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In a region that has the nation's second worst congestion, and where polls consistently put transportation at or near the top of citizen concerns, one would think that local politicians and planners would be doing all they can to improve mobility for their constituents.

Apparently, one would be wrong. As the [Montgomery County] growth policy moves forward, it only gets worse. As [The Gazette] editorialized recently, one of the apparent goals of the growth policy, as proposed by the county planning board, was to deliberately allow congestion to worsen as a tool to force people out of their cars and on to mass transit.

Excuse me? That's probably not what the voters and motorists in Montgomery mean when list transportation as a top concern, year after year.

Essentially admitting that its plan to add more density but not more road capacity would damage mobility, a top planning board staffer told the County Council that quality of life could mean something other than how long it takes to drive somewhere. Say what?

Making matters worse, some on the council recently voted to weaken the definition of acceptable level of transportation service to allow creeping along Rockville Pike well under 10 mph to be "acceptable." Acceptable to whom?

Fortunately, others on the council, including Marc Elrich and Phil Andrews, have a better understanding. Andrews was quoted as saying that "for the foreseeable future most people in Montgomery County would continue to drive ... and that (road mobility) is a critical measure of the quality of life and it is a crucial one for many of our residents." Amen!

And County Executive Ike Leggett seemed to be echoing that sentiment when he said, "the growth policy includes assumptions and directions that I believe could significantly impair the quality of life in Montgomery County."

It seems simple — gridlock in our county robs us all of precious time and damages our quality of life here. Some economists call congestion a tax — and one that all individuals and businesses in a congested region have to pay. Yet, we have members of the council and planning board who would knowingly add congestion and tell the rest of us to redefine our measures of the quality of life.

While the growth policy is hugely complex, the transportation policy it promotes is relatively simple: deteriorate traffic to discourage driving and add mass transit. There are two glaring problems with that policy. First, buses, which use the roads, are a major part of our mass transit in the county. Simply, as roads fail, they fail. Second, a large percentage of Metro riders either drive to stations or ride buses to them. Either way, as roads fail, Metro rail also fails.

That said, why would any official, elected or appointed, supposedly working for the residents of Montgomery County, promote policies to add to our congestion and further slow traffic? We urge residents to let the county council know that having the nation's second worst traffic is bad enough, and this is one contest in which we don't need to win the gold. Improve traffic, don't worsen it.

Mahlon G. "Lon" Anderson, Silver Spring

The writer is director of public and

government affairs with AAA Mid-Atlantic.