Posts by David Alpert — Founder
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Conservative won’t vote for McCain partly because of rail
Paul Weyrich, the leading conservative proponent of rail transportation, wouldn’t vote for John McCain in the general election in part because of McCain’s opposition to rail investment. McCain “would fight us on everything,” Weyrich said, including shutting down Amtrak and opposing projects like the Dulles extension, where he vehemently disagrees… Keep reading…
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Making streetcars work
Second of a two-part series. Read the first part. If, years from now, DC successfully builds and funds a streetcar line, it needs to make sure the line really does encourage people to ride it, people who wouldn’t have ridden just another bus. If it generates additional traffic to the neighborhood, and induces more people to take transit than to drive, it will prove right those… Keep reading…
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Streetcars are coming back to DC
DC’s attempts to bring back streetcars popped back into the news last week as DDOT broke ground on a streetscape reconstruction on H Street Northeast. While the street is already torn up, they will include build streetcar tracks for future service, though it will be years before a streetcar could run, and there are no cars or operational funding yet. But it’s a big step forward,… Keep reading…
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Congestion is other people
The New York City commission formed to study congestion pricing has made its recommendation, to positive reviews. It’s mostly like Mayor Bloomberg’s original proposal, with a few changes: it moves the boundary from 86th Street to 60th Street, adds the FDR drive and West Side Highway/West Street to the toll zone, removes a parking tax exemption (parking is definitely… Keep reading…
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Traffic flows in waves
Sometimes, traffic jams pop up for seemingly no reason. There’s no accident blocking a lane of traffic—but everyone comes to a halt at the same spot. Why does this happen? Keep reading…
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DC may decentralize auto inspections
I’ve never lived in a state where the government conducted emission inspections; it was always private service stations. But according to this article in the Examiner, 13 states still centralize their operations. DC, though, may end the practice of forcing all drivers to go to the one facility at Half and M, Southwest. Keep reading…
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DC Council hearing on “Performance Parking” plan
JDLand has a summary of the hearing around Tommy Wells’ plan to use market-pricing techniques to discourage parking around the new baseball stadium. From JD’s summary, the hearing didn’t turn out to be that interesting, with most speakers in favor of the plan and little new ground covered. Keep reading…
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Presidential candidates on transit, cycling and walking
Streetsblog’s LA correspondent Damien Newton researched the Presidential candidates’ positions on transportation. For the Democrats, both Obama’s and Clinton’s platforms hold a great deal of promise. Obama is the most pro-cycling candidate, extols the virtues of walking, and supported Chicago’s transit system while in the Illinois legislature,… Keep reading…
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Sprawl to fight immigration
Should the free market decide how many people live in one house? Or the government? The Post’s Marc Fisher reports on a flood of anti-immigrant bills introduced in Virginia’s General Assembly. One, from Republican Bob Marshall, would prohibit more than four unrelated people from living in one house (whether legal, illegal, native-born American, or even “the… Keep reading…
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Optimal bus waiting strategy
Mathematically, it’s best to simply wait for a bus once you arrive at a bus stop, rather than giving up and walking if it’s taking too long, according to Harvard mathematician Scott Kominers. Freakonomics’ Stephen Dubner is disappointed the analysis didn’t consider walking backward to a previous stop. (Lots of interesting comments about more nuances… Keep reading…