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Regional COG official outlines transportation, workforce and mutual‑aid programs to Bowie council
Summary
Brock Mercer, executive director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, told Bowie council members Dec. 1 about COG programs including Visualize 2050, Street Smart safety outreach, a regional crime dashboard and a new talent-matching platform called talentcapital.ai; he noted Bowie received support for an ADA crosswalk.
Brock Mercer, executive director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, briefed the Bowie City Council on Dec. 1 about COG programs that serve the Washington metro region and how local jurisdictions can participate.
Mercer described COG’s role convening 24 member local governments on cross-boundary issues such as transportation planning, public safety mutual aid, housing and economic development. He highlighted Visualize 2050, the region’s long-term transportation plan scheduled for final approval Dec. 19, and noted that federal funding for road and transit projects typically requires inclusion in the Transportation Planning Board’s long-term plan.
Mercer discussed regional initiatives led or supported by COG: the Street Smart pedestrian and cyclist safety campaign, a real-time crime dashboard that aggregates data across jurisdictions, Commuter Connections (170 Bowie users) and a new workforce-matching site, talentcapital.ai, which Mercer said has 1,100 active county users and is intended to help re-employ federal workers and contractors. He also noted a COG procurement program that can lower supply costs for member jurisdictions and said COG recently underwrote a study on Bowie Town Center revitalization.
Council members thanked Mercer, asked about local bus service and expressed interest in continued coordination between Bowie and regional partners for economic and workforce development.
