Community's thoughts requested in transit study

Fort Belvoir commuters are invited to provide opinions on traffic patterns in the Northern Virginia Region during a series of public meetings that started Monday and run through Feb. 16.
The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation hosts the two-hour meetings, which mark the commencement of the Super NOVA Transit/Transportation Demand Management Vision Plan, a study designed to produce a long-term mobility plan for the region.
The final meeting will take place Feb.16 at Spotswood Baptist Church in Fredericksburg.
The meetings are to learn about the study and offer ideas on how to improve traffic in the area.
"We need people to be engaged in this process," said David White, Kimley-Horn and Associates transportation planner. "The people who make the trips on these roads know better than anybody what works and what needs to be improved."
Kimley-Horn is one of several agencies in the study overseen by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.
White said the agencies want to understand how people determine their daily commute and what would encourage them to use more mass transit.
Those are the same questions that Belvoir's leadership has been trying to determine since the Base Realignment and Closure Act increased the post's population and traffic congestion on post.
Juanita Green, garrison transportation demand management coordinator, encouraged Belvoir personnel to attend a meeting and offered ideas on how improve the major roads surrounding the installation such as Interstates 95, 395 and U.S. Route 1.
According to the organization's website, the Super NOVA study covers all of the localities comprising Northern Virginia and the localities extending from Northern Virginia to Caroline County on the south, Culpeper County on the west and Frederick County to the northwest. It also includes an effort in coordination with Maryland, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
The study will evaluate various topics such as current transit service and transportation demand management programs, current and future land use, population, employment conditions and travel patterns.
"We're looking at what's the right direction to keep Virginia moving," White said.
Visit SuperNoVaTransitVision.com for more information on the study.
Tim Cherry writes for The Belvoir Eagle.