![Thinking Big, Planning Smart: A Primer for Greater Washington’s Next Generation of Transit](https://www.infrastructureusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Screen-shot-2013-03-13-at-2.10.22-PM.png)
COALITION FOR SMARTER GROWTH
Without Metro, it’s estimated our region would need approximately 710 lane-miles of additional highway lanes at a capital cost of $4.7 billion,1 causing severe impacts in terms of homes taken for highway expansion. Proximity to Metro is estimated to have sparked some $212 billion in regional real estate value2, and it’s played a key role in helping older suburbs stave off the inner- suburban decline seen in other cities around the U.S. It’s had a central role in the rebirth of Washington, D.C.