Testimony
at the
DC Department of Transportation Performance Oversight Hearing
Committee on Transportation and the Environment
February 25, 2019
My name is Bradley Green. I am speaking on behalf of the Washington DC Chapter of the Sierra Club.
The Sierra Club strongly supports measures to reduce our dependence on private automobiles by increasing the viability of alternate means of transportation. This includes Metrorail, buses, streetcars, bicycles, scooters, and walking.
The reasons for this are many, including lower greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, reduced air pollution, lower transportation costs, fewer vehicle-related injuries and deaths, more vibrant and walkable communities, and more opportunities for physical exercise. The Club also supports the electrification of buses and other transit vehicles to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases.
The District Department of Transportation has undertaken a number of initiatives in support of these goals, including:
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Adoption of the Move DC plan in 2014, with its goal of promoting biking, walking, and transit.
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Creation of the enormously successful Capital Bikeshare program.
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Deployment of fleets of dockless bikes and scooters.
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Creation of the first phase of Streetcar service along H Street and Benning Road.
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Adoption of a Complete Streets policy.
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Electrification of the Circulator bus fleet.
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Studies for the creation of a bus priority lane on 16th Street NW, and
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Creation of a Vision Zero initiative for reducing and ultimately eliminating vehicle-related fatalities.
The Chapter strongly supports these initiatives, most of which remain to be fully realized. We also urge the department to move more aggressively in their implementation. Unfortunately, in some cases the department has fallen behind in reaching its stated goals.
For example, the MoveDC plan includes goals of creating 136 miles of bikes lanes, including 72 miles of protected bike lanes, and 135 miles of trails by 2040. At the current pace, however, DDOT is falling well short of that goal. Currently, there are only 75 miles of bike lanes, including 10 miles of protected bike lanes, and 60 miles of trails.
Let me take a moment to emphasize the importance of protected bike lanes, in particular. They have the ability to dramatically increase bicycle use on streets where they are installed. This is because they give cyclists of all skill levels an important measure of safety by providing a physical barrier when navigating an otherwise busy street.
Yet, the eastern downtown protected bike lane project remains stalled. This north-south bike lane and a similar project through western downtown are important components in the network of protected bike lanes called for in DDOT’s MoveDC plan.
Creating protected bike lanes is also an important step toward reaching the District’s Vision Zero objective of zero traffic fatalities. While Vision Zero includes both regulatory and infrastructure improvements, it is the infrastructure changes, like protected bike lanes and various traffic calming measures, that hold the greatest potential for reducing traffic deaths.
The Council should provide full funding to extend the the Streetcar line from Union Station to the Benning Road Metrorail station. The estimated cost over the six-year capital budget cycle is $106 million. The Sierra Club asks that this money not be shifted to other areas nor used for more tax cuts. Further, we would like to see DDOT accelerate plans to design and build a streetcar extension to Georgetown.
Streetcars are clean, efficient, smooth-riding, and a popular means of transit. They are also an important part the transportation infrastructure in cities, like Portland and Toronto, where they are used.
We urge the department move aggressively in the creation of a bus priority lane on 16th Street NW. This initiative promises to move more people more efficiently through the corridor.
The recently enacted Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act of 2018 requires that within 180 days of the law’s enactment, the Mayor establish a transportation electrification program requiring public buses, large private fleets, commercial motor carriers, limousines, and taxis to begin to transition to electric power, with all of those vehicles completely electric by 2045.
We believe the city should move aggressively toward this goal. The recent addition of electric buses to the District’s Circulator bus fleet is a good first step. The next step should be for the District to stop buying fossil fuel buses now in favor of an all electric fleet.
The Sierra Club requests robust public engagement as the Mayor and DDOT design the transportation electrification program. We ask for public hearings, listening sessions, and feedback processes from the start of the formation of the implementation plan. Stakeholders should have easily understandable channels for passively and actively engaging, and learning about, the transformations being undertaken. Feedback to the public should be frequent, honest, respectful, and meaningful.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Department’s progress towards creating a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable city. We look forward to working with the Mayor, Council, and department in pursuit of these goals.