Just three years into his transportation planning career at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG), Lamont Cobb is already making an impact helping local governments plan walkable, transit accessible, and sustainable communities.
“I’ve always had a great interest in cities,” said COG Transportation Planner Lamont Cobb, “especially how the built environment shapes people’s lives and how they experience things around them.”
Before joining COG, Cobb worked for Arlington County Government in the zoning department, where he got to experience all the different aspects of land-use planning from permitting a deck on a single-family home to a 200-unit residential building. An alumnus of Morehouse College and the University of Pennsylvania, Cobb brings in-depth knowledge of urban and city planning to help COG members navigate local transportation and land-use issues.
Through the Transportation Land-Use Connections (TLC) program, Cobb helps local jurisdictions design vibrant communities that support biking, walking, and transit use
Whether it is promoting development closer to mass transit, revitalizing communities to be more walkable and accessible without cars, or bringing jobs, housing, and shopping together in mixed-use centers, the TLC program helps local governments figure out how to best integrate land use and transportation.
Cobb helps make those transportation and land-use projects successful by supporting members through the process from reviewing applications to presenting the projects for approval by the Transportation Planning Board (TPB).
The TLC Program, which Cobb manages, consists of three components:
1. Technical Assistance, which provides consultation on project ideas and plans
2. Transportation Alternatives Program, which provides federal aid for projects that are alternative to traditional highway construction
3. Peer Exchange Network, which provides education, information sharing, and networking opportunities for local planners
Since 2007, TLC has supported 100 local projects in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia with $3 million in funding. Recently completed projects include bringing Capital Bikeshare to Reston in Fairfax County, building a new walking and biking trail in the busy Central Avenue corridor in Prince George’s County, and designing an environmentally friendly streetscape on 19th Street NW in D.C.
“The TLC program is important because we go out into the communities and work with local planners to get them the resources they need to implement transportation and land-use solutions,” said Cobb. “The program applies the regional vision of creating a more prosperous, accessible, livable, and sustainable metropolitan Washington at the local level.”
MORE: Learn about and apply for technical assistance.