New Leadership Paper

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DC needs a broad transportation agenda to guide future investments as federal funds are unleashed to help build new infrastructure, according to the Downtown BID’s latest Leadership Paper titled, Getting From Here to There.

The report stresses the important role transportation plays in DC and Downtown’s economic prosperity and sustainability. It calls for a five-step agenda that addresses plans to manage and re-imagine Downtown streets to alleviate congestion, to connect new streetcar lines and 25 million National Mall visitors to Downtown and to establish placemaking as a priority in Downtown to enhance the “sense of place.”

Downtown provides tax revenues that can be used toward DC’s social agenda. Investment in transportation infrastructure helps Downtown maintain its economic competitiveness, which in turn has a profound impact on the city’s ability to fund and improve everything from schools to affordable housing.

Thus, the paper recommends that DC’s transportation agenda include:

1.       Completing a comprehensive strategic investment plan built on the city’s extensive transportation studies
2.       Activating a DC Transit Plan
3.       Reducing Downtown congestion
4.       Raising public space development and management as a priority
5.       Adopting new financing mechanisms to support the strategic investment plan

The Leadership Paper is the sixth in the Downtown BID’s series of occasional working papers to foster dialogue about critical issues relating to Downtown Washington’s economic, social and physical environment. It is available at www.downtowndc.org/leadership.