[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 1186]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                          LIVABLE COMMUNITIES

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, for people who care about livable 
communities, the D.C. metropolitan area is either a test case or a 
basket case; sometimes it is both.
  In terms of quality of life for the commuter, the experience in 
recent decades commands a horrid fascination. Between 1982 and 1994, 
there was a 69 percent increase in the time D.C. area commuters spent 
stuck in traffic. The average speed on the Beltway has decreased from 
47 miles an hour to 23 miles per hour.
  In D.C., we are told that the average commuter spends 76 hours a year 
stuck in traffic; that is almost 10 working days sitting in the car 
absolutely immobile. In Northern Virginia this summer, nearly 1 out of 
every 3 days was in violation of ozone clean air standards.
  Mr. Speaker, of course, it is no secret that in this metropolitan 
area we are sprawling far more rapidly than we increase in population. 
From 1970 to 1990, Metropolitan Washington population grew 25 percent, 
yet the area that we consume increased over 60 percent.
  The suburbs here grew by a population of 18.3 percent while the 
District itself lost 17 percent of its residents. In the first 7 years 
of the 1990s, the District was hemorrhaging one person every hour.
  There are solutions which we know will not work; one is trying to 
simply pave our way out of congestion. The congestion in the United 
States will triple over the next 15 years, even if we increase capacity 
20 percent.
  The same people who tell us that we have the second worst congestion 
in the country found that, despite roughly $30.8 billion spent by urban 
areas to add more vehicle lanes, congestion levels remained almost 
identical to urban areas that did not.
  Mr. Speaker, of course, here we do not have any thoughtful regional 
land use. But at an era of smart growth, we seem to be continuing to 
engage in dumb growth, like putting a massive stadium with huge public 
subsidy out in the middle of nowhere where it is virtually inaccessible 
any way other than by car and then being surprised when on opening day 
it is jammed and some people actually are abandoning their cars to get 
to the game.
  We continue to scatter development throughout the region away from 
Metro stations and designated growth sites. There are things that can, 
in fact, work and make a difference.
  Last week in Atlanta, Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater launched 
the Commuter Choice Initiative, a program that was created in TEA-21 to 
provide $65 a month in tax-free transit or vanpool benefits for 
employees in both the private and the public sector.
  While this effort is a step in the right direction, we in Congress 
need to make sure that the Federal Government leads by example. 
Unfortunately, here in our congested metropolitan area, there is no 
uniform program or policy for our Federal employees, yet 350,000 
Federal employees make up the majority of people who work here in and 
near transit.
  There is no uniform parking or commuter policy across the Federal 
Government. The costs and subsidy for parking varies, different levels 
of transit subsidy.
  Mr. Speaker, the administration is looking at an Executive order for 
Federal transportation in the National Capital region. This Executive 
order that they are looking at would require each Federal agency in the 
region to support transit and commercial vanpool benefits, to increase 
carpool and vanpool benefits, encourage bicycle and walking and provide 
shuttle service between transits points and agency workplaces where 
appropriate.
  Last week, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) introduced 
legislation that would make this happen much faster via the legislative 
route. His bill would expand Federal employee commuter options and 
accept the Federal Government's responsibility as the single largest 
employer in the Capital region to reduce traffic congestion and air 
pollution.
  Mr. Speaker, I am excited about the gentleman from Virginia's 
leadership and the way that the administration is moving. I hope, 
however it is done, that we do not let an extra minute go by. People 
who are caught in traffic as we speak this moment deserve the best from 
the Federal Government to make our communities more livable, to make 
our families safe, healthy, and economically secure.
  Having a uniform comprehensive approach to the Federal Government's 
transportation issues in the metropolitan region is an important step 
in that direction.

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