About Us

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.

Transportation

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.

Environment

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.

Community

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.

Homeland Security & Public Safety

COG brings police chiefs, fire chiefs, emergency managers, and other leaders together as part of its work to strengthen regional public safety coordination, homeland security planning, and emergency communication.

Transportation

Equity Emphasis Areas for TPB's Enhanced Environmental Justice Analysis

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 have been applied more broadly across disciplines, such as health, housing, and climate, as part of Region United, COG's Metropolitan Washington Planning Framework for 2030.

EEAs were developed explicitly in response to specific federal transportation requirements that are no longer applicable. COG staff is currently reevaluating the tool to see if it can be expanded for other uses and include additional data points. COG recognizes that member governments are using this tool for their individual policy, planning, and programming activities, therefore this 2022 version will be available until further notice.

Visit the EEA map page for information on COG/TPB equity initiatives and access to TPB's interactive site with additional maps and data.

Historical Background

Starting in 2017, the Environmental Justice analysis of Visualize 2045 was enhanced to include Equity Emphasis Areas and additional travel demand measures. These enhancements were implemented in two phases. The first phase identified Equity Emphasis Areas. The second phase included examining accessibility and travel time to jobs, educational institutions, and hospitals for the Equity Emphasis Areas compared to the rest of the region from the present time to 2045.

The following materials were approved by the TPB at its March 2017 meeting and updated to the most current U.S. Census data on July 20, 2022.

Methodology (approved by TPB at its March 2017 meeting)
Regional map
- 2022 Equity Emphasis Areas (pdf)
- 2018 Equity Emphasis Areas (pdf)
Downloadable GIS data
- 2022 Equity Emphasis Areas (2016-2020 American Community Survey)
  - Equity Emphasis Areas
  - All tracts
- 2018 Equity Emphasis Areas (2012-2016 American Community Survey)
  - Equity Emphasis Areas
  - All tracts