Breakfast links: On the Potomac
Potomac study a foregone conclusion?
VDOT is beginning a study on cross-Potomac traffic. Officials claim they have an open mind, but given their well-known bias toward highway lanes in all cases, will the study even seriously look at transit or inevitably push the Outer Beltway idea? (WAMU, DCist)
Bag fee still working
Revenue from DC’s bag fee fell compared to the prior year. That means people used fewer disposable bags. Bag consumption is down 67% since the program started. (DCist)
Less green lines
WMATA lags its peers when it comes to carbon emissions per passenger mile. That’s because it runs many buses even on lower ridership lines, and local electricity providers have less clean energy sources than elsewhere. (City Paper)
More on Ride-On-riding 5th grader
The Gazette follows up with the mother, Anna Engelsone, who ran into fearful school officials when she let her 5th grader ride the Ride On bus to Garrett Park Elementary. MCPS says no policy prohibits kids taking transit.
Drive less
Driving as measured by miles driven has yet to exceed its 2007 high. The trend is even starker when one takes population growth into account, where the peak took place in 2005. (Business Insider, charlie) (Tip: charlie)
Less for transit, more on trains
States are flexing fewer federal dollars to transit, but more and more people are choosing intercity rail over driving. (Streetsblog)
And…
See the history of urban maps and diagrams that influenced cities for better or worse. (SPUR, David E.) … One group recommends 12 ways that governments can make roads safer for pedestrians. (Green Car Congress) … Learn the history of Boston’s decision to stop all new highway building in 1972. (Boston Society of Architects, David P.) (Tip: David E.)