Posts by Stewart Schwartz

The high tolls are a direct result of the state's failure to invest its own money in this critical transportation project, placing the burden fully and unfairly on northern Virginians. Instead of making the case to the Loudoun Board of Supervisors for the importance of moving forward, McDonnell's administration is making it easier for them to vote no, endangering the whole project.

The Governor just threatened again, via a budget amendment, to withhold the state's meager $150 million contribution to Phase 2 if his new appointees to MWAA were not seated immediately instead of on July 1st. Fortunately, the Virginia House of Delegates voted yesterday to kill the amendment, stopping this latest threat.

One of the main points of disagreement between the McDonnell administration and MWAA has been Project Labor Agreements (PLAs). These have been successful on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and Dulles Rail Phase 1 projects.

PLAs are not just about regulating union labor and wage rates for workers. They also require unions to help secure an adequate supply of skilled trades for these massive projects, and to ensure effective coordination among the dozens of trades and subcontractors, both union and non-union, for smoothly functioning, safe, and timely construction. The preference for PLAs in the bidding process seems a reasonable solution. We should move forward with these provisions.

The governor says he is greatly concerned that Virginia doesn't have a majority of seats on the MWAA governing board, which controls Dulles and Reagan National Airports, as well as the Dulles Toll Road and the Silver Line project. But this regional agency has effectively served our region for a long time, completing major and complex expansions of both airports.

It is true, however, MWAA could be much more transparent and accountable, as the IG report notes. The Coalition for Smarter Growth was among the first to raise this issue in 2006 when the Kaine administration proposed handing control of the project over to MWAA. Pressure from the governor, our federal and state legislators, and local elected officials has resulted in key reforms at MWAA. These reforms should continue, but so should the Silver Line.

The attacks on MWAA may have more to do with securing state control of future toll road revenues, for use on road projects like the Northern Virginia Outer Beltway and other rural highways, than about fixing the governance of MWAA.

We can't know that for sure, but it's very plausible given the administration's power grab at the Virginia Port Authority. After reorganizing the port authority's board to ensure control from Richmond, the administration pressed new board members to approve diverting $250 million to Route 460, a rural highway between Hampton Roads and Petersburg that Hampton Roads leaders say is not their top priority. A similar effort by the governor to secure a controlling majority on MWAA in order to do the same thing would not work to the best long-term interests of Northern Virginians.

McDonnell says that he could not even contemplate funding another $300 million for Dulles rail without raiding other projects throughout the state. But is he setting the right priorities? What money might actually be available?

The governor is proposing to spend over $750 million on the Route 460 project. Another $244 million is being earmarked to the controversial Charlottesville western bypass, a road that appears to be ineffective and a waste of money. Millions are going to the Coalfields Expressway to support mountaintop removal in an area with little traffic.

Even accounting for these projects, there may be another $400 million available in the $1.5 billion Public-Private Transportation Act fund. Setting different priorities would free up hundreds of millions more.

It's hard to respond to the governor's argument that Northern Virginia is getting its fair share of the state's funding without seeing the full picture. A clearer accounting of complicated funding flows would be helpful for both the public and legislators. Certainly, making significant investments in addressing the transportation needs of Northern Virginia should be a priority given the importance of the region to the state's economy.

Perhaps symbolic of the administration's priorities, Virginia Deputy Secretary of Transportation David Tyerar made two recent trips from Richmond to Leesburg to appear before the Loudoun Board of Supervisors. He didn't go to make the case for Dulles Rail. Rather, he spoke to promote the Outer Beltway.

The governor and secretary revived planning for the Outer Beltway, added it as a new Corridor of Statewide Significance, and are exploring the route for yet another public-private partnership. Yet this highway would do little to help massively congested corridors like I-66, Route 50, and Route 7. The contrast between the obstacles put before Dulles Rail by the McDonnell administration and their full-court press for the Outer Beltway couldn't be starker.

If the Silver Line's phase 2 fails, it will be on Governor McDonnell's watch. He should lead the way to compromises that will allow the project to move forward, and focus more of the state's transportation resources on this economically critical project.

Leave aside for the moment whether, in this era of limited public funding, the money even exists for these projects. You still run into a simple problem with these "solutions"—a focus on highway capacity expansion hasn't been effective at solving our traffic problems.

