A Transit Vision for Northern Virginia
by Alan Cunningham, Roger Diedrich, Douglas Stewart, and Jim Wamsley
In Northern Virginia over the last 30 years there has been little understanding that suburban sprawl, reliance on the automobile, and traffic congestion go hand in hand. We build more roads to relieve congestion and in a very short period of time we have the same congestion. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and other agencies have not put forth plans that could potentially address the needs of an expanding and aging population. This vision describes a workable solution. Concentrate development around stations of a regional transit network, linking activity centers, and bring the “last mile” within walking or biking distance of a transit station for thousands of new families, residents, and workers.
The transit vision is both a transportation and land use vision. Just as automotive dependency relates to wasteful use of land to accommodate millions of individually piloted cars, transit oriented development thrives on the concentration of origins and destinations around station entrances. Taking this latter approach will result in a rapid improvement in transportation capacity and real estate values within the activity centers.
See our report: A Transit Vision for Northern Virginia
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