Action Committee for Transit

08/22/2026

08/08/2026

Support Transit-Oriented Development in Friendship Heights

The Montgomery Planning Board will hold two public hearings on September 10th and September 14th to listen to public testimony on the Friendship Heights Sector Plan Update. In brief, this plan will legalize mixed-use redevelopment of the unused parking lot for the closed Saks 5th Avenue on Wisconsin Avenue, dedicate right-of-way for separated bikeways, and recommends studying the repurposing of one vehicle travel lane for a bus lane in each direction along Wisconsin Avenue from Oliver Street to Western Avenue. ACT encourages its members to support the redevelopment of unused parking for building more housing to address the county’s housing crisis and the separated bikeways. ACT also calls on the Planning Board to not just study repurposing a travel lane but approve a bus-only lane on Wisconsin Avenue.

Sign up to testify at https://montgomeryplanningboard.org/meetings/signup-to-testify/sign-testify-form/ or submit written testimony to [email protected].

Información del Ponente y Dirección de Correo

08/06/2026

Our next meeting is coming up on Tuesday, August 11th. The topic: Southern Maryland Rapid Transit (SMRT). This is the meeting originally scheduled for June that had to be cancelled.

Speaker: Gary V. Hodge, President, Regional Policy Advisors
Gary will share an update on the Southern Maryland Rapid Transit (SMRT) project as well as some thoughts on the current crisis in state and federal funding for Maryland transit and transportation infrastructure.

Before the event starts, ACT is hosting a pre-meeting gathering for members to eat dinner (Dutch-treat) , talk transit, and get to know each other better. Meet us from 6 pm - 7:15 pm at Locavino, 8519 Fenton St, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Locavino is next to the Civic Center, overlooking the ice rink/Veterans Plaza.

Gary Hodge has served for more than 50 years as an appointed and elected official, policy consultant and citizen activist, in Southern Maryland, the metropolitan Washington region, and at the state and federal levels of government.
Learn more about the State's plans for transit in Southern Maryland and how they fit in the Big Transit Picture for all DMV residents here:
https://smrtmaryland.com/

07/31/2026

Summer Lim was killed in her neighborhood by a school bus driver.
The driver was fined $390 and got 3 points on their driving record.
Stop signs have been installed at the location. It is, now, an all-way stop sign intersection. Because the driver paid the fine there will be no trial.

Ivan Rivas, the longtime Montgomery County schools bus driver involved in a fatal crash in October that killed a middle school student, paid a $390 fine on Thursday to avoid going to trial.

07/27/2026

ACT is looking for a new staff person...

07/14/2026

Tonight is ACT General Meeting night! This evening, our topic is transit oriented development. Our speaker is MacPherson Hughes-Cromwick, WMATA Office of Real Estate to talk about it. ACT's monthly meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month, (TODAY!) at the Silver Spring Civic Center. Meetings begin at 7:30pm. [The soccer game will be over by then, and you will have time for dinner before the meeting].

For those who might want to dig deeper into this topic, this conversation with Boris Johnson and Kevin Faulconer (mayor of San Diego) , from 2015 is still an interesting and relevant one:
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/watch-london-and-san-diego-mayors-on-their-cities-global-connections-and-competitiveness/

It covers general infrastructure of two very different cities: London and San Diego. Looking back, it illustrates how London has widened the transit and biking gap with our region.

On February 12, the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings hosted a conversation with London Mayor Boris Johnson and San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer about the challenges of governing global cities for inclusive growth. During the discussion, which was moderated by Metro VP & Director Bruce Katz, b...

07/09/2026

Some of the things the two-month closure of the Red Line between North Bethesda [nee, White Flint] and Friendship Heights have demonstrated to a broader public are:
1) That bus infrastructure often meets the needs of planners more than riders.
2) Drivers' sense of privilege. Dedicated bus lanes marked for BUSES ONLY are still being used for parking and hovering by drivers, forcing shuttle bus drivers into the main traffic lanes.

06/20/2026

Did you know that a cyclist has the 'Right of Way' (ROW) over a driver when riding on a sidewalk that crosses a driveway or parking lot entrance? We thought you did.
The bad news is you can't count on the Montgomery County Police to know this law. They recently declared a cyclist to be at fault when the cyclist was hit by a driver while on the sidewalk crossing a driveway. The photograph, below, shows the location of the crash.
ACT noted the police made the same error in the same area a year ago.
As ACT's Ben Ross said: "A bicyclist legally cycling on a sidewalk *always* has the right of way over a driver on a driveway. Yet the police twice - at the same driveway - say the cyclist failed to yield ROW."
We say: Cyclists, KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!
Drivers, KNOW YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES!

06/02/2026

Our next meeting is coming up on Tuesday, June 9th. The topic: Southern Maryland Rapid Transit (SMRT).

Speaker: Gary V. Hodge, President, Regional Policy Advisors
Gary will share an update on the Southern Maryland Rapid Transit (SMRT) project as well as some thoughts on the current crisis in state and federal funding for Maryland transit and transportation infrastructure.

Gary Hodge has served for more than 50 years as an appointed and elected official, policy consultant and citizen activist, in Southern Maryland, the metropolitan Washington region, and at the state and federal levels of government.
Learn more about the State's plans for transit in Southern Maryland here:
https://smrtmaryland.com/

When: Tuesday, June 9, 7:30 PM

Where: Silver Spring Civic Building at 1 Veterans Plaza, Silver Spring, MD

The Silver Spring Civic Center faces the ice rink/plaza and Ellsworth Avenue. It is an eight-minute walk north from the Silver Spring Metro Station. Several RideOn and WMATA bus routes stop nearby.

06/02/2026

With Washington, DC, and its taxpayers, helping fund a new stadium at the RFK site* looking outside North America for ideas is a great idea. Better for the economy and more fun for fans, especially those who sat in traffic for hours trying to get in/out or stood for long stretches waiting for buses to the Metro.
*Since the NFL plays so few games, we still hold that it makes economic sense for NFL teams to play in baseball stadiums. Put the team in Nats Park and you are DONE! And you've saved taxpayers a ton of money. Win-Win.

If we want stadiums to be economic engines for a city, the land around them can’t just be used on game days!

This new mixed use district would create housing, jobs, and cultural spaces, while still retaining public spaces which could double as parks and tailgating venues as needed. We personally prefer tailgating over in FDR park where there’s shade and grass over exposed parking lots. Parking could be retained on garages, though fans could always take SEPTA.