Construction Projects Could Make Region's Congestion Worse

Washington Post reporter Eric Weiss paints a vivid picture today (Five-Year Forecast: Get Ready, Set...Sit, July 29, 2007) of the torture that could await commuters around the region as a half-dozen mega-transportation projects such as the ICC, Metrorail to Tysons Corner, new toll lanes on the Beltway and new bridge projects combined with lots of smaller projects are projected to create traffic jams everywhere. An influx of funding and political will has come together in Maryland, D.C. and especially Virginia to create this situation that Weiss describes as coming to a head over the next five years.

Things will be so bad in Virginia that the State has  appointed a "Transportation Czar" Ronaldo T. "Nick" Nickolson. He says his main job will be to "coordinate the timing of the work to minimize disruptions" and "to respond to accidents or breakdowns."

Neither Mr. Nickolson nor the other experts that Mr. Weiss talks to mention using any TDM measures to try and reduce the expected traffic jams though. The emphasis seems to be on timing and incident management. True enough that these things are needed. But with billions of dollars being spent on these projects, couldn't additional millions be set aside for Commuter Connections and all the local TDM agencies to help promote carpooling, vanpooling, biking, walking, transit and telecommuting to lessen the load on the roads? If another $20 million dollars were spread around the region annually for TDM it would be a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of money being spent on building and maintaining all the road and transit infrastructure throughout the region and it should reap rewards in further reducing the number of vehicles on the roads and helping to ease congestion as these projects get started.

Recent survey results from MWCOG's State of the Commute 2007 indicate that TDM could help (Employer Provided Benefits Could Help Fight Congestion, July 25, 2007; Free Parking Still Plentiful, July 22, 2007; Telework Rising Dramatically in D.C. Area; July 20, 2007; D.C. Region's Drive Alone Rate Goes Down!, July 18, 2007). Problem is most of these TDM programs are woefully underfunded. Let's hope the region's leaders do something about it or as Mr. Weiss points out people will be sitting in a gridlock situation.

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Chris Hamilton is the Commuter Services Chief for Arlington County, manager of CommuterPageBlog and a biking/Metro commuter from Rosemont in Alexandria