Are you, or is someone you know, interested in providing input into the regional transportation planning process? 

The TPB is looking for new members to serve on its Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC). The CAC's two main charges are to promote public involvement in transportation planning for the region and to provide independent, region-oriented citizen advice to the TPB on transportation plans and issues.

The CAC got its start in the early 1990s when a group of residents who regularly attended TPB meetings saw an opportunity to establish a formal committee to ensure more public involvement in the TPB process. Over the years, the CAC has pushed for more multimodal considerations, asked the TPB to incorporate scenario planning into its long-range planning activities, and led the effort to launch the TPB’s Transportation/Land-Use Connections (TLC) program. In 2012, the CAC urged the TPB to adopt a regional policy endorsing “Complete Streets” and the TPB worked with its members to develop and adopt such a policy. More recently, the CAC has been advocating for a detailed plan for involving the public in the development of a new “unconstrained” long-range plan.

CAC members provide different perspectives from all over the region. “One thing I particularly appreciate about the CAC is its diversity,” said 2016 CAC Chairman Douglas Stewart. “The members have a very wide range of perspectives and backgrounds, and being engaged with people who look at things from different points of view has definitely helped me learn and grow,” he said. 

Stewart also talked about the TPB’s role of bringing together state and local decision-makers and said he appreciated how the CAC “can channel public views and influence transportation investments for the better.”

The CAC has 15 voting members and nine non-voting alternate members who each serve one-year terms. Members must either be elected by the outgoing CAC or appointed by the three incoming officers of the TPB. The outgoing CAC elects six individuals—two each from Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia—and the three TPB officers for the coming year each appoint three voting members and up to three alternate members from their respective jurisdictions. The incoming chairman of the TPB appoints the new chairman of the CAC.

If you or someone you know is interested in applying to join the CAC, go to mwcog.org/TPBcac to learn more and fill out the application. The deadline for applying is December 9, and new members will start their term in February.

LEARN MORE AND APPLY: 

mwcog.org/TPBcac