Patsy Ticer posing with regional colleagues, Hilda Pemberton of Prince George's County and Linda Cropp of the District of Columbia. Former Virginia State Senator and City of Alexandria Mayor, Ticer served on the TPB from 1991-2011. She passed away on August 7 at age 82. (COG)

Former Virginia State Senator and City of Alexandria Mayor Patsy Ticer passed away on August 7, 2017. Ticer served on the Transportation Planning Board (TPB) for two decades, from 1991 to 2011—first as a representative of the City of Alexandria, then later as a representative of the Virginia State Senate.

Early in her TPB service, Ticer was active in the development of the region’s first-ever Constrained Long-Range Transportation Plan (CLRP), a major effort to align financially constrained long-term transportation planning with new regional air quality goals.

The new plan, which the TPB adopted in 1994, revealed some troubling news for the region’s transportation future—that population growth would lead to worsening road congestion and other less-than-desirable travel trends. The following year, when she served as TPB chairman, Ticer spearheaded a new strategic visioning effort known as “Getting There” to provide guidance for better regional decision-making. The effort aimed to bring the region’s leaders together around common ideas and goals for improving future transportation and land-use planning.

The visioning process was also the first time the TPB had embarked on a comprehensive citizen-facing planning process. Ticer helped shape and breathe life into this effort, which sought to engage a wide range of the region’s citizens, interest groups, and media outlets. The work Ticer oversaw to involve the public in “Getting There” continues to influence and inspire the TPB’s public involvement activities today.

In addition to her time on the TPB, Ticer was also a member of the COG Board of Directors, which she chaired in 1994. In 1995, she received COG’s Elizabeth and David Scull Metropolitan Public Service Award recognizing outstanding regional contributions by a local elected official—for her leadership spearheading the “Getting There” vision planning effort.

TPB Staff Director Kanti Srikanth spoke on behalf of staff who worked with Ticer: “We will remember Ms. Ticer as someone who believed in our work and regional collaboration. We are thankful for the support and guidance she provided working with staff over all those years.”

MORE: Washington Post Obituary: Patsy Ticer, four-term Virginia state senator, dies at 82