Good morning, everyone.

My name's Charles Allen.

I'm the Ward 6 Council Member and Chair of the Council's Committee on Transportation and the Environment.

Today I am excited to be joined by my award 7 colleague, Councilor Wendell Felder, who also chairs the subcommittee on small and local business development, and we are co-chairing today's hearing.

Today is Wednesday, July 1st, 2026, and the committees are meeting in room 412 of the John A.

Wilson building as well as over the Zoom virtual platform.

The time is now 10 09 a.m.

and I'm calling to order this joint public oversight round table of the committees.

The topic of today's round table is transit planning for the RFK campus redevelopment.

This is the second round table held on this topic as the Committee on Transportation and the Environment held a round table on the same topic on December 17, 2025.

For background, on September 17, 2025, the council gave final approval to the development financing agreement governing the RFK campus redevelopment project.

That agreement paves the way for the construction of a multipurpose stadium with seating for nearly 65,000 attendees.

While the stadium will primarily serve as the home venue for the Washington Commanders football team, the stadium will also be used to host other events throughout the year.

The planned development includes five to six thousand new homes as well as several hotels, with some estimating that nearly 20,000 people will ultimately reside on this campus.

In short, the stadium deal and the accompanying housing, commercial, and recreational development represents one of the most ambitious public-private partnerships in DC history.

The stadium and the surrounding development will have significant impact on the transportation needs and travel patterns near the stadium across the district and throughout the region.

Whether residents and visitors plan to travel to and from the stadium by public transit, personal vehicle, or active transportation modes, the district must plan for increased demand for transportation resulting from the stadium redevelopment to provide equitable and accessible transportation options for all residents and visitors.

As part of the financing agreement, the district will contribute over $350 million to support the construction of two parking garages.

Through those planning efforts, Wamada has identified upgrades to the existing Stadium Army Metro Station as is as its preferred path to accommodate increased travel demand resulting from the redevelopment rather than pursuing the construction of a new infill station closer to the stadium.

During the FY27 budget process, the council allocated 300 million dollars across the capital improvement plan to expand capacity at Stadium Armory Metro Station.

The council also approved a total of 5.2 million for the development of a crosstown bus route, which Wamada has tentatively branded as the gold line.

While the initial $2 million proposed by the mayor supported the development of a crosstown bus route planning that would connect Union Station and the RFK campus, the council identified an additional $3.2 million to extend that planning process for a route that would go further east to the Bending Road Metro Station and further west past Union Station.

The committees are convening this round table to hear from representatives from the Executive, Wamata, and the Washington Commanders about how they are working together to ensure the district is ready for the increased transportation needs resulting from the RFK campus redevelopment.

I'm hoping to learn more about the anticipated scope of the newly announced gold line, that timeline and cost for upgrades to the Stadium Armory Metro Station, on-site parking and transportation planning, and plans for a transit center to be cited on Kingman Island.

We had invited uh representatives to come join us for this round table.

Members of the public are able to submit written testimony if they'd like using the council's hearing management system at Limbs.dc Council.gov backslash hearings.

Before I turn to my co-chair, let me just make sure folks know.

We had invited Randy Clark, CEO and General Manager of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Ryan Hanlan, the RFK campus project executive, Sharon Kirschbaum, the director of the District Department of Transportation, and Kirta Meta, the Vice President of Public Affairs of the Washington Commanders.

We were told this morning that Director Hanlon was uh directed not to come to the hearing.

I am deeply disappointed in that, and having the project manager be able to help answer questions would be incredibly helpful.

Uh so I am a bit of a loss at words as to why our project lead would be told not to come to a hearing.

But I know that we'll be able to cover a lot of ground with the witnesses that are here, but it's deeply disappointing and disturbing that the executive would not have the project manager show up to a hearing on their project.

Uh but let me turn to my co-chair for an opening statement.

I want to note we've been joined by Councilmember Christina Henderson as well, and I believe we have other colleagues that will be joining us throughout the day, and we'll certainly turn to them for opening statements too.

Mr.

Coachair.

Good morning, everyone.

Thank you, Chairperson Allen, for your partnership and for co-hosting this morning's joint round table on transit planning for the RFK redevelopment.

Uh Director Kirschbaum, Mr.

Matter, and General Manager Clark is always good to see each and every one of you.

Today's hearing is much uh is about much more than roads, buses, or metro services.

It's about weather one of the largest redevelopment projects in the district's history is designed to move people safely, efficiently, and sustainably while protecting the neighborhoods that surrounds it.

Simply put, transportation will be one of the most deciding factors in whether this redevelopment succeeds.

Now, as the chair of the subcommittee on local business development, which oversees the redevelopment of the RFK campus, my responsibility is to help ensure that this transformative project serves district residents, support economic growth, and reflect responsible stewardships of public dollars.

As I approach this project, I have three primary goals.

First, we must protect the quality of life of the surrounding neighborhoods.

Redevelopment should improve the lives of residents, not create new burdens through avoidable traffic congestion or poor planning.

Second, I want to ensure that this project is truly transit oriented from the very beginning, not simply a stadium surrounded by transportation improvements, but a project whose design operations and investments are built around moving people efficiently through multiple transportation options.

Third, I want to ensure that this project is delivered on time and on budget.

Those priorities bring us to why we're here today.

Over the past several months, there has been significant work underway.

The Washington Commanders have conducted studies on how fans will travel to and from the stadium.

DDOT is evaluating roadways, bicycle, pedestrian and transit improvements.

Wamada is evaluating how the existing metro rail and metro bus system, including Stadium Armory Station and the surrounding stations can accommodate significant events, day travel demand, and other partners like the Office of Planning are mapping out land use design that are incorporated that also incorporate transportation and environmental concerns.

While I appreciate all of those individual efforts, I have not yet to see how all those efforts fit together.

Instead, it looks like transportation planning appears to be happening across multiple organizations and multiple projects.

What I believe is currently missing is a single comprehensive master transportation plan that ties all of those efforts together.

The master transportation plan should clearly identify every transportation project associated with the redevelopment.

Explain how each of the projects connect to one another, establish implementation timelines, clarify funding responsibilities, explain how agencies will coordinate their work and demonstrate how the entire transportation network will help move people safely and effectively before, during, and after major events.

Without the level of coordination and integration, we risk making significant investments that function independently rather than as one integrated transportation system.