Fortunately, we don't think the situation is hopeless. It just requires a different way of thinking about the problem to get at those different results.

While we're not going to go into every possibility in this particular post, we do want to focus on the idea that smaller, localized projects taken as a whole can be better than the larger, flashier projects. Smaller projects can offer more travel options, improved livability, and better regional transportation performance for a fraction of the cost of a megaproject.

Focusing on simple projects like making it easier to walk or bike to school in a given locality, adding housing close to jobs and in commercial shopping corridors, connecting local streets, or incentivizing development at an underutilized Metro station can have a ripple effect on transportation in our region.

This is not to say that there is never a time or place for major infrastructure projects. But we can sometimes can get much better dividends by instituting common sense, smart growth solutions that give people real choices on neighborhood scale and transportation options. And we can often use our existing infrastructure instead of an over-reliance on creating something new.

To help demonstrate that, we're starting an occasional series on localized projects and themes that, when looked at as a whole, could provide real options in transportation and living arrangements. This piece-by-piece approach can improve the performance of our transportation system in the Washington region at the same time it strengthens our communities.

Our first posts will focus on smart growth in the Rockville Pike corridor in Montgomery County, creating Safe Routes to School in Fairfax County, and citizen involvement in Gaithersburg.

In the coming weeks we hope to present similar pieces from different areas throughout the DC area to highlight a range of solutions that together will offer regional benefits. Do you have some ideas of your own for your particular part or sector of the metropolitan region? We'd love to hear your thoughts. Let us hear your suggestion by submitting it as a post and we may include it as part of this series.

A little history: The zombie outer beltway has had many names and a colorful past. In the late 1980s it was the Washington Bypass, a controversial and costly proposal for a complete outer loop highway through Maryland and Virginia. That proposal was eventually dropped.

In the late 1990s two individual segments of the original loop plan were pursued, the InterCounty Connector (ICC) in Maryland, and the Western Transportation Corridor (WTC) in Virginia. The proposed WTC would have run between I-95 in Stafford and Route 7 in Leesburg.

In 2001 highway proponents pushed for a new northern Potomac River bridge between Virginia and Montgomery County that would be part of a proposed road called the Techway. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) halted that effort after concluding the new bridge would harm communities on both sides of the river.

In 2002 voters in Northern Virginia rejected a proposal for a dedicated transportation sales tax in a public referendum, in part because the tax would have funded multiple segments of the outer beltway.

Finally, in 2005 and again in 2011, VDOT has proposed what they call the Tri-County Parkway, a new highway to run between I-66 in Prince William and Route 50 in Loudoun. Their preferred alignment for the Tri-County Parkway runs along the western boundary of Manassas National Battlefield. It is the same alignment studied in 1997 as the Western Transportation Corridor.

It is this highway that Secretary Connaughton has made a top priority, by designating it as a new Corridor of Statewide Significance. It is this highway that the Coalition for Smarter Growth opposes today.

Instead of building yet another wasteful highway that induces more traffic and more sprawl, VDOT should focus our tax dollars on more important transportation needs. They should also avoid harming the historic Manassas Battlefield, which would be impacted by the Tri-County Parkway.

The Coalition has performed an exhaustive study of the parkway / outer beltway, and found that the major traffic problems in its vicinity are on radial east-west commuter routes, not on north-south roads. The parkway won't relieve any congestion because it doesn't serve travel paths that are congested.

This table, based on information from VDOT traffic counts, compares traffic volumes on roads in the vicinity of the Tri-County Parkway. It clearly demonstrates that radial corridors have dramatically higher volumes than any north-south routes.

Only Route 28, which connects to the strong job centers on the east side of Dulles Airport, carries significant north-south traffic. Among north-south roads west of the airport and in the vicinity of the proposed Tri-County Parkway, Route 659 carries just 9,100 vehicles per day (VPD) from Prince William to Loudoun, and Route 15 carries just 15,000. In contrast, I-66 carries up to 63,000 VPD in Prince William, and Route 50 carries up to 40,000 VPD between Loudoun and Route 28.

In 2005 the Coalition for Smarter Growth commissioned a national traffic modeling expert, Norm Marshall of Smart Mobility, Inc., to analyze VDOT's Tri-County Parkway study. He demonstrated significant flaws in that study, finding that the new highway would induce new development and traffic, but not reduce congestion. Marshall recommended a more efficient set of solutions focusing on land use, conservation, transit, and demand management.

