new bridge south of Wilson Bridge, and maintain/improve existing bridges
• Bus Rapid Transit: Establish a regional BRT Network

Northern Virginia

• I-66: Expand highway and transit capacity inside and outside Beltway
• New North-South Corridors: Construct new limited access corridors outside Beltway
• I-95/395 Improvements: Widen and improve as part of regional HOV/HOT/BRT network

Suburban Maryland

• Capital Beltway: Widen and integrate HOV/HOT/BRT to connect and compliment Virginia’s facility
• I-270: Widen and upgrade as part of regional HOV/HOT/BRT network, and construct the Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT) from Shady Grove to Clarksburg
• Purple Line: Construct from Bethesda to New Carrollton

Other Study Conclusions

• The region lacks a well-defined, short-list of transportation investments
• The prioritization process should focus heavily on highway and transit investments that do the most to reduce travel time/delays/congestion, and improve network safety and reliability
• The process needs to be more regional and professional and less parochial, political and ideologically driven

The joint study was commissioned by the 2030 Group, a private sector coalition of regional business and academic leaders, and conducted by the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance and the Suburban Maryland Transportation Alliance.

View the complete study.

Congestion costs this region $4 – $5 billion per year and the average commuter $1,500 per year. Over 20 years, that’s $80 – $100 billion. Implementing this program would cost a fraction of that amount.

Its Time to Take a More Professional & Less Political Approach to Solving This Region’s #1 Problem