Coming Together

The Virginia transportation secretary said a few days ago that the Old Dominion would commit $500 million over the next ten years to Metro, the Washington region’s subway system. The decision cleared the way for the Metro system to place an order for new equipment that is essential to the safe and efficient running of the Metro, the second largest subway network in the U.S. based on ridership. Metro also will increase fares this week, a signal that not all is well with the system, and a move that might push more riders into their cars.

At about the same time that the VA legislature -- the same legislature that has been starving Northern Virginia road and mass transit projects for years -- came to its Metro decision I was having a conversation with a person who I think is pretty knowledgeable about mass transit as it relates to housing.

We were talking about the meaning behind comments made by Housing and Urban Development Secretary (HUD), Shaun Donovan. Secretary Donovan noted that his agency, the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Energy Department (Energy) planned to work together in the months ahead in order to jump start the the development of more livable and greener communities.

Up to now, the three agencies worked separately and their work often didn't enable the development of greener communities. For example, few people would argue that America’s transportation policy has been automobile focused. Spending on highways in fiscal 2009 was about $40 billion while spending on transit (buses, trains) was about $10 billion.

Virginia’s decision and the federal government’s push to work together can mean a lot for us. For one thing, Metro might one day become the commuter service that it should be, that is a service that reaches more of us, offering us more choices for how to get back and forth not only to work, but to leisure events, too.

If the federal government’s small plans to date succeed, then maybe its efforts will grow and provide the spark that’s needed to transform our suburban neighborhoods into more connected communities. In the process, all of us might drive a little less, burn a little less fossil fuels, walk a little more and burn a little more calories -- together a win for the environment and our nationally expanding waistlines.