We, the undersigned organizations, ask that candidates running for the local MD, DC, VA elections make a commitment to prioritize budgetary and legislative measures that will develop an equitable transportation system that leads to the elimination of traffic deaths and serious crashes, while giving residents connected multimodal options to travel.   

We also ask all candidates to commit to developing traffic enforcement policies that limit biases, with the understanding that long-term, sustainable traffic safety comes from investing in the built environment. 

In an equitable transportation system, a person’s identity and experience—one’s race, gender, and ability; how much money someone has, and where a family lives—don’t affect whether they can use safe, comfortable multimodal transportation options. Therefore, we ask all candidates to pursue the legislative policies and budgetary items to move us towards an equitable transportation system with the utmost urgency. 

With these goals in mind, we are asking candidates who are running for office to take the Transportation Equity Pledge:

As a candidate running for office, if elected or re-elected, and/or as an incumbent office-holder, I pledge  to: 

  • Advance and fully fund Vision Zero efforts that aim to eliminate road deaths and serious injuries, with a special focus on vulnerable road users.
  • Address the barriers and gaps that prevent our communities and public transportation systems from being truly accessible to persons with disabilities.
  • Ensure all neighborhoods have continuous, accessible, well maintained sidewalks on local, arterial, and downtown/business-district streets with hardened roadway intersections and crossings that are safer for pedestrians and users of micromobility devices.
  • Ensure all residents have equitable access to affordable, convenient, safe, and reliable public transit.
  • Identify and put in place adequate, dedicated Metro funding—assuring frequent service, convenient bus routes with extensive bus-priority routes and dedicated bus lanes, and affordable fares—and fully fund local-jurisdiction transit systems. 
  • Plan and fully fund bikeway network completion consisting primarily and to the maximum extent feasible of separated, protected bike lanes and grade-separated trails.
  • Fund the completion and ongoing maintenance of multi-use trail networks such as the National Capital Trail Network. 
  • Oppose highway expansion, an expensive temporary fix that induces demand rather than solves congestion, and reduce or eliminate car-parking requirements and car-parking oversupply.
  • Support shifting traffic enforcement to automated methods that reduce enforcement bias and eliminate escalation risk, and work to put in place regional citation-enforcement reciprocity.
  • Support policies that facilitate creating new housing to meet regional needs, including via zoning reform that expands the housing-type and economic diversity of “residential detached” neighborhoods, and with an emphasis on preserving and creating affordable housing and mixed-use, transit-oriented development. 
  • Expand commuter and regional rail service including MARC and VRE to make it connected, frequent, reliable, and available outside of rush hours.

Are you running for office in DC, Maryland, or Virginia?

Sign the pledge