At its December meeting, the TPB elected its 2021 officers and acknowledged the outstanding service outgoing members have provided to the region. The board also approved the set of roadway Safety Targets for the region required by federal law. And approved the Visualize 2045 Technical Input Solicitation to formally kick-off the process to update the long-range transportation plan.

Action Items

The 2021 TPB Officers

The board’s first action item at the meeting was to elect its officers for 2021. District of Columbia Councilmember Charles Allen was named Chair and City of Manassas Vice Mayor Pamela Sebesky and Charles County Board of Commissioners President Reuben B. Collins II were named Vice Chairs.

“I’m honored to serve again as Chair of the Transportation Planning Board for 2021," said Allen. "We can’t solve regional challenges without working together as neighbors. I look forward to working together to plan for an economic recovery and transportation future that ensures equitable access to affordable, sustainable transportation options.”

Watch and listen to the board discussion and vote. 

Get the press release on the new 2021 TPB Officers. 

Visualize 2045 Technical Inputs Solicitation

The Technical Inputs Solicitation (TIS) formally kicks off the process to update the region’s long-range transportation plan, Visualize 2045. The TIS is a document that provides instruction and guidance for member agencies to submit the documentation accompanying projects, programs, and policies proposed for inclusion in the updated plan.  

The TIS also provides background information and the context of the TPB’s policy priorities to inform the member agencies’ project selection process. All of the projects, programs and policies proposed to be included in the updated Visualize 2045 plan will be tested to ensure the emissions affecting reginal air quality complies with the air quality plans  and how they will affect the performance of the region’s transportation system.

Learn more about the Technical Inputs Solicitation

Staff had sought and received comments on the draft TIS document that was shared with the board at its  November meeting.  Apart from changes to clarify or expand the questions in the project description forms, there were specific suggestions from a few board members to strengthen some of the policy background information in the TIS document and related questions in the form. To that end, staff presented both the changes that had been made by the staff and those explicitly presented by board members  to revise the text in the TIS document.

The board agreed to the changes while holding a discussion on the following change.

Board member Ann Wheeler from Prince William County was concerned about changing the word “urges” to “requires.” She wondered if that change would put an undue burden on jurisdictions, like Prince William County, with fewer transit options. “We are growing and the idea of reducing vehicle miles traveled is hard, especially because we don’t have Metro or VRE,” she said.  She asked that most of the new language could remain the same but suggested an amendment to change the word requires to urges. Loudoun County’s representative, Ms. Kristen Umstattd and Mayor Jeannette Rishell of the City of Manassas Park agreed with Ms. Wheeler.   

Ultimately the board voted to keep the word “requires” in the document. The board approved the Technical Inputs Solicitation document with the suggested changes.

The deadline for agencies to submit their inputs is February 12, 2021. After that, staff will review the information provided and prepare it to be shared with the public. A 30-day public comment period will take place from April 2, 2021 to May 3, 2021. During this time, TPB members, stakeholders, and the public will have an opportunity to comment on the inputs, including whether and how they support shared regional goals and priorities. At its June meeting, the TPB will be asked to approve the inputs for use in the air quality and other analyses.

Watch and listen to the full presentation and board discussion and vote. 

Highway Safety Targets

The board also approved updates to the current set of Highway Safety Targets.  As part of the federally required Performance Based Planning and Programming states and metropolitan planning organizations like the TPB must set data driven targets for fatalities and serious injury crashes on the region’s roadways. This is the third set of roadway safety targets the TPB has adopted. 

Watch and listen to the presentation and board discussion.

Other items

Community Advisory Committee: CAC Chair Nancy Abeles gave the CAC report in her final month as Chair. The CAC met on December 10. The committee received presentations on the new Regional Safety Program and on Covid-19 impacts. CAC members provided some feedback on these activities. The committee also discussed their accomplishments for the year and anything they wish to tell the 2021 CAC. Watch and listen to the CAC report. 

Public Comment: For the virtual meeting members of the public had the opportunity to email short statements they wished to address to the board. TPB staff then read or summarized these comments to the board. The comments were also posted to the meeting website. Stewart Schwartz of the Coalition for Smarter Growth urged the TPB to amend the Technical Inputs Solicitation to make reducing vehicle miles traveled a priority focus for the 2022 update for Visualize 2045. Staff also summarized a comment from Kalai Kandasamy. He wrote that Commuter Connects does not do enough to promote slugging and asked that slugging be added as a transportation mode and noted in the aspirational initiatives. Read the submitted comments.