C2 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.SUNDAY, AUGUST 2 , 2020
commuter
BY MICHAEL S. ROSENWALDOne morning in the mid-1980s,
as federal Transportation Depart-
ment employees pulled into their
parking lot in Washington, they
were greeted by their boss —
Transportation Secretary Eliza-
beth Dole — holding a sign that
said “STOP.”
Dole, the wife of the Senate
majority leader and future Re-
publican presidential candidate,
Bob Dole (R-Kan.), would go on to
become a powerful Republican
senator in her own right. She also
ran for president. But that morn-
ing, Dole was acting, as some
conservative critics put it, like a
“paternalistic” Democrat.
How?
By checking whether her em-
ployees were wearing their seat
belts.
Mandatory seat belt laws were
one of Dole’s signature accom-
plishments as transportation sec-
retary under President Ronald
Reagan, who was no fan of pater-
nalism and once famously said,
“Man is not free unless govern-
ment is limited.”
Dole’s fight for seat-belt laws in
the 1980s inspired the sort of
rhetoric and division the United
States is seeing today over govern-
ment mandates to wear masks to
prevent the spread of the corona-
virus.
Back then, as today, there were
lawsuits and protests alleging
that the government was infring-
ing on personal liberties by man-
dating what citizens do with their
bodies. The divide was stark.
In Grand Rapids, Mich., a judge
refused to fine drivers ticketed for
not wearing seat belts. Some con-
servative judges publicly said they
would declare seat belt laws un-
constitutional if anyone brought a
case in their courts. Opponents
were especially incensed in New
Hampshire, where the state motto
is “Live Free or Die.”
Liberals saw it differently.Harvard Law School professor
Laurence Tribe testified in a 1986
Massachusetts legislative hearing
that “a seat belt law simply re-
moves a rather unimportant el-
ement of freedom.” State Sen. Sal-
vatore Albano echoed that argu-
ment in slightly more blunt terms,
saying those opposing seat belt
laws wanted “the right to be splat-
tered all over their windshields.”
Stephen Teret, a public health
expert at Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity, remembers giving presenta-
tions on the benefits of seat belts
during those times. He heard a lot
of pushback.
“People were really offended by
the government telling them what
to do,” Teret said in an interview.
Mandates regarding seat belts
and face masks are not totally
analogous, he said, in that asking
people to wear masks is an effort
to protect not just individuals but
society at large. The argument
against them is the same, though.
“We are a country that very,very much values personal free-
doms,” Teret said. “And there are
always some people who see their
personal freedoms as being more
important than the common
good. And that’s the fight public
health has always had.”
Health and safety rules typical-
ly have been upheld as constitu-
tional based on the precedent
established in Jacobson v. Massa-
chusetts, a 1905 Supreme Court
decision. In a 7-to-2 vote, the court
ruled against a Massachusetts
minister who was fined $5 for
refusing to comply with manda-
tory smallpox vaccination.
“In every well ordered society
charged with the duty of conserv-
ing the safety of its members the
rights of the individual in respect
of his liberty may at times, under
the pressure of great dangers, be
subjected to such restraint, to be
enforced by reasonable regula-
tions, as the safety of the general
public may demand,” the majority
wrote.Nevertheless, conservatives
hammered Dole on the seat belt
issue. Though there were some
shrewd politics at play — the seat
belt push was, in part, an attempt
to placate auto manufacturers
that opposed air bags — just the
idea of telling citizens how they
were supposed to drive was too
much for the liberty crowd.
An editorial in the National
Review, the conservative opinion
magazine founded by William F.
Buckley Jr., said that “one of the
purest examples of paternalism is
the sort of laws enacted in more
than a dozen states in the past
year compelling the use of seat
belts.”
Still, there was Dole with her
“STOP” sign at Transportation
Department headquarters, being
very paternal with her staff. She
also appeared in television public
service announcements, includ-
ing one for New York Gov. Mario
Cuomo (D).
Lecturing to a college class-room, Dole says, “How many of
you think it’s important to buckle
your safety belt every time you get
into a car?”
Not everyone raises their
hands.
“Do you know that every 10
minutes someone is a killed in car
accident?” she asks. “Do you know
that every 10 seconds someone is
injured?”
The students look startled.
Dole wasn’t finished.
“Do you know that each of you
in this classroom can expect to be
in a car crash at least once in your
lifetime?” she says.
Then the camera zooms in on
her face.
“Now,” she says, “is there any-
one here who doesn’t think it’s
important to buckle up every time
you get into a car?”
The screen goes black, and a
message pops up in all-capital
letters: “YOUR LIFE IS IN YOUR
HANDS.”
[email protected]RETROPOLIS
How the mask debates of today echo the seat-belt fights of the 1980s
BY LORI ARATANID.C.-area lawmakers are push-
ing a measure that would create a
centralized system to t rack com-
plaints about helicopter noise in
the region similar to ones used to
collect information about air-
plane noise.
