AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION, Hon. JOHN L. MCMILLAN, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DIVISION, Chairman, House District of Columbia Committee, DEAR MR. MCMILLAN: In reply to your letter of October 24, in which you request additional comments and report on H.R. 8929, I wish to state that the District of Columbia Advisory Board, American Automobile Association, is interested in the transportation needs of the District of Columbia as a whole. Our board is not prepared to pass on the merits of the rail transit portion of the program without having information as to the highway and bridge portions of the program. It is the position of our board that the entire highway program as recommended by the District of Columbia Highway Department, and approved by the Bureau of Public Roads, is needed, including the Three Sisters Bridge, the north leg of the inner loop and the Potomac River Freeway. Until a decision is reached on these items no position can be taken for or against H.R. 8929. In this connection it should be noted that the information supplied by you is very vague. No details are supplied as to how bus routes would connect with the rail lines. It is quite obvious that the curtailed rail line proposal would result in greater need for the highway and bridge program as recommended by the 1959 Mass Transportation Survey Report. Our board urgently recommends that a decision be reached at the earliest possible moment on the projects for which funds have already been appropriated; namely, the Three Sisters Bridge and the Potomac River Freeway. We call your attention to the fact that the Highway Department is running out of highway projects due to the restudy of the three key projects mentioned and the fact that other major projects are in the initial planning stages and will not reach the construction stage for at least 2 years. Unless a decision is reached quickly the Department will have no further projects to advertise and construct although $63 million in Federal matching funds are available for expenditure at the present time. Moreover, unless a comprehensive continuing transportation planning process has actually been initiated and is the basis for recommended Federal-aid projects of all kinds no Federal matching funds. will be available after July 1, 1965. We sincerely hope the highway projects mentioned can be cleared at the earliest possible date so that an intelligent appraisal can be made of the overall transportation program. Very sincerely, ARTHUR E. MILLER, American Automobile Association. AMERICAN PLANNING AND CIVIC ASSOCIATION Hon. JOHN L. MCMILLAN, DEAR CONGRESSMAN MCMILLAN: Thank you for your courtesy in forwarding a copy of H.R. 8929, the "clean bill" proposing a start on the construction of a subway system for the Nation's Capital. In your forwarding letter of October 24, 1963, you asked for comments from the Committee of 100 which are as follows: For the past 40 years the Committee of 100 on the Federal City has been actively concerned about proper transportation planning for the National Capital area. Many of its prior recommendations (such as Memorial Bridge, Potomac and Rock Creek Parkway and Constitution Avenue) have been implemented. The chief remaining gap lies in the development of a modern, efficient rapid transit system that alone can restore a satisfactory balance between public and private transportation relieving the intolerable traffic congestion that has been the inevitable result of the all-highway planning that has characterized this area since World War II. The Committee of 100 strongly supports H.R. 8929 as a necessary first step toward implementation of the sound recommendations in the NCTA's transit development program. We urge that the bill be reported favorably and enacted by the Congress as soon as possible. The time is long overdue for Washington to have an efficient subway system. Although Washington is the fourth largest city in the Nation in terms of downtown employment, it is the only one of the five largest of such cities not having rapid transit today. The adverse effects of this situation are made worse each year, as rush-hour vehicular traffic continues to rise, the patronage on public transit declines, and the highway departments demand ever-increasing chunks of Washington's limited taxable property to provide more space for more vehicles. The NCTA's transportation plan for the first time charts a course that would reverse this destructive trend, increasing downtown accessibility for all commuters, auto as well as transit, while reducing the number of motor vehicles on our streets and the accompanying demands for parking space. Three years ago your committee and the Senate District Committee both concluded that "it is becoming increasingly evident that any attempt to meet the area's transportation needs by highways and private automobiles alone will wreck the city-it will demolish residential areas, violate parks and playgrounds, desecrate the monumental portions of the Nation's Capital and remove such valuable property from the tax rolls." Proof of this grim but sound conclusion is to be found in the past 15 years of Washington's transportation development. From fiscal year 1946 through fiscal 1963, over $400 million was spent by the Federal and District Governments for capital outlays on highways and not a penny for public transit improvements. As a direct consequence of this unfortunate misallocation of public investment in the past, the number of motor vehicles crossing the District line on the average weekday increased from about 350,000 in 1946 to 950,000 in 1962, while the revenue passengers on D.C. Transit or its predecessor Capital Transit declined from 314 million in 1946 to only 122 million in 1962, a decline of over 60 percent. In the same period, over 1,000 acres of Washington's limited taxable property was removed from the tax rolls largely to provide more highway capacity and many other hundreds of acres were converted from productive residential or commercial use to off-street parking lots or garages. Traffic congestion has not been relieved; it has only become worse. The number of people able to live in the District has declined and the number of persons able to work in the central city has increased only slightly. By planning for people instead of vehicles, the NCTA has admirably carried out its mandate from Congress in 1960. It is now up to Congress to implement these plans by making the necessary initial authorizations for the construction of a comprehensive rapid transit system. The steps contemplated in H.R. 8929 are extremely modest, encompassing an expenditure by 1970 of only $400 million for rapid transit, which is