The TPB held its first meeting of 2026 on January 21 with City of Gaithersburg Council Member Neil Harris, District of Columbia Council Member Matthew Frumin, and City of Alexandira Council Member Canek Aguirre forming the board’s leadership for the coming year.

Featured Highlight: 2025 State of the Commute survey results

TPB Transportation Operations Programs Director Daniel Sheehan and Commuter Connections Marketing & Communications Specialist Lindsay Haake presented key findings from the 2025 State of the Commute (SOC) survey. The triennial survey—in 2025, more than 7,500 employed adult residents of the region participated--examines commuting, which is defined as travel to and from work.

The 2025 SOC survey results show that telework rates have decreased from their pandemic peak and satisfaction with commuting by public transportation has risen in contrast to a decline in satisfaction among commuters who drive alone. Nearly half of the region’s workers (48 percent) teleworked regularly in 2025, a decrease from 65 percent in 2022.

Other results of note include the data point that in 2025, 51 percent of carpoolers and vanpoolers were satisfied with their commute, ranking these forms of commuting seven percentage points higher than driving alone. Seventy-seven percent of commuters who drove alone had free parking, compared to just 24 percent of transit riders. In terms of selection of residential location, commute length, ease of travel, and proximity to Metrorail stations or bus stops were the top factors mentioned by commuters who changed home or work locations at the time of the survey.

For additional insights read more in the January 21 COG news release.
 

TPB 2025 Annual Report

The TPB released its 2025 Annual Report in January. The report covers key milestones including the Visualize 2050 National Capital Region Transportation Plan, DMVMoves, regional roadway safety initiatives, the launch of Commuter Connections’ Commuter Cash app, resilience planning, and more. The report also provides a sneak peek at what’s ahead in 2026—the new Mobility Analytics Subcommittee, the Regional Travel Survey, a regional inventory of local safety strategies, and the launch of a new activity-based travel model called Gen3. Read the annual report and watch the short video.
 

DMVMoves Next Steps

TPB Multimodal Planning Program Director Tom Harrington led an overview (Agenda Item 7) of the TPB’s involvement in the DMVMoves regional transit coordination initiative. DMVMoves, is a regionwide effort to develop a unified vision for transit in the National Capital Region in order for transit providers and their partner agencies to offer seamless, connected, safe, frequent, and reliable transit service with a dedicated, sustainable source of funding.

The TPB adopted Resolution R9-2026 at the January meeting. The resolution endorses the DMVMoves Plan and places TPB in the role as lead coordinator for the implementation of the plan, including progress reporting, working with regional transportation agencies and transit operators to move forward on implementation of the DMVMoves Plan’s Regional Integration Action Plan. Specific activities within the plan include:

• Providing annual performance reporting report through the TPB’s State of the Public Transportation Report.
   
• Adopting regional bus service guidelines.
   
• Developing a Regional Bus Priority Plan for an initial seven-corridor concept.
   
• Facilitating agreement on methodologies and processes to assess bus stop conditions relative to guidelines and to prioritize bus stop upgrades in an equitable manner.
   
• Supporting COG’s Procurement team in convening a Joint Transit Procurement Committee and supporting the sharing of opportunities through a listserv and contracts clearinghouse.
   
• Facilitating discussion and agreement on other Action Plan recommendations that would benefit from regional coordination and consensus, as appropriate.
   
• Directing TPB Staff to develop and carry out a multi-year work plan for the above tasks through an inclusive decision-making process for the remainder of FY 2026, FY 2027, and future work programs.
   

Looking Ahead: FY 2027 TPB Work Program

Lyn Erickson, TPB Plan Development and Coordination Program Director, presented an outline and preview (Item 8) of the upcoming TPB FY 2027 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP). The work program is TPB’s annual scope of work and starts on July 1 each year. The initial look at the FY 2027 Unified Planning Work Program, which outlines the TPB’s work for the July 1, 2026-June 30, 2027, period, includes bicycle & pedestrian plan and freight plan updates as well as the Regional Travel Survey. Other new activities for the upcoming year:

• Performance Based Planning and Programming
• Economic Analysis of safety activities
• DMVMoves implementation
• TPB Participation Plan update
• Community Leadership Institute curriculum update
• Coordinated Human Services Transportation Plan update
• Transportation resiliency scenario planning
• Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) data collection
• Enhanced Mobility Analytics

The next steps for the UPWP are TPB staff's development of the FY 2027 budget, determination of carry-over from the current year that can be applied to FY 2027 and sharing with the TPB for approval at the March 18, 2026, board meeting.

Director’s Report and Committee Updates

TPB Staff Director Kanti Srikanth presented an overview of the TPB’s 2025 Annual Report and shared the schedule for the year’s TPB board meetings. These dates are up to date under Events on the COG website.

Also in the Director’s Report was the reminder that the TPB is accepting applications through February 27 for the Transportation Land-Use Connections and Regional Roadway Safety Programs. TPB member agencies can apply for consultant assistance for studies, about up to $80,000 for studies and up to $100,000 for preliminary engineering.

In committee news, Dan Malouff (Arlington County) is serving as TPB Technical Committee Chair, and Tim Davis (Frederick County) has been named TPB Community Advisory Committee Chair for 2026. 

Stay Connected

Agenda items, presentations, Director’s Reports, and the recorded livestream are available on the January 21 meeting page.

Look for future announcements in TPB News and read highlights in the COG Newsroom, Subscribe to COG’s Regional Roundup for daily briefs on transportation in the DMV. The TPB board next meets on February 18 at 12:00 P.M.

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