I serve on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (CoG) Transportation Policy Board (TPB). This is a regional body that analyzes transportation requirements along with the expected funding over the long term, over the next 25 years and beyond. The federal government requires each regional CoG to perform rigorous analysis before the state, county, and local governments can utilize funding for transportation projects. This forces everyone to think regionally and not just about their own jurisdictions.

Many people in the region see the TPB as being biased toward mass transit. When I joined the organization, I had not realized that I was required to choose a side. I was asked, at a separate meeting with one of our elected officials (not from our city) if I was a roads guy or a transit guy. My answer was that I was a “get from point A to point B with a minimum of hassle” guy. I commute to work in Herndon and that is no fun at all. It was 35 minutes to work if I left at dawn,1.5+ hours to get home at 5 PM on a Friday, and would be well over an hour and a half by Metro. There has to be a better way!

One thing that horrified me – TPB projects increasing highway congestion of 40-70% over the next 25 years. That is almost unimaginable! I worked with the TPB leadership to create a long-range planning working group, which developed a list of recommendations for reducing congestion. One of the suggestions was to encourage telework. Along came the Covid pandemic, and now fewer people are working in offices each day. But there was a surprise – highway traffic has rebounded all the way back to pre-Covid levels, but transit usage is still down by half – and this is happening all over our country. We have the side effect of empty office buildings and huge transit budget deficits – Metro is looking at a $750 million dollar annual deficit going forward.

I will keep working with our leaders throughout the state and the region to develop working solutions to make things better.

• Budget and Fiscal Responsibility.
• School Crowding.
• Economic Development.
• Environment and Sustainability.