UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TRANSPORTATION PLANNING IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 1955 TO 1965: A REVIEW AND CRITIQUE PREFACE During the first half of 1966, policy decisions are to be made in the District of Columbia that will decisively influence the city's future as a community. In general, those actions will be taken by appointed officials and the Federal agencies and bodies concerned with District affairs. Among the most important and immediate relate to the area's transportation needs in general, and its highway program in particular. It is to those two concerns transportation in general and highways in particular that this report is addressed. - The history of transportation planning in the Washington Metropolitan Area has not been salutary. It is marred by inter-agency conflict and a lack of coordinated effort and direction. Also, careful study of the planning work of the past ten years discloses only the most superficial attempt at area-wide comprehensive planning for long-range goals; and only a perfunctory reference, in one policy statement, to the possible use of the transportation plan - an instrument of salient effectiveness to achieve those goals. Nowhere in our examination of the plans and reports prepared during the period from 1955 to 1965 were we able to find clear, definitive statements relating the role of transportation planning to programs for area development. In fact, the so-called Master Plans Plan for the Year 2000 and the 1965/ 1985 Proposed Physical Development Policies seem to have been designed to accommodate the highway and mass-transit networks rather than to utilize them as complementary elements in the planning process. particularly transpor Planning for the District of Columbia tation planning has been carried out in a fragmented manner by Federal and local agencies and in some cases by ad hoc committees or study groups lacking the necessary long-term institutional involvement and the implementation authority required to see their recommendations through to completion. Our review indicates that, in all cases, the transportation planners have been concerned with the movement of people and goods into, out of, within, and through the District. We did not, however, find sufficiently demonstrable proof of their concern with transportation planning as a device for directing area development in conformance with a plan or statement of policy objectives. Proposals for major additions to the District's transportation network are presently being considered. They must be examined in light of the fact that unlike almost every other large metropolitan center in America, Washington still can choose among a number of transportation options. It must accommodate the automobile, to be sure, but it need not destroy the essential fabric of the city in doing so. There is still time to develop a balanced approach: no irrevocable commitments have been made to route location, right-of-way widths or design of facilities. As a result, the circumstances for decisionmaking are fortuitous. This report contains a critique of the plans and studies underlying the present proposals for the District of Columbia's transportation system. It was prepared for the Policy Advisory Committee to the District Commissioners to help the Committee judge the reasonableness and appropriateness of those proposals. Our analysis in the following pages, and the conclusions which stem from it, are a deliberate response to President Johnson's demand that the District can and should be an example of the best among our urban communities..." They are a reflection, too, of our belief that most Americans feel Washington is, and should be, one of the world's most beautiful capitals. Not yet, perhaps, the 'alabaster city, "but surely deserving of the boldest, most imaginative, and most sensitive urban design effort. Anything less would do a disservice to the city and to the nation. II. SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL IMPACTS Criteria for Evaluating Plans and Proposals General System Plans and Proposals Route Studies The Fourteen Criteria III. METHODOLOGY IN CURRENT FREEWAY PLANNING Data Basis of Travel-Behavior Forecasts IV. GENERAL REVIEW OF TRANSPORTATION PLANS Assumptions Made Concerning The Interdependence of Methodology and Assumptions Alternative Transportation Systems That Have Been Conclusions |