Posts by Michael Perkins — Contributor
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A brief history of parking
Donald Shoup, author of The High Cost of Free Parking, linked to this video, “Parking Public,” on Facebook. It has lots of great 1940’s and 1950’s footage of the downtown urban environment, and explains the origin of modern parking regulations. Keep reading…
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Smartrip available at CVS just in time for Christmas
Buy your favorite transit rider a SmarTrip card as a stocking stuffer! This year they will be available at CVS just in time for Christmas (but only six nights of Hanuukkah). According to this press release, CVS will start selling the SmarTrip rechargeable farecard starting December 23 at 190 stores in DC, Maryland and Virginia. The list of specific locations isn’t available… Keep reading…
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Metro refuses to participate in Google Transit
Three years after the launch of Google Transit, which gives directions using transit on Google Maps, and after constant requests by riders and bloggers, WMATA’s Director of Customer Service, Brett Tyler, announced their decision that participating in Google Transit is “not in our best interest from a business perspective.” That’s a very shortsighted… Keep reading…
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What do SmarTrip cards cost?
According to Brett Tyler, the Director of Customer Service for WMATA, a SmarTrip card costs $3.50 in bulk from the vendor, Giesecke and Devrient (PDF on the “GO CARD”, the specific design used for SmarTrip). The cards originally cost just under $10.00 each, but with larger volume purchases, the costs have fallen. WMATA also has to initialize the new cards before… Keep reading…
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How do you evaluate Metrobus performance?
Previously, I looked at WMATA’s Metrobus performance data for 2007. Metro highlights the “worst performing” lines based on ridership and financial performance data. The criteria for good performance are: Keep reading…
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Metro launches new Web site
Metro just launched a new version of its Web site. The content is mainly the same; it’s just better organized. The front page ride guide now uses AJAX to give you suggestions as you type. More topics are now organized by transit function, such as “Rail” or “Bus”. I’ve been able to find all the hidden corners of the site that I use to get information. Keep reading…
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CVS will start selling Smartrip cards
At this week’s meeting, the Metro Board of Directors will consider a proposal to allow CVS to sell Smartrip cards at 187 area stores. CVS will sell a Smartrip card for $10 preloaded with $5 in fares, just as you can buy at many Metro stations with paid parking garages. CVS has agreed to sell Smartrip at no cost to Metro and at no additional cost to customers. CVS will display Metro-supplied… Keep reading…
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Metro plans to share parking with Marriott hotel
At this week’s meeting, WMATA’s Planning, Development and Real Estate Committee will consider a proposal to enter into an agreement with Marriott to build a 162-room hotel on the Prince George’s Plaza Metro station site (see map). Originally, the site was to have a free-standing bank, which is not a very high-density use of land near a Metro station. This is much… Keep reading…
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How much parking does a DC townhome neighborhood have?
During last week’s resident parking hearing, several witnesses told Councilmember Graham that DC has too many resident permits. I decided to take a look at a typical neighborhood in Ward 1 to see how many street parking spaces there were compared to the number of homes. I selected Advisory Neighborhood Commission Single-Member District (SMD) 1D05, because from the overhead… Keep reading…