Getting there: A video recap from Part 1 of our series on transportation patterns in the Washington region

On October 28, GGWash held its first webinar of our series, Getting There. The series takes a big-picture look at transportation patterns in the Washington region, equity and sustainability needs, and implications for the future of transportation planning.

In the first installment, Leah Brooks, associate professor at the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at George Washington University, and Alex Baca, policy manager at Greater Greater Washington, discussed the Center for Washington Area Studies’ State of the Washington Region work, and what it tells us about current transportation patterns.

Brooks framed the discussion with a core observation: transportation has been of definitive importance for cities since their inception. Without transportation costs (financial or time), cities would have had no reason to exist. Cities formed in response to communication being costly, but have persisted and thrived beyond the dramatic drop in costs of some types of communication brought about by telecommunications technology. Some manifestations of communication costs, such as moving ideas or forming relationships, are still important and form part of the rationale for cities.

With driving still the dominant form of transportation, and development being continuously built in transit-unfriendly spaces, Brooks went on to pose three major questions that could exacerbate existing tensions around affordability, access, and sustainability: where will people in various industries work in the future, now that the pandemic has pushed many employers and workers to rethink their physical locations for work; how living patterns in suburbs far from the city cores would change; and finally how technological innovations (such as autonomous vehicles) would affect transportation patterns.

Attendees asked a lot of great questions, including how work and non-work-related trips fall within transportation pattern analysis. Participants also posed thoughtful comments about the degree to which demand management tools associated with pricing could interact with existing inequities.

You can find the recording here and below.

What’s up next

Join us for the second installment of our webinar series, Getting There: how transportation in the Washington region meets mobility needs, and who’s left behind on November 16 at 1 pm.

Beth Osborne (Transportation for America), Stephanie Gidigbi-Jenkins (Natural Resources Defense Council and former WMATA Board Member), and Caitlin Rogger (Greater Greater Washington and DC Sustainable Transportation Coalition) will explore racial and income disparities in transportation services in the Washington region, and consider what evolving mobility patterns mean for future transportation planning, particularly in the DC core.

*Editor’s note: GGWash maintains a firewall between its advocacy and editorial activities, and editorial staff are not involved in advocacy. To learn more, see our editorial policy.