Rockville Mayor elected chair of National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board

Rockville Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton was unanimously elected Chairman of the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board for 2017 on Wednesday.  The TPB includes representatives of local governments, state transportation agencies, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and members of the Maryland and Virginia legislatures, and prepares regional plans and programs for approval by the federal government. Without those plans and approvals, the region cannot receive federal funds for important projects and programs.

Newton is completing her fourth term on the TPB, and served as its vice-chair this past year. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, a member at large of the Maryland Municipal League (MML) Board of Directors and served as president of MML's Montgomery County chapter from November 2012 through May 2015. She is in her sixth term on the MML Legislative Committee, of which she was appointed committee chairman in June 2015.

"I am honored and humbled to serve as chairman of the TPB in 2017," Newton said in a statement yesterday. "As a regional, long-range planning board, the TPB has a unique responsibility for thinking across jurisdictional boundaries and decades into the future. I look forward to working closely with my colleagues from across the metro area to address our region's long-term transportation needs."

Newton's election to this key leadership position gives Rockville and Montgomery County an important seat at the table, as critical transportation policy decisions are made for the D.C. region.