Q: Charles County already has traffic congestion, especially in Waldorf, and also in La Plata during peak hours. How will The HUB at La Plata affect the traffic flow and local congestion?

A: Each new suburban household typically generates between 10-12 vehicular trips a day, only two of which are to and from work. There are only a few proven methods for reducing the number of trips, and/or mitigating their impact on existing road networks.

The first is simply to not allow growth. That is a policy/political decision that has significant implications beyond simply reducing any potential new traffic congestion, and is assumed to not be reasonable, practical, or realistic.

The other is to try to “capture” the vast majority of those trips close to where they are generated, within a hierarchal network of local streets, thereby limiting the number of additional trips added to the existing arterial networks. Encouraging the connectivity of local streets, to the fullest extent possible, can reduce the number of both new and existing trips on those arterial networks, thereby minimizing any new or existing congestion. The HUB is designed to employ both of those strategies, and also to encourage the use of local transit, or other transportation alternatives, when and wherever possible.

Lastly, The HUB is intentionally designed to attract and secure a major regional employer or employers, and/or to actively promote and support WFH, thereby reducing or eliminating the additional 20% of household trips generated, which would have the net effect of actually freeing up capacity in the existing major arterial corridors. This effect would be similar to what local citizens experienced during the first months of the COVID-19 shutdown.