A more recent review of the Loudoun County Transportation plan by Lucy Gibson of Smart Mobility found that transportation engineers were overestimating north-south traffic compared to east-west traffic volumes.

Overall it is clear that the push for the new outer beltway is driven at least in part by those seeking to spark more development in western Prince William and Loudoun Counties, rather than focusing our scarce transportation funds on existing congestion problems. The Tri-County Parkway is an unnecessary and costly diversion from more rational transportation planning. We urge you to sign the petition against it.

Why is this plan so great?

• It's particularly friendly to pedestrians and cyclists by incorporating wider sidewalks, on-street parking and bike lanes, as well as narrower streets to reduce car speeds.

• It includes a proposed platform extension with connection to a park and bicycle/pedestrian access to the Falls Church side of the station. Combined with the pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements to Washington Boulevard, Lee Highway and Sycamore Street, the two sides of the community will be knitted back together.

• The overall design is appropriate, including the redevelopment of the Metro Station parcel with a mix of uses, and with heights that are appropriate and step back to the highest heights next to the highway. This approach will transform the Metro station parking lot into a vibrant community with residences, neighborhood retail services, and a public square.

• The analysis of the transportation performance shows that this approach to development will not add measurably to future traffic and will in fact offer more non-auto options for local and regional travel.

• The plan will contribute to the revitalization of the area around the Metro station by improving safety on surrounding roadways and adding neighborhood retail and a mix of housing.
• The plan includes provisions for affordable housing, offering options for a diversity of households (but see our testimony (PDF) for additional recommendations).

• It manages traffic well and offers balanced parking solutions to serve current and future residents and businesses.

In addition, the extensive process that has gone into the development of a sustainable, walkable vision for the future has incorporated input from a citizen task force that included representatives of neighborhood associations and other stakeholders, as well as additional analysis and refinement by county staff based on feedback from the community. Clearly, there is great support for this plan.

With the coming of the Silver Line to Tysons Corner and beyond we have the opportunity to expand our region's network of transit-oriented communities and the transportation performance must be seen in this light. We know the plan isn't perfect and have made suggestions to the County Board, including a recommendation that careful consideration be given to the design of the Metro station parcel to ensure that retail is located on the right frontages and that the public green is in the best place to ensure active use and its potential role as a center of the community. In addition, we'd like to see the addition of more affordable housing.

Nonetheless, we've reviewed dozens of mixed-use transit-station plans, and we see this as an excellent and appropriately scaled plan that offers a range of community benefits. The plan offers the opportunity to make the streets and access to Metro safer, to reduce medium and long-term traffic, provide convenient neighborhood services, and to enhance the desirability of surrounding neighborhoods.

If you are interested in showing support for the plan, you can testify tomorrow morning or email the County Board. Here's how:

How to testify: The County Board meeting will be held tomorrow, Saturday, April 16, 2011 at 8:30 am in the County Board Room at 2100 Clarendon Blvd (Near Courthouse Metro station), 3rd Floor. You can find out about speaking procedures and download a speaker form on the Arlington County website.

While the Board meeting begins at 8:30 am, there are a number of consent items for the Board to work through. This means the East Falls Church Plan discussion (Agenda Item #33) would likely not come up before 9:30 am. If you live close by, you can monitor the hearing online or on Comcast Channel 74 to see how it's progressing.

Provide feedback online: If you can't make it out Saturday morning, you can still make a difference. Show your support for the East Falls Church Area Plan by emailing the County Board. It only takes a few minutes.

This outer beltway would destroy the historic landscape on the western boundary of Manassas Battlefield—in the very year we are honoring the 150th anniversary of the First Battle of Manassas. Furthermore, this highway would not solve our traffic problems—it would actually make them worse.

If you live in Virginia, please email Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton and the CTB today telling them you oppose the Tri-County Parkway.

If you take action today, we can also let your legislators know ASAP—their session ends tomorrow!

