Back in 1960, when Eisenhower signed into creation the first agency charged with creating a regional rail system for Washington, the city must have looked remarkably different. Having been wholly reshaped by population growth and new construction during World War II and the years that followed, the greater Washington area was still less than half the size it is today. When the first Metro cars opened 30 years ago (nearly to the day), the area was larger, but still smaller than it is today by almost 2 million people, and Metro operated in its first years amid fears there would never be real popular demand for the system.

It is the nature of metropolitan growth that the need for bold, accommodating measures is rarely seen until it is practically too late. As long as the roads and rails flow tolerably, the hard choices about how to shape a city can be put off. There comes a day when they can be put off no longer, however, and then the cost of addressing those needs will have multiplied dramatically. On Friday, we reported on the latest census numbers, figures that demonstrate how rapidly the area is adding people, and where they are predominantly being added. Today, Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia is preparing a barnstorming trip through the Commonwealth, in an attempt to shore up support among voters for his stalled transportation plan. And every day, millions of regional commuters face increasing transportation difficulties, from traffic, to larger rail wait times, to dangerously crowded platforms, to soaring housing costs (housing prices, as the old real estate dictum reminds us, are mainly about access). A smattering of palliatives to relieve some of the pressures are in the works. HOT lanes are all the rage in several local jurisdictions, and streetcar plans inch along glacially. Much more is necessary, however, and that right soon.