The effort, contained in an
amendment to the House version
of the National Defense Authori-
zation Act and introduced by
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and co-
sponsored by Del. Eleanor
Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), would
be modeled on one used by offi-
cials at Washington Dulles Inter-
national and Reagan National
airports, which tracks complaints
from residents about airplane
noise. The measure also would
create a working group that
would use that information, as
well as input from community
members, to recommend strate-
gies for dealing with the noise.
The region's airports have long
had systems in place for tracking
noise from airplanes, but collect-
ing similar information for heli-
copters has been problematic be-
cause multiple entities, both civil-
ian and military, operate the air-
craft. Residents often don’t know
where they should turn with con-
cerns. Even if agencies do track
complaints, they don't necessari-
ly share that information with
each other.
Under this measure, the U.S.
Defense Department would cre-
ate a central system for receiving,
tracking and analyzing com-
plaints. The agency would also
serve as leader of the community
working group, with input from
the Federal Aviation Administra-
tion, for acting on the informa-
tion they collect.
Noah Simon, Beyer’s district
director, said the congressman
recognizes that aircraft noise
can’t be eliminated, but does
believe that it can be managed.
“It’s unrealistic that airports
will close or helicopters will stop
flying, so mitigation is really
where we are coming from on
this,” he said.
Input from residents will help
policymakers make better deci-
sions, Norton said.
“This also will help create a
record of where the problems
are,” she added.
D.C.-area lawmakers have
spent years trying to find solu-
tions to the vexing problem of
aircraft noise.
Last year, at the behest of
lawmakers in Maryland, the Dis-
trict and Virginia, the U.S. Gov-
ernment Accountability Office
launched a study to examine
helicopter noise. As part of the
study, the agency will collect in-
formation on the types of aircraft
operating in the region and their
noise levels; the frequency of
flights; flight paths and the de-
gree of coordination between
agencies that operate the helicop-
ters and whether pilot trainingcould be modified to lessen the
impact on residents — particular-
ly at night.
Chuck Young, a GAO spokes-
man, said the agency expects to
complete work on this study later
this year or in early 2021.
In 2018, at the direction of
lawmakers including Beyer, the
Defense Department c ompleted a
study of military helicopter noise
in the Washington area.
The report found that airspace
in the National Capital Region is
“is one of the busiest and mostrestrictive in the United States”
and noted that at least 21 entities,
including the U.S. Park Police,
MedStar hospital and private
charter services, fly helicopters in
and around D.C. I n addition to
three major airports, the region is
home to three military airfields:
Joint Base Andrews, Joint Base
Anacostia-Bolling’s heliport and
Fort Belvoir’s Davison Army Air-
field. According to the report,
Joint Base Andrews averages 190
mainly helicopter operations a
day while Davison averages 115mainly helicopter operations a
day.
T he report said the FAA and
the Pentagon have initiatives in
place to try to reduce the impact
on residents.
The FAA’s Noise Complaint Ini-
tiative includes a cross-agency
team that is responsible for ana-
lyzing noise complaints and de-
termining ways to address them.
At the Defense Department, a
“Fly Friendly” initiative focuses
on strategies such as having mili-
tary aircraft fly at the highestallowable altitudes unless other-
wise directed and limiting hours
of training done at night.
While some lawmakers felt the
report did little to address the
scope of the problem, it did offer
recommendations similar to
those outlined in the congres-
sional measure.
Beyer and Norton said more
can be done for residents. When
Beyer, whose district includes
neighborhoods near the Penta-
gon, held a town hall on the issue
in 2018, more than 200 people
attended. While the pandemic
and issues of racial justice have
taken center stage over the past
few months, noise from helicop-
ters and other aircraft still re-
mains a top concern among con-
stituents, lawmakers said.
Norton thinks the data gath-
ered through the GAO study and
the reporting system will be criti-
cal to any effort going forward.
The amendment said the
working group would be respon-
sible for proposing “procedural
changes” that would address con-
cerns about helicopter noise but
such measures must be “consis-
tent with aviation safety and
airspace efficiency” and must en-
able entities to maintain “aircrew
readiness, training, and mission
support.” A similar group has
been working on airplane noise
issues at Dulles and National
airports.
“Unless somebody is in charge
and we have much more informa-
tion than we have now, the issue
of helicopter and airplane noise
will not be resolved.”
[email protected]System would collect area’s helicopter noise complaints
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
A military helicopter flies over the Potomac River. A proposed measure to track residents’ complaints
about noise would be modeled on one used by D.C.-area a irport officials regarding airplanes.Plan would see Pentagon
gather, track concerns,
try to manage the dinBY LUZ LAZOThe region’s top transporta-
tion board has endorsed a pro-
posal for a network of t rails
stretching across the greater
Washington region, from Freder-
ick, Md., to Prince William Coun-
ty, Va., that would expand the
amount of off-road bicycle and
pedestrian pathways to
1,400 miles.