The bait and switch

In public, the Governor has offered a list of some 900 road projects that might be funded by the new debt. This list does not include the controversial outer beltway project around DC. The public list played a key role in getting Delegates and Senators—who face reelection this year—to sign off on the risky borrowing)

But during last week's CTB meeting, the Secretary of Transportation brought up an issue not on the published agenda, asking two of the CTB members, Gary Garzynski and Doug Koelemay, if they had a resolution to offer. After describing a new highway connection that follows the route of the proposed TriCounty Parkway/Western Bypass, they said that the resolution was not quite ready yet, but that they hoped it would be by the next CTB meeting in March.

Secretary Connaughton, who used to Chair the Prince William Board of Supervisors, then said, "You guys would never make it on the Prince William County Board of Supervisors; we live for bushwhacking people."

Bushwhacked (ambushed) is exactly how we feel. It's no way to conduct the public's business. First the administration had the Secretary of Transportation hold out a list of projects that was a key to winning many legislators' support for more debt and spending. Then, off the radar screen from the legislature, the media, and the public the administration is maneuvering the revival and addition of one of the most controversial highways in the state.

In fact, the inclusion of the Western Bypass and other outer loop roads was a key factor in the public's strong rejection of the Northern Virginia sales tax increase in the public referendum of 2002.

More traffic, not less—and a waste of money

This massive road, often referred to as the "Outer Beltway" or "Western Transportation Corridor," has been repeatedly rejected because it doesn't relieve traffic on the Beltway, I-95, I-66 or local roads. In fact, it would make traffic worse by opening up thousands more acres to development and feeding more traffic from the west onto gridlocked east-west roads.

Construction of an Outer Beltway would encourage increased development in areas which lack the necessary support infrastructure (water, sewer, schools, services, roads, etc.)—making existing congestion, fiscal, and environmental problems worse. The real transportation need in western Prince William and Loudoun counties is for improved east-west connections, including transit.

On top of that, the project would siphon money away from projects that citizens of the Commonwealth actually need, like repair, maintenance, and enhancements for our aging bridges, roads, and transit systems, and addressing major bottlenecks within the already built up areas of Northern Virginia and other metro areas.

The Commonwealth Transportation Board must vote on where to spend the multi-billion dollar transportation bond package. Please take a minute to write to the CTB, and ask them not to waste limited funding on a project as destabilizing and wasteful as the Outer Beltway.

With minimal debate, Virginia Governor McDonnell's $4 billion transportation plan, which includes $3 billion in debt, is poised for final approval. All that remains is a small conference committee holding closed door meetings to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions.

In Maryland, the "Blue Ribbon Transportation Commission" chaired by Gus Bauman, who is known for his former leadership of a booster group for the Intercounty Connector, is recommending a gas tax hike and an array of other new funding.

Ironically, the cost of construction and debt for the ICC has been a major contributor to the decline in available transportation revenues in Maryland, consuming $1.1 billion of the state's federal revenues and diverting toll revenues from all of Maryland's tolled bridges and tunnels. Our partners warned about the financial risks in a 2007 report.

How will Maryland spend its money?

As the Maryland General Assembly considers a proposal to raise the gas tax, the Coalition for Smarter Growth, 1000 Friends of Maryland and seven other conservation and housing groups under the banner of "Transportation for Maryland" (T4Md) have released a position statement and specific criteria that must be met for any tax increase for transportation in Maryland. T4Md's release responds to the failure of the commission to demand fundamental reform in what Maryland is buying with its transportation dollars.

T4Md recommends the following priorities for transportation funds:

• Maintain and repair existing infrastructure, including roads and bridges before building new;
  
• Revisit near-term spending decisions and long-term project selection to fund projects that meet the growing demand for more transportation choices that save time and money and help reduce our dependence on foreign oil;
  
• Spark innovation and cost-savings through a competitive transportation solutions program; and
  
• Fund the biggest jobs creator, public transportation.

Planning for major transportation projects must also routinely consider integrated land use, urban design, street network and transit alternatives that will support more efficient development. Too often, for major transportation projects, we see a failure to fairly and objectively evaluate a range of alternatives, especially integrated land use and transportation alternatives.

Cheap loans from Virginia, big profits for road builders

In Virginia, the legislature will be granting a blank check to Governor McDonnell. It looks like most of this money—$1.5 billion supplemented by low-interest taxpayer funded loans—would go for Public Private Transportation Act (PPTA) projects and the large multinational companies that build these private toll roads.

