Economy Forward and Transit as a Powerful Economic Development Engine
In September 2012, MWCOG released Economy Forward, a call to action for a more competitive metropolitan Washington. This report called for strong centers with housing, jobs, and access to transit as a means to enhance the region’s competitiveness. Through monthly meetings with public and private nonprofit and academic leaders, it concluded that the transportation network is one of the five critical challenges in recruiting new business to the Washington region. It also concluded that “without adequate funding, Metro and the region’s highways will become even more congested, which will hurt the region’s productivity and economic growth potential.”
A study commissioned by Metropolitan Montreal’s Board of Trade included regional economic competitiveness assessments for metropolitan areas in North America. The study quantified regional competitiveness according to the following dimensions:
- Government and fiscal policy
- Technology
- Security
- Business incubation
- Infrastructure
- Trade openness
- Human resources
- Environmental policy
Among the findings are:
- The 50 leading metropolitan areas in the United States show a positive relationship between “better transit service” and “greater competitiveness”.
- The most competitive cities are those where the proportion of transit trips is highest.
- Transit generates very important economic benefits such as reducing the cost of trips for users, decreasing travel time for non-users, increasing the pool of workers and consumers for companies, and mitigating the harmful environmental effects of travel.
For more information:
Download both the full Momentum plan and the Executive Summary.
Regional support is important to making Momentum a reality! A number of regional stakeholders have already endorsed Momentum. Please sign on and add your name to endorse Momentum and send the message that public transit is vital to the National Capital Region.
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