Transportation Blues

Traffic remains a top issue in Montgomery County. However, the lead story in today's Washington Post highlights why none of the County's many proposed projects won't do anything to solve the County's leading traffic jam. Fairfax County has now emerged as the region's leading job growth center. The largest traffic jam in Montgomery is caused by people trying to get from here to their jobs in Fairfax or elsewhere in northern Virginia. Traffic south on I-270 and westbound on the Beltway is a nightmare in the morning. Rush hour in the reverse direction begins around 3PM.

None of the proposed big-ticket transportation projects will do a jot to address this problem. Neither the Purple Line nor the ICC nor the Corridor Cities Transitway will get a single more person over the Potomac. And Maryland should want to facilitate cross-border commutes because it makes it easier for people in Montgomery to access the jobs and benefit from the growth in northern Virginia. Meanwhile, the new Metro line out from Tysons that will eventually reach Dulles will make it easier for District residents to get there, thus rendering us less transit competitive than our southern neighbor.

While Montgomery may engage in some handwringing over the business climate in Maryland v. Virginia, the proximity to Dulles and National Airports seems far more important in propelling Fairfax to the top of the heap. In contrast, the closest airport in Maryland is at BWI which is farther away from many in Montgomery than either Dulles or National. Ironically, all of the debates about transportation in Montgomery center on projects that ignore our largest transportation problem.