The loans would be made by a new Virginia Transportation Infrastructure Bank and would be funded by siphoning $150 million from core services (education, health care, police and fire, etc) and another $250 million from road maintenance accounts as a result of the VDOT "audit."

According to Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton, the loans would be very low interest (2 to 3 percent) to companies that he says make a 14 percent return on their investment. Grants and loans are in addition to the 75 years of toll revenues signed-away to the companies.

Under the PPTA the Governor and Secretary of Transportation have total control over the negotiation of the contracts, so they will have complete discretion over the $1.5 billion fund.

As is the case with Maryland's transportation commission, Governor McDonnell has not addressed his state's $3.5 billion in structurally deficient bridges, about $1 billion in deficient pavement, or the significant operating and maintenance revenue shortfalls faced by the state's transit systems including Metro. His plan also ignores oil dependency and rising energy prices.

Would you buy this road?

Symbolic of the potential misallocation of resources, Governor McDonnell has said his top priority is Route 460. Quiz question for Northern Virginians: where is it?

This 55-mile new limited access highway would run through empty farmland and parallel to an existing highway and freight railroad. The existing highway carries far fewer trips than most other highways in Virginia and fewer than roads like Route 7, Route 50 and Route 236 in Northern Virginia.

A proposal from the private toll road builder calls for $782 million in subsidies from Virginia taxpayers and $491 million in low interest loans. Northern Virginians provide the largest share of tax revenues, so Northern Virginians will be primarily subsidizing this unneeded highway.

If Route 460 is the poster child for how not to spend our scarce resources, Governor McDonnell's failure to make a strong case to save federal Metro funding and the small share of his total package which "might" go to transit—11.5 percent—is evidence of his lack of support for transit.

So we're not buying Governor McDonnell's debt plan or a Maryland gas tax increase, unless the money is used wisely to address the priority challenges faced by our nation and our region. Anything else would be a huge waste of our tax dollars.

Our one wish for 2011: That officials and civic and business leaders will continue to implement transit-oriented communities with better linkages between jobs and housing, invest more in transit, walking and bicycling, and set us firmly on a course to become the most energy efficient, and environmentally and fiscally sustainable region in the nation.

With all those things in mind, here are what we see as the biggest opportunities and challenges in 2011:

The Region: The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) made great strides with its Region Forward sustainability plan and studies (study one and study two PDFs) that show a network of walkable/bikeable, transit-oriented centers reduces the amount we have to drive and offers more options for getting around. Two things need to happen in 2011:

1. COG's update to its Regional Activity Centers has to focus on transit-oriented centers, revitalization of older commercial corridors, and walkable urban design.
   
2. We have to stop stapling together state transportation project wish-lists and instead produce a plan based on the transportation projects that meet COG's sustainability goals.

Meanwhile, expect John "Til" Hazel's 2030 Group to announce a renewed push for an outer beltway, for a regional transportation authority led by unaccountable appointees, and for dedicating more funding to highways, not transit.

Focus has to instead be on adequate funding for Metro and other transit, maintenance and operations of our existing roads and transit, and those new projects that best support transit-oriented, energy efficient development patterns. We also hope our local officials will maintain a central role in governing Metro and that the attempt to shift power to less-transit friendly state authorities in Virginia fails.

Prince George's County: With new, reform-minded leadership at the helm, we look forward to progress on a number of fronts. Certainly we'd like to see implementation of the housing reforms highlighted in our Building Stronger Communities report. We also have high hopes that all sectors are coming together to make transit-oriented development happen at Prince George's 15 underutilized Metro stations, as highlighted in our Invest Prince George's report.

Governor O'Malley, Metro, Prince George's officials, the business and smart growth communities, and the federal General Services Administration are coming together to finally get TOD on track in Prince George's. Among the new initiatives is the federal Housing and Urban Development grant for planning redevelopment along the southern Green Line Metro corridor to Branch Avenue.

TOD and moving forward with the Purple Line must be a higher priority than the types of sprawling, traffic generating developments recently approved outside the Beltway in Prince George's. Concurrently, we hope to see a more transparent, unbiased, and consistent approach to development review to give the public and private sectors greater confidence in the process, and attract more investment.

Montgomery County: A pioneering leader in planning for transit-oriented development, preservation of agricultural land, and inclusionary zoning for affordable housing, Montgomery County often seems pulled in different directions today.

