DDOT Should Strive for Safe & Sustainable Transportation

Testimony of
Sierra Club DC Chapter on
PR24-326: Department of Transportation Everett Lott Director Confirmation Resolution
November 7, 2021

Thank you, Councilmember Cheh, for the opportunity to submit written testimony concerning the nomination of Everett Lott to be District Department of Transportation (DDOT) Director. The Sierra Club is the nation’s oldest, largest and most influential environmental advocacy organization. We have approximately 3,000 dues-paying members in DC, and we work to reduce greenhouse emissions, expand sustainable transportation, reduce waste and ensure safe and clean water.

Vision Zero

The District’s Vision Zero policy set a goal to end traffic deaths by 2024. As of this writing there have been 37 traffic related deaths this year^[1], the most since the policy was established in 2015. Lives lost include five-year old Allison Hart, who was struck and killed while riding a bicycle in her Brookland neighborhood; four-year old Zyaire Joshua, who was struck and killed by a vehicle while crossing the street;, 29-year-old Jim Pagels, a cyclist and safety advocate; and a 20-year-old Maryland resident riding a scooter.^[2]

The increase, rather than decrease, in the number of lives lost to vehicular traffic is tragic. The trend has rightfully prompted the Office of the DC Auditor to review “what has been done to date and what might be improved — and how equitably the District’s resources have been deployed to promote traffic safety.” Auditor Kathy Patterson has said, “there is no higher priority in the District right now.”^[3] The Sierra Club likewise sees an urgent need to address this troubling trend. We urge Acting Director Lott to work with the auditor’s office on the review, and to take immediate action in response to findings of the audit when it is completed in the coming months.

As reflected in our FY22 budget testimony, the current year’s budget includes funding for projects that we strongly support, such as bus transit, bicycle infrastructure, and trail network expansion. We urge Acting Director Lott to put these funds to work and track the associated performance metrics:

• Increasing the percentage of Circulator buses arriving on time;
• Increasing the percentage of sidewalk blocks completed in the sidewalk plan; and
• Increasing the miles of bike lanes installed.

Transportation Benefits Equity Amendment Act of 2019

This law was originally designed to take effect June 24, 2020. It is our understanding, however, that DDOT has yet to issue the requisite regulations, which it was charged to do within 90 days of the bill’s enactment. If this is the case, we urge Acting Director Lott to issue these rules without delay. This law represents another way that DDOT can reduce single-vehicle commuting and incentivize other modes of transportation. It is especially timely as employees begin to return to the office. Implementing this law would help shape transportation habits in the post-pandemic world.

Transportation Electrification

DC should be on the cutting edge of transportation electrification andthe Sierra Club asks Acting Director Lott to make sure this is a priority for DDOT. This electrification work implies coordinating closely with the Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE), Department of Public Works (DPW), and Department of General Services (DGS) among others, who all must play a constructive role as we transition to electric vehicles.

There are two developments we would like to flag. First, DOEE is in the process of drafting the District’s Transportation Electrification Roadmap, a key product that, as the name suggests, is meant to provide a roadmap to meet the transportation electrification targets of the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act. According to the most recent DOEE stakeholder meeting on November 4, the roadmap is not expected for public release until April 2022. As the review and finalization process unfolds in the coming months, we ask Acting Director Lott and DDOT to be fully engaged and do all that is required to make sure the roadmap is adequate and actionable. We ask for a public comment period prior to finalization of the roadmap.

Second, last month Pepco filed its five-year Climate Action Plan in Formal Case No. 1167 with the DC Public Service Commission. The filing outlines 62 different programs, under four portfolios, that help enable the District to achieve its decarbonization, electrification, clean energy, and energy efficiency goals. One of the portfolios is electrifying transportation, including make-ready charging infrastructure, rebate incentives to support installation of fast-charging stations in high traffic areas, smart rate design, fleet assessments for electrification, and innovation funding for emerging electrification projects. We ask Acting Director Lott and DDOT to engage with Pepco alongside DOEE and other agencies to ensure these programs are successful.

Specifically with regard to the central task of building out electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, the Sierra Club re-emphasizes the need for the District to put in place rules and foster a robust market for EV charging that is profitable for suppliers, affordable and easily understood by consumers, and equitably distributed across the District so electric vehicles are available to as many people as possible.

DC Circulator Bus

Continuing with the topic of electrification, but specifically with regard to the DC Circulator, the Clean Energy DC Act requires “100% replacement of public buses, including school buses, with electric public buses upon the end of their useful life, by calendar year 2021.” Whereas other aspects of transportation electrification may fall outside of DDOT’s direct authority, DDOT is responsible for the DC Circulator.

DDOT has committed to electrifying the fleet in line with the requirements of the 2018 clean energy law and has made progress. We encourage Acting Director Lott’s continued attention to fleet electrification. Given the recent passage of the federal infrastructure bill, there will be additional funding opportunities to support electrification efforts. As we have done in the past, the Sierra Club is more than willing to write letters of support for DDOT’s federal grant applications.

Importantly, in transitioning to electric buses, DDOT must ensure that it is done in a way that does not leave workers behind. We urge Acting Director Lott to engage with transportation unions and commit to provide training for in-house mechanics to service electric buses.^[4]

Street Lights

DDOT is responsible for overseeing the DC Smart Street Lighting P3 project, which aims to convert the District’s approximately 75,000 street lights to energy-efficient LEDs and install a remote monitoring and control system.

In previous performance oversight and budget testimony, we raised concerns with technical specifications put forth by DDOT, namely around light intensity, wasted “uplight,” and harmful blue-wavelength light. We offered alternatives that we won’t rehash in detail here, but we urge Acting Director Lott to consider our detailed input.

The status of the project overall is unclear. In April, the Council approved DDOT's Request for Proposals (RFP) that covers both financing and technical specifications for the conversion, and the bidding process began thereafter. It is now November, and there is no indication when a bidder will be selected and a contract will be awarded. The last date mentioned on the DDOT project website is January 2021. We ask Acting Director Lott to communicate the status of the project and update the public website if that is still the designated area for public information.

Conclusion

Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony.