At its December meeting, the TPB received updates on the Pennsylvania Avenue Initiative and Maryland’s Zero Emission Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Council (ZEEVIC). The board approved regional targets for transit and highway safety and the FY 2023 and FY 2024 Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside (TA Set-Aside) Program projects for DC.
Meeting agenda, materials, and recording
TPB MEMBER TRANSITIONS
TPB Chair Pamela Sebesky thanked fellow TPB members for their support during her 2022 term. Sebesky acknowledged the significant accomplishment of adopting an updated long-range transportation plan that included the addition of climate change as a planning priority.
Chair Sebesky also recognized and thanked City of Fairfax Mayor David Meyer (TPB member), City of Alexandria Council Member Canek Aguirre (Access for All Advisory Committee Chair), City of Manassas Planning and Development Director Matt Arcieri (TPB Technical Committee and TPB Steering Committee Chair), Montgomery County Council Member Evan Glass (TPB Member), and Prince George’s County Council Member Deni Taveras (TPB Alternate).
Each of the recognized TPB members thanked their peers for the opportunity to serve on the board.
In his remarks, Meyer commented that “…transportation is probably the key that touches everything, from economic development and air quality and safety, as well as the ever-important issue of fairness and equity in terms of who has access to public transit and how we ensure that everyone has the ability to get to employment, schools, and health care systems.”
TPB Officer Elections
The board elected the following members to serve as TPB officers for 2023:
- Chair: Reuben Collins II, Charles County Board of County Commissioners President
- 1st Vice Chair: Christina Henderson, District of Columbia Councilmember
- 2nd Vice Chair: James Walkinshaw, Fairfax County Board Supervisor
ACTION ITEMS
PBPP: Approval of Transit and Highway Safety Targets
The TPB took action to approve 2022 regional transit and highway safety targets. TPB Transportation Engineer Eric Randall presented final targets for four transit performance measures: fatalities, serious injuries, safety events, and reliability performance (miles or distance between failures). TPB Transportation Planner Janie Nham reviewed the highway safety targets for five measures: number of fatalities, fatality rate, number of serious injuries, serious injury rate and number of nonmotorist fatalities. The board was briefed on the targets in November 2022, and details are available in the November meeting recap.
Approval of District of Columbia Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program
The TPB approved $2.3 million in Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside (TA Set-Aside) Program funding for six projects in DC. TA Set-Aside funds are used for small-scale pedestrian and bicycle facilities, trails, safe routes to schools projects, and other community-level investments. With adoption of Resolution R6-2023, the TPB supports the following FY 2023 and FY 2024 DC projects.
- Anacostia River Trail
- Green Infrastructure Remote Monitoring
- Green Infrastructure Pilot Project
- Joyce Road Trail and Beach Drive Trail
- Washington Union Station: East Hall Alcoves
- 11th Street NW Safety Improvements
Read more for project descriptions and funding levels.
INFORMATION ITEMS
Pennsylvania Avenue Initiatives Vision and Concepts
National Capital Planning Commission Director Elizabeth Miller and NCPC Urban Planner Karin Schierhold presented the results of a four-month public outreach process for the Pennsylvania Avenue Initiative and discussed design and public space vision concepts for the corridor between the White House and the U.S. Capitol. In partnership with General Services Administration, the National Park Service, the District of Columbia, and the Commission of Fine Arts, the NCPC is considering three concepts for transportation and public space along the avenue: Urban Capital (Complete Street design), Linear Green (transit and park focus), and Civic Stage (pedestrian promenade). The planning and design phase will continue into 2026, and the TPB will have additional opportunity for comment as the initiative proceeds.
(National Capital Planning Commission)
City of Rockville Mayor Bridget Newton offered kudos to the team working on the project. Falls Church City Council Member David Snyder asked about the number of cars using Pennsylvania Avenue and plans for managing traffic that is diverted. NCPC staff said that a 2018 traffic study was conducted, which will be updated due to impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. The transportation study indicated that two lanes or 20 feet of travel lanes could be removed without significant impact to level of service.
Arlington County Board Member Takis Karantonis asked about public reaction to the three concepts and the potential for merging the concepts. NCPC staff commented that the Linear Green concept was well received, but there have been questions about the effects on traffic in downtown DC. Stakeholders are also interested in Civic Stage, which also has challenges. NCPC said they hope to take the best ideas from each of the concepts and integrate them.
Maryland Zero Emission Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Council (ZEEVIC)
Information about Maryland’s progress toward expanding the EV fleet and charging infrastructure can be found in the December 21 TPB meeting materials (Item 11 and 1:27 on recording).
Maryland Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary Earl Lewis discussed the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Grant Program (NEVI). NEVI’s mission is to build out a national network or 500,000 chargers by 2030. The program encourages coordination among public and private partners for building out EV chargers for passenger vehicles as well as heavy-duty vehicle and buses. Lewis reported that Maryland has over 60,000 registered EVs and has experienced an increase of 50 percent registered EVs from FY 2021 to FY 2022 alone. Although there is a concentration of EVs in the state’s metropolitan areas, EVs are registered in the majority of the state’s zip codes.
Maryland’s NEVI plan has 23 alternative fuel corridors, covering more than 1,000 miles. MDOT's NEVI plan will expand beyond the state’s existing 1,188 charging stations and 3,398 charging outlets—most of which are located around the I-95 corridor.
City of Bowie Business Operations Manager Mati Bazurto asked about resiliency of the Maryland charging network. Lewis said that resiliency is a key tenet of state initiatives on meeting greenhouse gas and emissions goals.
DC Office of Planning Associate Director of Dan Emerine asked about the potential for integrating charging into curbside parking, and College Park City Council Mayor Patrick Wojahn raised the question of state coordination with local governments regarding locating charging stations. Lewis noted that it costs more to locate EV chargers in some locations compared to others, and local governments play a key role in permitting charging stations. Other considerations include codes for curbside and multiunit dwellings, and availability for owners who live in multifamily neighborhoods.
Committee Reports and Director’s Report
TPB Plan Development and Coordination Program Director Lyn Erickson shared the news that the application period for the Transportation Land-Use Connections (TLC) Program and the Regional Roadway Safety Program (RRSP), will be open through March 3, 2023. Both programs have the same application timelines and one application form. New for this year is that planning projects are now eligible to receive up to $80,000 in technical assistance, an increase of $20,000 from previous years. Learn more and apply.
TPB Technical Committee, TPB Access for All Advisory Committee, and TPB Community Advisory Committee reports from December are available on the December TPB meeting page.
2023 TPB Meeting Schedule
2023 TPB meeting dates are now available on the COG/TPB event calendar.
A YouTube livestream option is available for all TPB in-person/hybrid and virtual board meetings.