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Volpe Center Highlights - Spring 2005

Mobility

Director's Notes | Focus | Safety | Mobility | Global Connectivity
Environmental Stewardship | Security | Organizational Excellence
Highlighting Volpe Experts | Awards | Published and Presented

Volpe Supports Mayor's Traffic Congestion Task Force in Washington, D.C. (DDOT)

Traffic congestion is a serious problem for downtown Washington, D.C., which is the economic heart of the District and the region. More than 350,000 people work in the downtown area, and local businesses generate 50 percent of the District's economic output. Accordingly, Mayor Anthony A. Williams convened the Downtown Congestion Management Task Force in May 2004 with the main goals of improved traffic management and sustained economic development. The Mayor's Task Force was comprised of 41 civic leaders, senior transportation and planning officials, and federal and district legislators.

The Volpe Center designed and facilitated a process to help the Task Force consider the problems of traffic congestion in the downtown area, develop and analyze a range of potential solutions, and present actionable recommendations. Initial data gathering identified several congestion problems:

The Volpe Center designed and facilitated a process to help the Mayor's Congestion Task Force consider the problem of traffic congestion in downtown Washington, D.C.

• Traffic delays caused by double parking, improper loading and unloading, and blocked intersections;
• The need for improved public transportation;
• Inadequate short-term parking and delays caused by vehicles circling for parking;
• Delays at traffic signals;
• Delays caused by street closures and motorcades.

The Task Force examined a wide range of possible solutions to congestion problems, and ultimately categorized its recommendations under five action areas:

• Making public transportation a more efficient and attractive option;
• Optimizing downtown traffic circulation patterns;
• Improving the management of curbside space;
• Improving the management of on- and off-street parking;
• Enabling smarter travel choices.

At the final Task Force meeting in November 2004, recommendations were formally presented to Mayor Williams; at a public meeting in December 2004, members of the public were given the opportunity to comment and provide additional feedback. The draft final report of the Downtown Congestion Management Task Force is available at: http://www.ddot.dc.gov.

Mayor Williams has implemented a number of the Task Force's near-term recommendations, including posting intersection-control aides at key downtown locations, testing advanced parking meters, installing "countdown"-style pedestrian signals, and planning for a new Downtown Circulator transit service. Data collection and best practices research are ongoing in support of some longer-term recommendations, including work to study how downtown circulation patterns and lane usage can be improved.

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) sponsored Volpe's work on this effort. The Volpe Center team includes Dr. Jeffrey Bryan and Ms. Ann Steffes of the Planning and Policy Analysis Division; Mr. Sean Peirce of the Economic and Industry Analysis Division; Ms. Shruti Mahajan of Cambridge Systematics (an on-site Volpe contractor); and Ms. Elizabeth Machek and Mr. Philip Thornton of CASE, LLC (an on-site Volpe contractor).

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