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Testimony Prepared for Delivery to the
National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board
By Steven Waters, Walk DC
July 31, 2002, 12pm

My name is Steve Waters and I’m here representing Walk DC, which is a regional pedestrian advocacy organization.

We support the Greater Washington Board of Trade’s plan to create a regional dedicated fund for traffic signal optimization activities. It’s important that all three states agree to fund this plan as a Transportation Emissions Reduction Measure (TERM) for a number of reasons:

1. Signals that are out-of-date can cause gridlock, which is a total breakdown in the transportation system.
2. Efficient intersection of goods and services, and people using all modes of transportation benefits everyone through increased safety on the streets, more personal time, better physical health, protection of civil rights, and environmental quality.
3. Traffic signals can be synchronized to the speed limit -- even across political boundaries – to give motorists an incentive to drive at the legal speed.
4. Signal pre-emption for buses creates an incentive to use transit.
5. The regional nature of this plan would allow all three DOT’s to take advantage of economies of scale in contracting.
6. The economic benefits in time and fuel savings resulting from signal optimization are on the order of 80 times the investment, according to local and national studies. Other benefits not measured include fewer crashes, less pollution, and reduced wear and tear on vehicles.
7. Most importantly, more efficient use of the existing transportation system means less demand for costly new road infrastructure.

Improving the efficiency of the transportation system requires that a distinction be made between speed and average speed. Speed kills, while eliminating unnecessary stops does not. For example, if you were walking and a car crashed into you at 40 mph you would only have a 10% chance of surviving, while at half that speed you would be fully nine times more likely to live.

It’s hard to believe, but speed even consumes space! For example, at 40 mph an automobile needs nearly 900 ft² of space based on stopping distance, while at 20 mph it needs only 375 ft². We can use this phenomenon to make better use of limited road space by synchronizing lights to encourage compliance with speed limits. This plan would reduce speeding while simultaneously increasing average speeds.

We ask that Montgomery County DPW&T overcome any parochialism that may stand in the way of working with MDOT, VDOT, and DDOT on regional coordination of traffic signal optimization. There is broad support for this plan because it is clearly in the best interest of motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders alike. We would like the TPB to adopt the full package of TERMs, including Traffic Signal Optimization, as well as other measures to improve pedestrian and bicycle access in the region.

Thank you for this opportunity for public input.

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