The extensive trail system
would more than double the size
of the existing network by adding
755 miles to the current 6 45 miles
of trails, improving connectivity
between neighborhoods and pub-
lic transit, commercial districts
and jobs, said officials with the
Transportation Planning Board
(TPB) of the Metropolitan Wash-
ington Council of Governments.
The proposal would offer
greater access to clean, inexpen-
sive and reliable transportation
to millions of area residents seek-
ing options beyond vehicles and
public transportation, board
members said.
“Once we get those connec-
tions made, we will see that
having a complete interconnect-
ed network where you can get
onto a low-stress facility within
relatively short distance from
your home and go to almost
everywhere in the region will be
really transformative,” Michael
Farrell, a board transportation
planner, said at the panel’s July 22
meeting w here a resolution ap-
proving the trail network was
adopted unanimously.
Once the expansion is complet-
ed, more than 4 million people in
the Washington region will have
access to trails within a half a
mile of their home, according to a
TPB analysis. Trails would also be
within reach of more than 2.5
million jobs and 136 of the re-
gion’s residential and business
centers. The board, composed of
mayors, supervisors, council
members and other local govern-
ment officials, envisions comple-
tion of the trail network within 25
years.
The 1,400-mile trail expands
upon the vision laid out by the
Capital Trails Coalition, a groupof more than 60 nonprofits, busi-
ness and government agencies
that have been pushing for a
connected multiuse trail system
of 900 miles across jurisdictions
close in to the District. The coali-
tion has closely worked with the
TPB in recent years to move the
plan forward, and the proposal
adopted is an expanded version
of that vision. In 2018, the TPB
adopted a regional trail plan con-
necting 60 miles of jurisdictions
in the region’s core.
The adoption of the Capital
Trail Network map is key to
ensure that localities and the
region prioritize funding of trail
projects over the next decades.
Most of the proposed bike and
pedestrian paths are already in
the plans of transportation, parks
and planning departments in the
region.
Liz Thorstensen, vice presi-
dent of trail development at the
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and
chair of the Capital Trails Coali-
tion, said the board’s adoption of
the map shows a long-term com-
mitment to building a seamless
regional trail network across ju-
risdictional lines. Even more im-
portantly, she said, it shows a
commitment to finding potentialfunding streams to help that hap-
pen.
“This is just wind in our sails to
keep going,” Thorstensen said.
She said the coalition has mo-
mentum to get more elected lead-
ers, residents and trail users, and
major employers to get behind
the vision.
Political support is critical to
ensure that trail projects can
compete with other transporta-
tion projects that have taken pri-
ority over the years, such as fixing
and building roads. Transporta-
tion advocates and officials say it
has become clearer during the
coronavirus pandemic that de-
mand for trails is high and that
they can take an important role in
moving people around the re-
gion.
“People have turned to biking
and walking [for] recreation and
also as a way to get around,” said
College Park Mayor Patrick L.
Wojahn, who is also a member of
the transportation planning
board. W ojahn said the adoption
of the regional trails map is “very
timely” as the region rethinks its
transportation in the post-coro-
navirus era.
“As the pandemic continues to
impact our communities,” hesaid, it has become clear “how
important it is to be able to have
opportunities to get out safely,
walking and biking.”
Thorstensen said demand for
trail use was there even pre-
covid-19, but it has become more
urgent now as people seek places
to be outside and socially distant.
The plan does not set a dollar
amount on the cost of building
the entire network. Cost is specif-
ic to each project, the site condi-
tions and the additional amen-
ities local agencies choose to
build, officials said.
T he trails coalition last fall,
however, offered some insight on
the price. Building the roughly
400 miles missing from the 900-
mile network in the Washington
core — including the District and
the city of Alexandria as well as
Arlington, Fairfax, Montgomery
and Prince George's counties —
would require j ust over $1 billion,
according to the coalition.
Proponents and board officials
say trails are a low-cost option,
especially compared with much
more costly road and transit proj-
ects. For example, the plan to
rebuild and widen the American
Legion Bridge connecting Mary-
land and Virginia is a $1 billionproject. The widening of
22.5 miles of Interstate 66 in
Northern Virginia to add toll
lanes cost nearly $4 billion. Mary-
land’s proposed widening of the
Capital Beltway and portions of
Interstate 270 has a price tag
above $9 billion.
As the region continues to
grow, elected leaders have been
promoting cycling and walking as
a potential solution to reduce
traffic congestion and its carbon
footprint and to promote healthi-
er lifestyles. A report by the Rails-
to-Trails Conservancy estimates
that the Washington region
would record $500 million a year
in health-care cost savings if it
completed the trail network.
The Transportation Planning
Board staff is expected to use the
adopted trail map to prioritize
funding for projects. Staff will
also report to the board on prog-
ress toward implementation ev-
ery year.
“The TPB expects its member
agencies will make this invest-
ment a priority and hopes the
region will realize this as expedi-
tiously as possible,” said Megan
Goodman, a spokeswoman for
the Council of Governments.
[email protected]Government o∞cials adopt plan to expand Washington-area trail network
Existing 645 miles would
extend into a 1,400-mile
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