significantly less than the amount being proposed for the construction of still more highways during this same period. The District Highway Department, still directed by an official of the American Roadbuilders Association, proposes a capital outlay for highways in the District of Columbia of $428 million from fiscal 1964 to fiscal 1970. Many of the proposed highways are extremely controversial and the citizens of this city are bitterly opposed to some of the most costly of the proposed central city freeways that would displace more thousands of District residents and destroy schools, business establishments, parks, churches, and neighborhoods. Because they are convinced that rapid transit provides a feasible and creative alternative to destruction by the bulldozer, the Whitener bill has received the wholehearted endorsement of all civic planning groups in the Washington metropolitan area. Even the "auto commuters," the presumed beneficiaries of the highway lobby's cries for reversal of the policy judgment made by Congress in 1960, favor transit improvements over highway improvements by a margin of over 3 to 1. And their choice of type of an improved transit system is rapid rail transit over all other forms (such as express buses or buses on freeways) by a margin of at least 2 to 1. (See vol. III-A, "A Survey of Commuter Attitudes Toward Rapid Transit Systems," by National Analysts, Inc., Mar. 12, 1963.) This commuter opinion that top priority be placed upon rapid transit development is not limited to the District of Columbia, as one might suspect. In every one of the local jurisdictions within the Washington metropolitan area, the commuters have expressed their preference for a rail rapid transit system. With such unanimity among planners, citizens and commuters alike, we urgently hope, that, with your continued leadership, the Congress will pass H.R. 8929 this year so that appropriations for the start of construction may be made promptly. Respectfully submitted. NEILL PHILLIPS, Chairman, Committee of 100 on the Federal City. BOWIE-BELAIR CITIZENS ASSOCIATION Hon. BASIL L. WHITENER, BOWIE, MD., November 5, 1963. Member of Congress, U.S. House of Representatives, DEAR CONGRESSMAN WHITENER: The Citizens' Association of Belair (Bowie) has gone on record in support of the rapid transit plan which is the subject matter of H.R. 6633 and H.R. 7249. So far as I am informed, the current Whitener plan that is H.R. 8929, would implement a part of the program originally scheduled under H.R. 6633 and H.R. 7249. This part of the program would provide much needed rapid transit services for metropolitan areas including Bowie. For this reason, I heartily endorse the current plan. Very truly yours, JAMES E. COCKFIELD. BOWIE, MD., November 4, 1963. Hon. BASIL L. WHITENER, SIR: I appeared before the House District Committee on July 31. 1963, with Mr. F. Richard Malzone, formerly planning and zoning chairman of the Bowie-Belair Citizens Association and who is now adviser to the city of Bowie on planning and zoning matters, on behalf of H.R. 6633 and H.R. 7249, and subsequently joined Mr. Malzone and other members of the citizens association, in a letter endorsing such bills for the official record. I am entirely in favor of the Whitener plan for the above bills and heartily endorse its earliest acceptance. I cannot emphasize too strongly the growing and urgent need for mass transportation serving our area, since as you must appreciate, Bowie will soon be the largest city in Prince Georges County. Respectfully, JOHN B. MAIER, Member, Planning and Zoning Committee, BOWIE, MD., November 5, 1963. Re H.R. 8929, transit development program. Hon. BASIL L. WHITENER. U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR CONGRESSMAN WHITENER: I have noted the introduction of the so-called bobtail plan embodied in the above bill and wish to compliment you for bringing it forth. I urge that immediate and favorable action be taken by your committee. It was my pleasure and indeed my duty to testify in favor of H.R. 6633 and H.R. 7249 and I wish at this time to indicate that I am in favor of the present bill. Since it substantially includes the first 5-year construction program of the whole plan, the bobtail plan can be considered a necessary first step in the development of an adequate rapid transit system for the area. I am confident that the completion of the initial stage will prove the worth of the entire plan. All the citizens of Bowie with whom I have discussed this matter, agree that the Bowie-Cheverly route (in section 1(6) of the bill) is necessary if we are to have adequate transportation in this area, the fastest growing area of the county. The matter of adequate transportation is becoming more urgent every day and I strongly urge that the present bill receive an early as well as favorable report. Very truly yours, F. RICHARD MALZONE, Chairman, Planning and Zoning Committee. Hon. BASIL L. WHITENER, WASHINGTON, D.C., November 6, 1963. House Office Building, Washington, D.C.: I am instructed to express the support of the city of Bowie, Md., for the NCTA rapid transit program and the bobtail plan of your bill 8929. Early approval of at least 8929 strongly urged. Rapid transit essential to area and particularly essential to meet Bowie's growing transportation needs. F. RICHARD MALZONE, Chairman, Bowie Advisory Planning Board CARROLLTON CIVIC ASSOCIATION LANHAM, MD., November 4, 1963. Hon. BASIL L. WHITENER, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR CONGRESSMAN WHITENER: We would like to express our support of H.R. 6633 and H.R. 7249 and in particular the Whitener plan. In the past several years we have witnessed a continual and rapid growth of the population of the area in the vicinity of Carrollton. To our knowledge, approximately 50 percent or more of the population of this area is employed in the city of Washington. Existing transportation facilities are inadequate to the needs of these people in commuting to and from their homes and places of employment. We believe rapid rail transit would provide a much-needed method of rapid transportation to our existing population and would also considerably enhance the development of the areas affected thereby. In particular, under existing transportation conditions, over an hour is consumed during maximum service periods in commuting from home to office and vice versa via public transportation. We believe this time will be materially reduced by the implementation of the Whitener plan and that its prompt and favorable consideration by the House District Committee would serve the best interests of the residents of this community. With many thanks for your interest I am, Sincerely yours, FRANCIS J. HAYNES, President. |