Posts by Matt Johnson — Editorial Board Alum
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Expanded mezzanine planned for Union Station Metro
The northern entrance to the Union Station Metro is probably one of the most cramped in the system. And during peak periods it becomes very congested. The District Department of Transportation is working with WMATA to greatly expand the capacity and utility of the mezzanine. Because of the design constraints of the site, the northern mezzanine had to be shoehorned into a very… Keep reading…
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Metro by the numbers, part 1
Last week, Ryan McNeely at Matt Yglesias’s blog wondered how bad the DC Metro really is. He introduced a few metrics, though mainly compared Metro to the transit systems in New York, Chicago, and Boston, which are systems from a different generation. Among the metrics were weekday ridership per mile, fares, span of service, and passenger fatalities since 1990. McNeely… Keep reading…
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Parking takes up space
In March, The Straight Line showed the difference in scale between urban development and the infrastructure underlying suburban development by overlaying the I-270/I-370 interchange on top of Bethesda’s Woodmont Triangle area. The amount of space we devote to moving cars is almost surreal at times. At Montrose Road, Interstate 270 is a whopping 14 lanes wide. At that… Keep reading…
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Metro tweets welcome, could be even more useful
In recent years, Metro has made great strides into bettering communication with riders through new media. But there’s still room for improvement. One of Metro’s newest communication tools is its use of Twitter. Service disruptions are regularly tweeted, giving riders on desktop computers or mobile devices an easy way to stay up to date. Tweets are limited… Keep reading…
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Montgomery zoning solutions, part 2: Mixed-use zones
Yesterday, I discussed the potential zone restructuring in the Montgomery County zoning rewrite. The series continues today with an overview of our thoughts on the mixed-use and commercial areas of the county. These areas are an important part of the county. They are where residents shop and work. But in many cases their design reflects outmoded, unsustainable thinking, with… Keep reading…
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Montgomery zoning solutions, part 1: Restructuring zones
This week, we continue the series looking at Montgomery County’s zoning code rewrite. Montgomery has 120 zones, more than double the number of any other county in the region, and creating an untenable situation. The simplification and modernization of the code has many aspects, one of which is a restructuring of the zones. This restructuring will simplify the code in… Keep reading…
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NextBus doesn’t handle station bus bays properly
Metro’s reintroduction of NextBus several months ago last year has proven popular with riders, despite a few hiccups. However, it still has some usability issues which haven’t gotten fixed very quickly. One of those issues has to do with bus bays at Metro stations. At many stations, especially those in suburban locations, each bus route calls at an exclusive bay… Keep reading…
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Pennsylvania Avenue bike lanes still have a few flaws
DDOT’s efforts to make cycling safer and easier are excellent steps to making Washington a more sustainable place. But a few issues have emerged with the new Pennsylvania Avenue bike lanes. The bike lanes on Pennsylvania are trying out designs never implemented in the same way elsewhere. That means DDOT will inevitably learn and make adjustments as they gain experience… Keep reading…
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Happy Hour on H Street, July 14th
Please join Greater Greater Washington for an after work happy hour on July 14th at the new Biergarten Haus on H Street NE. Keep reading…
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Why the Blue Line needs to keep calling at Rosslyn
When discussing capacity constraints at Rosslyn, some suggest truncating the Blue Line at to make room for more Orange Line trains at Rosslyn. However, that is not the right approach. For many commuters, the Blue Line is the quickest and most direct route to get to work. From Alexandria and points south and from southeastern Arlington, trains take riders directly to the job centers… Keep reading…