Major highway expansion is proposed including widening I-270 at a cost of $3.4 billion, extending the Mid-County Highway and building the 28/198 connection (ICC 2?), and development approvals have included both the transit-oriented White Flint and the far flung "Science City." And with a new upcounty hospital proposed, will it be in a walkable, mixed-use center?

In 2011 we need to ensure that transit-oriented development returns as the top priority for funding and incentives, that more jobs are encouraged at transit-oriented locations on the underserved east side of the county, that the Purple Line and a set of bus-priority corridors moves forward, and that the Agricultural Reserve receives expanded protection and investment in value-added production.

The county's Department of Transportation will need to be more supportive of complete streets, local street networks and transit-oriented communities.

Fairfax County: We're all excited that the Tysons Corner Plan passed, but now it's time to get moving. We need to get the urban design details right, to make sure Tysons is a great place for pedestrian life at the street level. Routes 7 and 123 are still planned as 8-lane virtual highways through the heart of Tysons. We urgently need to shift to a boulevard design.

The "Future of Fairfax" and other area counties will be found in the vast parking lots of their strip commercial corridors. These are the places where we can create walkable communities that absorb growth while protecting suburban neighborhoods, protecting forests and streams, and reducing traffic.

We hope the County will move forward with a major vision-planning initiative for Route 1, linking transit, land use, housing, economic development and the environment. Investment initiatives also need to accelerate for Springfield, Bailey's Crossroads, Annandale, Seven Corners and Merrifield.

New county directors of planning and transportation will be hired. They need to be committed leaders in implementing smart growth and transit-oriented communities.

Loudoun, Prince William, Frederick and Charles Counties: The real estate crisis hit the outer counties hard and the powerful demographic and market shifts seen by the real estate industry (PDF) could mean more challenges ahead. Market demand for large suburban houses in distant locations will remain weak.

The key to future competitiveness is protecting invaluable scenic and historic landscapes, restoring historic downtowns, and creating a few mixed-use, walkable centers in the right places. Examples include Loudoun's two future Metro stations, Woodbridge, Manassas and the Innovation center in Prince William, continued revitalization of downtown Frederick, and the mixed-use plan for Waldorf's sprawling commercial strip corridor.

Unfortunately, both Loudoun and Prince William counties are on course to plan and approve far too many centers than the market can support. Loudoun also proposes an unaffordable $2 billion road expansion plan. Prince William keeps pushing for the Outer Beltway. They call it their "road to Dulles," but it lands miles west of Dulles whose entrance is on the east side.

The highway, called the Tri-County Parkway, 234 Bypass, Battlefield Bypass and Western Bypass, would destroy the setting of Manassas National Battlefield on the eve of the 150-year anniversary of two of the most significant battles of the Civil War. We should focus should instead on street networks for local activity and on transit investments for the radial commuting corridors of I-95 and I-66. VRE, HOV/slugging, and rapid bus transit are the keys to accomplishing these goals, not necessarily the conversion to private toll roads as proposed by the state.

District of Columbia: A lot of people are wondering if the new mayor and council will continue the momentum started by the last two administrations for cyclists, pedestrians and transit users. These progressive policies not only need to continue, but they must benefit all areas of the District, including east of the Anacostia. DC's economic competitiveness and ability to attract people from around the world is tied to its expanding sustainable transportation and planning initiatives.

Ensuring that there are affordable housing and job benefits from major projects like waterfront revitalization and St. Elizabeth's development should be a top priority. Protecting the social safety net, continuing education initiatives, and restoring and expanding affordable housing programs are essential.

The city's housing trust fund needs to be restored, affordable units preserved, and new affordable workforce housing built in conjunction with new development. D.C. is emerging as one of the world's great, diverse and green cities. Let's ensure everyone benefits.

Arlington, Alexandria, College Park, Rockville, Falls Church and more: Arlington County continues its cutting-edge sustainable growth and Alexandria plans a transit future. Meanwhile, many of the smaller cities and towns within our region share similar goals.

Our historic towns have the fabric to support the sort of walkable, bikeable and transit-accessible communities that are so much in demand, but they need to welcome development designed to the right form and scale, invest in "complete street" networks, adopt the right parking policies, and ensure the right mix of uses.

