Posts from September 2012
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WMATA makes new diagrammatic bus maps
Do you find the Metrobus maps very confusing? There’s hope. WMATA has created new bus maps that emphasize key routes and show a more stylized design, like the Metrorail map does. Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Pay to move
Ride past 9 innings; Parking displaces Wheaton market; Eisenhower Memorial delayed; How rural is rural?; Bikes on BART; Los Angeles, transit city; Safer at any speed; And…. Keep reading…
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A tech investor tax cut won’t help the tech sector
Tomorrow, the DC Council will vote on a bill to give investors in tech companies a huge tax break. Taking steps to build the tech sector and diversify our economy makes sense, but this tax break will simply not actually stimulate more technology investment. The Gray administration proposed the bill, the Technology Sector Enhancement Act, this past spring. It has some good… Keep reading…
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Transit agencies may get reprieve from patent troll
Any transit agencies around the nation who haven’t yet gotten sued by patent troll ArrivalStar might be in luck. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has found prior art which may prove the patent invalid, and has asked the US Patent and Trademark Office to reexamine the patent. The owner of the patent controls two offshore firms, ArrivalStar and Melvino Technologies,… Keep reading…
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A 4th option for M Street SE/SW
M Street SE/SW is not a very good street. It’s has more car lanes than it needs, and it isn’t hospitable to bikes and pedestrians. Unfortunately, the options in a study by DDOT and CH2M Hill unnecessarily force a choice between bikes and transit. Cyclists need a decent crosstown route, or maybe two. Transit vehicles should stay on M Street, to serve the densest part… Keep reading…
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MLK Library can help itself by helping the homeless
The days of metal detectors and risky bathrooms seem a thing of the past at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, but one thing has not changed. The library remains a destination for the homeless and lost souls of Washington. In a city brimming with specialized research libraries, university libraries, and governmental libraries, the DC Public library is the people’s… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: A new ride
Metro opens doors slower; Let the bike out of the bag; Bikers must walk; Car buying vs. bike buying; A memorial loses sun; Solve traffic with smart growth; China following our mistakes; And…. Keep reading…
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Are urban big box stores good or bad?
Topher Mathews found out what Vornado plans for the now-closed Georgetown Park Mall. They hope to attract 2 restaurants for the side of the building overlooking the C&O Canal and have lined up a number of large chain stores for the rest: TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, Michaels and an expanded J. Crew. Is this news welcome or disappointing? The chain retailers will each have entrances… Keep reading…
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Consensus to “Save Burtonsville,” but debate over how
Six years after a bypass carried traffic out of town, Burtonsville’s once-thriving village center is now 70% vacant. Everyone agrees that it needs more people to survive, where new development should occur to house those people is up for debate. “The problem with Burtonsville,” says Tom Norris in a lengthy phone interview, is that “there’s no residential… Keep reading…
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Bikes or streetcars on M Street SE/SW?
Should M Street SE/SW have a cycle track? Or a dedicated streetcar and bus lane? Or neither? A transportation study says we’ll have to choose. Advocates for every mode of travel would like to have space on M Street. It’s currently the only street that goes east-west all the way through the Southwest Waterfront and Near Southeast neighborhoods. Bicyclists would like… Keep reading…