2020 has been a momentous year for everyone. For the TPB, it has been a year of challenges and some big accomplishments. From going completely virtual to embarking on new work on equity and safety to finishing the Regional Travel Survey, to kicking off its long-range transportation plan, the TPB had a busy year.
Covid-19 changed everything
As with every workplace, when the pandemic hit, TPB staff had to quickly pivot to full teleworking. Staff adapted to working from home and meetings went online. The work did continue but how it is being done is completely new. Board and committee meetings moved online. Staff tested out new software and considered how the new normal would change public outreach for the long-range transportation plan.
Read more: TPB's work goes on, from home
Commuter Connections always promoted telework and rose to the occasion releasing new resources to employers who might be new to telework. Commuter Connections also surveyed employers across the region to learn how covid-19 has changed telework. The survey also asked employers about their telework plans when it is safe to return to offices. Meanwhile across COG, staff collected data to help decision makers understand how Covid-19 affected various sectors throughout the Washington region.
A refocus on equity
Both COG and TPB members felt moved when George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis. Around the world people protested and demanded racial justice. The COG Board passed a resolution in June that stated that COG would focus on racial equity and be anti-racist. In July the TPB also resolved that the TPB would consider equity in everything we do and be anti-racist. In the months that followed, COG and TPB hosted events for members, and looked inward to see how staff can incorporate racial equity in the work they do.
Learn more about COG and TPB's equity work
Establishing a new Roadway Safety program
One of TPB Chair Kelly Russell’s focuses this year was safety. The board has been concerned about roadway safety since working through the process of setting safety targets as required by the federal government. The target setting process focused attention on serious injuries and death. Early this year, a safety study identified several strategies that could make a difference on the region’s roads. One recommendation was for the region to establish a safety program. The program, modeled after the well-established Transportation Land-use Connections (TLC) program will provide consultant assistance for jurisdictions to work on projects that improve safety outcomes. The program will officially launch in 2021.
Read the TPB resolution establishing a new Roadway Safety Program
The region also conducted this year’s Street Smart campaign, with activities appropriately adjusted for COVID precautions, adding new safety messages when speeding became an increased issue in COVID-lightened traffic.
Learn more about the Street Smart program.
The once a decade Regional Travel Survey
The TPB conducts the Regional Travel Survey (RTS) once every 10 years to understand travel behavior and patterns throughout the Washington region. The survey had two parts: a recruitment survey and a travel diary. It gathered detailed demographic and travel information from 16,000 households based on a travel diary which respondents used to record every trip made by all household members on a randomly assigned weekday. These 16,000 households recorded more than 110,000 trips as part of the RTS. The data gathered from the survey helps inform decision makers about travel behavior in the region so they can better plan for the future. The data also informs TPB’s long-range planning activities.
Learn how the Regional Travel Survey can help us understand transportation equity.
Four questions about the Regional Travel Survey
Two initiatives focused on biking, walking, and access to transit reach milestones
This year the TPB identified bike trails to complete the National Capital Trail Network and identified Transit Access Focus Areas (TAFAs) to improve access to transit.
At its July 2020 meeting, the TPB approved the map of the National Capital Trail Network, a 1,400-mile, continuous network of long-distance, off-street trails, serving the entire region. The COG Board of Directors endorsed the network at its August 2020 meeting.
Explore an interactive map of the trail network.
The TAFAs work is rooted in the region’s long-range transportation plan, Visualize 2045, and its aspirational initiative to “Improve Walk and Bike Access to Transit.” Based on this direction, TPB staff launched the Transit Within Reach project which prioritized locations with the greatest need for improvements. At its July meeting, the TPB approved a list of focus areas. These areas are places that have the greatest potential and need for better walk and bike access to transit.
Both the National Capital Trail Network and the Transit Access Focus Areas will be used to prioritize funding for the Transportation Alternatives Program and the TLC Program.
Read more about the Transit Access Focus Areas
Explore an interactive map of the TAFAs
In addition to the TAFAs and the National Capital Trail Network, staff also developed an interactive web map to help understand and identify opportunities to support the development of transit-oriented communities around high-capacity transit stations throughout the region.
Explore an interactive map of high-capacity transit station areas throughout the region.
2030 Climate Goals
Climate was another focus area for TPB Chair Russell. In October, the COG Board of Directors approved a new greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goal for the region. The goal is a 50 percent reduction in GHG emissions below baseline levels, or 2005 emission levels, by 2030. At its October meeting, the TPB held a work session focused on climate and followed with an endorsement of the COG goal at its regular meeting. The TPB recognized that the transportation sector will have to be an active partner with the other sectors in the region’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet the Region’s greenhouse gas reduction goals.
Learn more about the 2030 Goal. LINK or Video
Public Participation and the updated Community Advisory Committee
In 2020, the TPB approved an update to the Participation Plan. This update provides staff with more direction on when and how to engage the public, so that the TPB outreach can better meet people where they are. It also encourages them provides guidance for how to apply an equity perspective to their work.
For the first time in 21 years, the TPB also made some changes to the Citizens Advisory Committee, including changing the name to the Community Advisory Committee. The CAC expanded from 15 to 24 members to ensure that the committee better represents diversity in the region. The 2020 CAC's big accomplishment was providing input into safety recommendations that the board approved in July. Both the Participation Plan update and the changes to the CAC also reflect the need to host more meetings online in order to make them accessible to more people.
Read more about the Participation Plan.
Read more about the CAC.
Looking ahead to Visualize 2045
This year TPB staff began working on the 2022 update to Visualize 2045, the long-range transportation plan for metropolitan Washington. The plan will include transportation projects in the region that we can reasonably expect to fund, including all those that impact the required air quality conformity analysis. It provides a rededication to equity, resiliency, and safer communities as we visualize our future. To get started the TPB conducted a regionwide survey and is scheduling focus groups to capture the story behind the data. Later in 2021, the TPB will be conducting outreach to communities throughout the region, respecting social distancing inconsideration of public health directives. There will also be opportunities for the public to weigh in during public comment periods.
Learn more about the plan update.
Check out our kick-off video, A look back to look forward:
It has been a busy year, find out what else happened throughout COG in the Annual Video. We look forward to continuing our work into 2021.