The region's extensive highway and road network forms the backbone of its transportation system. Every day, millions of people travel by car or truck to access jobs, schools, and medical care, as well as shopping, entertainment, and recreational opportunities. Roads also carry the majority of goods deliveries to homes, schools, businesses, and stores in the region.
The region also boasts one of the premier public transit systems in the country. Metro moves hundreds of thousands of people—commuters, students, and tourists—each work day. Commuter railroads in Maryland and Virginia and dozens of local bus and other transit providers move many thousands more. Together, these transit services play a critical role in sustaining economic vitality, serving the needs of low-income and other disadvantaged populations, providing high-quality alternatives to driving, building communities, and reducing environmental impacts.
COG and the TPB lead numerous efforts to monitor and manage traffic on area roadways, promote highway and traffic safety, forecast future travel demands, and coordinate long-term planning of roadway improvements. In addition, COG and the TPB analyze regional ridership trends and forecasts, coordinate long-term planning of major transit improvements, and organize programs to promote greater use of transit as a commute alternative. COG and the TPB also bring transit operators together from around the region to share best practices for improving short-term operations and to highlight long-term funding needs.
News & Multimedia
-
News
July 20, 2011
National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB) members discussed and supported a plan to apply for funding under the third round of the federal...
-
News
July 20, 2011
The updated long-range plan reflects changes requested by the Commonwealth of Virginia to remove the I-95/395 High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) and High...
-
News
July 6, 2011
The Daily Measure recently featured a video clip highlighting a debate on the region’s short- and long-term transportation priorities . The debate...
-
News
June 30, 2011
The BOT-COG Joint WMATA Governance Review Task Force welcomes the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on WMATA’s governance as another important step...
-
News
June 28, 2011
While The Yardstick has urged against hasty spending cuts for the sake of spending cuts in the past it’s clear that as a country we have to make some tough...