Posts by Steve Offutt — Guest Contributor
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Arlington gets a green house
As architecture and construction become more and more green, residential buildings that significantly reduce energy use and incorporate other environmentally friendly features will hopefully become more common in our urban areas. One builder in Arlington has created an innovative and effective green home in a residential neighborhood in the Westover neighborhood. Builder… Keep reading…
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Bus drivers launch real-time texting traffic service
This article was posted as an April Fool’s joke. WMATA is launching a new real-time, eyes-off-the-road, traffic texting service today. Metro’s recent budget woes have led the agency to pursue both cost-cutting and revenue-enhancing measures. It has also given the agency impetus to look at its strategic assets in new ways. The agency identified its bus… Keep reading…
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The last mile in Tysons Corner, part 3: PRT?
Last week, Steve introduced Tysons’ “last mile” challenge, and Matt Johnson explored a series of busways as a solution. A bolder proposal, for Personal Rapid Transit (PRT), generated considerable controversy among the GGW contributors over email. There is a range of opinions on this technology among the contributors as among planners in general and the… Keep reading…
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The last mile in Tysons Corner, part 1: The problem
Plans for a transformed Tysons Corner rely not only on four Metro stations but a network of circulator buses to provide service from the new stations to locations throughout Tysons. Unfortunately, circulator buses may not provide the level of service needed to entice many people out of their cars. Even with the new Metro stations, Tysons will remain a spread-out, edge city with… Keep reading…
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Can a private model build the transit we need?
Many of our transit systems are bursting at the seams, yet only provide about 2% of trips nationwide. It takes decades to build new transit projects. The existing public agency model for providing public transportation services is totally inadequate to rapidly meet the challenges we face, particularly the urgent need to deal with climate change. We need to break… Keep reading…
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Missing links block easy travel for pedestrians
As larger scale developments change our urban form, many miss important opportunities to provide important pedestrian connections. Many developments put fences on multiple sides that block pedestrian travel through the sides and backs of property for seemingly irrational reasons or no reason at all. Near Bailey’s Crossroads, almost right on the border between… Keep reading…
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Distribute enforcement camera money to residents, Alaska-style
Whenever speed cameras and red-light cameras go into a city, many people loudly object. Keep reading…
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What about a “Gold Line” for Route 7?
Last week’s pair of posts discussing the Silver Line and a high-speed link to Dulles posed ideas about triple tracking the Silver Line or creating a new line along the W&OD trail. While we’re looking at the Silver Line and transit in Fairfax, there is another opportunity that planners are missing: Route 7 through Falls Church and Fairfax County. Imagine if planners… Keep reading…
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Metro’s buffet line effect: Proceed directly to dessert for best results
When a Metro car breaks down or becomes otherwise delayed on the Metrorail system, it creates a logjam of trains behind it. Even after the incident clears, it can take over an hour to return service to normal. Metro could speed up this process with strategic use of express trains. With only two tracks on each line, it is difficult or impossible to reroute the trains that are behind… Keep reading…
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Pocket schedules could make bus riding easier
Many bus riders take a single bus for most trips. In fact, many bus riders travel between the same two stops for many trips. A simple, printed, point to point schedule, listing the departure and arrival times for each of the two stops, could be a powerful tool for those riders. Keep reading…