Posts by Dan Malouff — Editorial Board
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Guide to bikeway typology
As urban cycling becomes more common, new terms are entering the lexicon that people may not be completely familiar with. Here is a guide to the most common types of urban bikeways. There are seven basic types of bicycle travelways. In increasing order of separation quality, they are: Image from Google Street View.Mixed traffic Mixed traffic bikeways are simply regular… Keep reading…
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What’s the status of our major transit projects?
With yesterday’s news that the Baltimore Red Line is being advanced to Preliminary Engineering, it seems a good time to check up on the various rail and BRT projects in the region and report on their status. Here are the 15 major rail and BRT projects in our region. Norfolk “The Tide” light rail Status: Construction Construction is largely complete. Trains and tracks are… Keep reading…
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Are electric buses in the future?
Electric buses offer many advantages over traditional fossil fuel buses, but they are more expensive and difficult to run. A new model by General Motors may bring them to the mainstream. The most obvious advantage of electric buses is environmental, but the fact that they don’t spew any harmful gases into the atmosphere is hardly the only benefit. Electric buses are also… Keep reading…
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Urban big boxes are becoming common
A few years ago the idea of a pedestrian friendly big box store was almost unthinkable, but the idea is catching on, with several examples locally and around the country. In this region, the Columbia Heights Target is an obvious example, but not the only one. We also have the Tenleytown Best Buy, and of course, the proposed downtown Wal-Mart. In the suburbs, Gaithersburg’s… Keep reading…
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Rosslyn has its own High Line
New York’s High Line has become the darling of American parks, but did you know Rosslyn has been home to a similar elevated linear park for fifteen years? Freedom Park covers approximately two blocks of an elevated roadway that was closed to traffic in 1996. From then until 2008 it was considered part of the Newseum, and featured museum exhibits along its route. When… Keep reading…
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Where are DC’s downtown surface parking lots?
Surface parking lots are the scourge of urbanism. They take up valuable land that could be used for activity-generating buildings, and they spread development out so that walking and transit use are more difficult. They’re more harmful to cities than empty lots, because they encourage more driving, which in turn encourages more parking lots. Washington, DC is… Keep reading…
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Transitways can run on top of grass
Transitways don’t have to be ugly. They don’t even have to be paved. There are many examples around the world of grass-track transitways for light rail or BRT, and a lot of local interest in using them here. Maryland is actively considering grass tracks for the Purple Line, and the idea could theoretically be applied to the Corridor Cities and Crystal City transitways… Keep reading…
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Maryland keeps transitway in King Farm
If the Corridor Cities Transitway is built, it will be built along the King Farm Boulevard alignment that has been planned for decades, despite opposition from a few residents and the Rockville City Council. The King Farm neighborhood of Rockville was designed and built in the 1990s, specifically with the intention that a future Corridor Cities Transitway extending west from… Keep reading…
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Get to know the Silver Spring Transit Center
With construction well under way, Silver Spring’s new multimodal transit center is rising quickly from the ground. It seems a good time to share details of this important project. The new center will consolidate just about every mode of transit imaginable into a single station, to be named for former US Senator Paul Sarbanes. It will include: 34 bus bays for use by local, commuter,… Keep reading…
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Northeast, California win big in high speed rail grants
The federal government today announced $2 billion in new grants for high-speed passenger rail projects around the country. $800 million will go to rail improvements along the Northeast Corridor, and $300 million for high-speed rail in California. The funds are left over from $2.4 billion which had been originally allocated to Florida, but which governor Rick Scott returned… Keep reading…