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COG is the one place in metropolitan Washington that regularly brings leaders together to develop solutions to the region's major challenges. COG prepares plans enabling the region to receive federal funding, provides members with research and data to inform decision-making, and offers a wide range of programs, including commuter services, cooperative purchasing, technical assistance and grants, and public outreach campaigns.

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Through the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB), area officials, planners, and engineers ensure a well-managed and maintained transportation system. The TPB, which is staffed by COG, conducts the federally mandated transportation planning process for the region and ensures the uninterrupted flow of federal transportation funds that area jurisdictions receive.

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COG's work engages leaders in various environmental fields from water quality experts to climate scientists. Together, they are advancing regional efforts to restore local waterways, improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change, promote recycling, and enhance and preserve green space and agriculture.

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Area officials and experts, including planning and housing directors and child welfare and health officials, work together with their counterparts at COG to help shape stronger communities throughout the region.

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Equity Emphasis Areas (EEAs)

This is a Land Use / Land Cover Map depicting forests, cropland, park land, waters features and urban and countryside development in more than 3000 square miles of the Metropolitan Washington Region as defined COG membership of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG)

This map was developed through Land Sat imagery analzyed by RESAC (Regional Earth Science Applications Center) in conjunction with the COG Department of Environmental Programs and the National Park Service.

Analysis for this maps covers the 12 major land use / land cover classifications as defined by the Chesapeake Bay Program. The nature of Land Sat imagery is such that detailed visual images are not possible as they are when using high resolution satellite imagery or low-level aerial photography. However, t he 30 meters per pixel resolution of Land Sat imagery is very useful for high altitude land cover analysis using spectral analysis techniques.

Sophisticated digital analysis software has been used to calculate the land cover data for this map and has been 'trained' on higher resolution data to achieve accurate analysis to the 90th percentile.

Tags: Health, Public Safety, Homeland Security, Bioevent, Report, Planning,

Jul 27, 2022

Equity Emphasis Areas (EEAs) are a regional planning concept adopted in 2021 by the COG Board of Directors to elevate equity and inform future growth and investment decisions. As of a 2022 update, 364 of the region’s more than 1,300 census tracts are identified as EEAs, meaning they have high concentrations of low-income individuals and/or traditionally disadvantaged racial and ethnic population groups. EEAs were originally developed by the Transportation Planning Board to analyze potential impacts of its long-range transportation plan but will now be applied more broadly across disciplines, such as health, housing, and climate, as part of Region United, COG's Metropolitan Washington Planning Framework for 2030.

COG and the TPB also use EEAs as selection criteria in their grant programs that fund planning for housing near transit, access to transit stations, improving roadway safety, alternative modes of travel, and connecting land-use and the transportation system.

In addition to the map below, planners and decision-makers are encouraged to explore a maps and data microsite on EEAs and High-Capacity Transit Station Areas (HCTs). The site allows users to explore regional and jurisdiction-specific maps of EEAs and High-Capacity Transit Station Areas (HCTs), data on demographic characteristics of EEAs, forecast growth in HCTs, and more. (Updated 2022 EEA data on the microsite will be forthcoming.)

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COG Equity page

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