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
February 15, 2011
To really figure out what’s important to a President their budget is where to look. President Obama released his proposed budget yesterday providing an insight...
-
News
February 14, 2011
Progress halted? Lawmakers and pundits are taking aim at two of President Obama’s key initiatives for ensuring the country’s competitiveness in the 21 st ...
-
News
February 9, 2011
We’ve written about the need to bring real high-speed rail to the U.S. on many different occasions . Apparently the topic is a crowd pleaser (our analytics...
-
News
February 7, 2011
TOD without the T is just OD. Over at GOOD Allison Arieff writes about a transit-oriented development (TOD) in an outer suburb of metro Washington whose...
-
News
January 26, 2011
Education and infrastructure were two of the main topics in President Obama’s State of the Union speech last night. Spending a majority of the beginning of...