Do these communities have adequate funding support from the states and the flexibility they need from state and local departments of transportation? There's Route 1 in College Park, Broad Street in Falls Church, Rockville Pike, Maple Street in Vienna, Old Town City of Fairfax and their Route 50 "Boulevard," and more. Will 2011 be the year where we solve the puzzle and move forward with the right development and transportation solutions?

Will we see more smart growth or more sprawl? What do you think?

1. Approval of the Tysons Corner plan: After seven years in the making, the plan will transform the infamous "Edge City" into a sustainable urban community. It's a real first for the nation, and people around the country are watching to see how it turns out.

Change doesn't happen in a vacuum, and this is no exception. It took countless phone calls, letters to elected officials and testimony by the residents of Fairfax and others throughout the region. It must have been the astoundingly frustrating traffic that kept everyone motivated to make change happen.

While the plan will take years to implement, development applications are already moving forward and the approval is the catalyst for making Tysons Corner a walkable, bikeable and transit-oriented community with a vibrant mix of homes, jobs, retail, parks and entertainment.

2. Passage of the White Flint Sector Plan: If you hang around White Flint or joined us for our walking tour, you know that White Flint, like Tysons Corner, isn't exactly a model of walkability. But with the unanimous passage of this plan (PDF), we can look forward to a vibrant, walkable center for North Bethesda anchored by the White Flint Metro station.

The plans include adding new parks and public spaces, an improved local street network, a boulevard conversion for Rockville Pike, a vibrant mix of uses, more housing choices, and better pedestrian/bicyclist access.

3. Pedestrian victories across the District: The Washington Area Bicyclist Association and Greater Greater Washington have led the way in making DC a lot more bike-friendly. But this year saw a lot of progress for pedestrians too. The DC Council passed the Sidewalk Assurance Act, ensuring that DDOT adds or completes sidewalks while they perform scheduled reconstruction of streets that have missing sidewalks. Simple, common sense.

We joined forces with Connecticut Avenue Pedestrian Action to improve walking conditions along a major dangerous roadway in the District. This grassroots-led effort, that started with volunteers in safety vests taking notes along Connecticut Avenue, concluded with the community presenting a professional pedestrian safety audit and research report (PDF) to DDOT.

Progress continued near the Minnesota Avenue Metro station with the launching of the Nannie Helen Burroughs Great Streets project. We also pushed for fixing the narrow sidewalks at the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station as part of the new development project.

4. Saving Metro service: It's been an ongoing struggle to sustain Metro service through these tough economic times, and devastating cuts were closer than ever to becoming a reality. A coalition of transit advocacy organizations, including CSG, Sierra Club, Action Committee for Transit, and Greater Greater Washington, led the way to preservation of this region's most vital asset.

Thousands of signatures sent to elected officials and the WMATA board won increased funding from the jurisdictions and avoided massive service cuts. The cuts would have hurt businesses and workers who rely on Metro every day, delivering a blow to our region's economic vitality.

Speaking of Metro, did you send your email to defend the $230 monthly transit benefit?

5. Capital Bikeshare: Strength lies in numbers, and we're thrilled with the 1,100 Capital Bikeshare bikes and 114 stations throughout D.C. and Arlington. The day the program launched, we saw tons of people on the shiny red bikes. Ridership hit nearly 37,000 trips in the first month.

Leave your bike and lock at home. Hop on a CaBi, ride to a meeting and deposit the bike at a nearby station. No worries. Combined with all the new bike lanes, it's clear that residents are increasingly choosing cycling as a mode of transportation. Just remember to wear a helmet!

Honorable mentions:

• COG reports (both PDFs) called "What Would it Take?" and "Aspirations" (the land use portion of the scenario, NOT the $52 billion in toll roads) confirmed what we've long said: transit-oriented, walkable communities are effective in reducing driving and traffic.
  
• Adoption of our recommendations in the Envision Prince George's report.
  
• Passage of the Alexandria Potomac Yard Plan.
  
• Passage of Arlington's Crystal City Plan.
  
• Governor O'Malley making transit-oriented development a priority in Maryland.
  
• Prince George's winning a HUD Challenge Grant for the Green Line, while the District won a large grant for affordable housing.

Wonder what else happened this year? Check out our year-end highlights.

Stewart Schwartz is Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth.