ARLINGTON, Va. — The DMV Moves task force held its first meeting Monday since it was created six weeks ago to address future plans on how to provide consistent funding and world-class transit service as a region.
The 23-member task force, compiled by WMATA and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, includes local, state and regional officials. Having a partnership like this to look into gaps in the system and figure out ways to grow is a first of its kind, founders say.
“Getting this many of your region's leadership in one room talking about one topic is a huge deal,” DMV Moves Co-Chair Charles Allen said. “If we want to make sure we’re growing as a region, we have got to have a strong transit system. Today was a massive step forward to make sure everyone is on the same page.”
DMV Moves was established at a time when WMATA avoided a major budget crisis. Metro approved a $4.8 billion budget, but D.C., Maryland and Virginia had to provide millions in additional funding to help meet the gap and prevent drastic cuts.
While the task force's focus is to eventually create a funding model, the first meeting solely focused on what the term “world-class” meant to leaders and what priorities they’d like to see tackled first.
Important investments discussed by the task force included operating more frequent services and expanding transit to connect to more places.
“If you have to drive 10 minutes to a bus stop, you're not going to get out of your car in the middle of January,” Loudoun County Chair Phyllis Randall said. “Your car is already warm so you're going to stay in your car. You need more accessible stops.”
Allen said connecting to other transit systems must be seamless.
“So, whether you're on the bus and on the rail, whether you're in the outer suburbs, the inner suburbs or the inner city, you can move back and forth between those systems much more easily,” Allen said.
Right now, the region's transit network is made up of more than a dozen rail and bus providers, including WMATA. Officials note that these providers offer varying service levels, different technologies and fare policies, as well as an array of funding and governing models that do not always work together for the benefit of DMV residents and visitors.
Other ideas included integrating the 14 transit agencies in the area, such as with customer experience and technology and incentives to motivate people to drive less.
DMV Moves Co-Chair Paul Smedberg said that was his first choice. Changing the perception of Metro seemed to resonate with other members.
“We need to look into branding and marketing,” Smedberg added.
However, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said he’d rather see policies to promote less driving first.
“You're not going to get more frequent if they're stuck in traffic, so, that probably is not going to go away,” Elrich said. “You got to figure out how to lessen the traffic, so the bus system operates more efficiently.”
Monday's meeting was the first of five public meetings. The next task force meeting is on September 23.
The goal is to finalize a plan with action steps and a funding model by summer 2025.
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