bicycle

Building community one bike ride at a time

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By Montgomery Planning Staff

Montgomery Planning is proud to have a team of planners who reflect Montgomery County’s rich multiculturism. As part of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we are highlighting some of our planners working to craft a better future for a diverse Montgomery County.

Almost every Friday, Mario Emanuel Perez and his two children set off for a 30-minute bike ride to their Silver Spring elementary school, picking up dozens of other students and parents along the way.

Perez, who goes by “Ema,” organizes the weekly “bike bus” to encourage people of all ages to ride. The cycling trips, he said, benefit their health, take traffic off the road, and shorten the school’s car drop-off line. Meanwhile, he … Continue reading

From Here to There: Montgomery County’s Big Shift in Transportation Planning

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This blog is also published as a Greater Greater Washington guest column.

Montgomery County has long been a great place to work, live, learn, and visit—and our transportation choices affect every aspect of our daily life.

As the 21st century unfolded, Montgomery County has seen a growing demand for diverse transportation options and a shift away from the low-density, car-centric development that followed World War II. Over the past 15 years, the county has refocused to prioritize mixed-use developments, pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly infrastructure, enhanced public transit, and creating vibrant, walkable communities.

Today, Montgomery Planning’s recommendations emphasize a multi-modal future where residents have a meaningful range of safe, convenient, and efficient transportation choices.

Walkable City: A call for safer streets

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By Paul Mortensen

Montgomery Planning is working on their new Pedestrian Master Plan to be presented to the Planning Board this spring. One of the greatest books on walkability and the creation of safe streets is Walkable City: How Downtown can Save America One Step at a Time, by Jeff Speck. This entertaining, informative, and most relevant book celebrated its 10th anniversary this past year. To help achieve Montgomery County’s Vision Zero goals of eliminating pedestrian fatalities through safe streets, Speck’s book provides a vision for creating streets that are safe, comfortable to pedestrians, and interesting—the primary criteria that supports walkability.

In our cities, towns, and neighborhood centers, streets occupy between 20% and 45% of the land. In the … Continue reading

More trees! More lighting! More crossings needed!

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   These requests were just a few of the comments captured by a graphic artist during the second community meeting for the Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan. Community residents and stakeholders were invited to the March 29 session to brainstorm the opportunities and constraints within neighborhoods along Veirs Mill Road, from Wheaton to Rockville.

Separated into small groups, the participants discussed the positive and negative aspects of their neighborhoods. They cited the need for future improvements, ranging from bus shelters to improved maintenance of sidewalks and roads.

Representatives from each group then shared highlights of their discussions with the larger audience. As they spoke, their feedback was recorded in words and pictures by graphic artist Lucinda Levine of Crowley … Continue reading

Transit improvements Should Not Be Considered Anything Paved

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In response to the article, “The year ahead: A top 10 list of transportation projects to watch“, I have to say I’m quite disappointed. Not by the content per se, but the title.

Of the 10 projects listed, only 4 are truly “transit” projects; the other 6 are highway projects/roadway improvements (all 10 of which are “transportation” projects). The problem that drives some of us in the design and planning business crazy is that it is precisely because these two concepts are conflated, that we miss the opportunity to truly assess progress for more sustainable, congestion-reducing transportation solutions. Words matter because there is so much baggage attached to them.

While, broadly speaking, “transit” is the movement of something from … Continue reading