What GGWash said at the District’s FY23 performance oversight hearings

Image by Jamelle Bouie used with permission.

The DC Council’s annual performance oversight hearings for the District’s agencies were this year, in February and early March. Greater Greater Washington’s policy staff testified on behalf of GGWash and the coalitions we manage, the DC Transportation Equity Network and the DC Sustainable Transportation Coalition.

Here’s what we said to our legislative body, which purportedly still makes our laws. Alex Baca, GGWash’s DC Policy Director, works on housing, transportation, and land use. They testified on what the following agencies can do to build more housing and more affordable housing, plan for frequent and reliable transportation, and implement fairer land-use regulations. These themes are essential to GGWash’s desires to see the District acquire more public land and leverage its value for income-restricted, subsidized housing (DHCD, DMPED); grant the District regulatory authority over transportation network companies (DFHV); release its long-promised report on road pricing (DDOT, DMOI); allow for more booting and towing of scofflaw drivers’ vehicles (DPW); and rewrite the Comp Plan to legalize apartments District-wide (OP). Here’s Alex’s testimony on the…

Kai Hall, GGWash’s Policy Officer who coordinates the Transportation Equity Network, testified at the DDOT hearing. Kai testified in support of Metro for DC and emphasized the need to secure funding for its successful implementation by July; in support of the Bus Priority Plan and DDOT’s implementation of this program; and proposed that DDOT should carefully consider the equity implications for non-drivers with the rollout of public EV chargers on curbs.

District Department of Transportation

Caitlin Rogger, Deputy Executive Director of GGWash and Executive Director of the DC Sustainable Transportation Coalition (DCST), testified on traffic safety, releasing the road pricing report, and major projects such as bus priority, the bike lane network, and the K St Transitway (DDOT); traffic enforcement capacity (DPW); improving our transit agency’s relationship with its regulator (WMATA/WMSC); and aligning Department of Health goals and operations with Vision Zero aims and programming, among other things.

We were happy to see familiar faces at many of the above hearings, particularly Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners whom we’ve endorsed.

The council’s hearings on the FY24 budget will begin on March 27, after Mayor Muriel Bowser presents her proposed budget; the council’s briefing is scheduled for March 22. (In the meantime, there’s a hearing on two electric bike subsidy bills that is likely of interest to you, GGWash reader.) Here’s more information on upcoming hearing dates, and how to sign up to testify.

Thanks for reading!