Recent Posts
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U-Md. Baltimore County embraces bikeshare
Since it opened in the 1960s, the University of Maryland Baltimore County in Catonsville has been known as a commuter school. But university officials are giving students alternatives to driving to campus, starting with a new bikeshare program. Sitting at the intersection of interstate highways 695, 195, and 95, UMBC’s campus just outside Baltimore was designed for… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Stand still or move forward?
Keep it short; Pay-by-phone arrives in Alexandria; Huge gains in DC biking; Vote on a living wage?; A better bike map?; A new Shaw; Deeds stabbed, son shot; And…. Keep reading…
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Will Montgomery County study a transit alternative to M-83?
M-83, also known as Midcounty Highway Extended, is an environmental calamity that will cost hundreds of millions. Yet Montgomery County continues to pursue its construction. Will county leaders consider a transit alternative to a new highway? When Montgomery County planners put M-83 on the master plan of highways in the early 1960s, the county’s population was 340,000. Keep reading…
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DC launches common school lottery website
The new common application and lottery system for DCPS and most charter schools has launched its website. You can’t apply or enroll yet, but you can start learning about how the process will work. The website, My School DC, is being rolled out in three phases: Learn, Apply, and Enroll. Families will be able to apply to schools through the site beginning December 16. There… Keep reading…
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Where are Capital Bikeshare’s 300 stations?
Last week Capital Bikeshare installed its 300th station. Quite an accomplishment! With stations now spread from Shady Grove to Alexandria, I thought it would be interesting to map their distribution, to see which parts of town have the most. Keep reading…
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Topic of the week: No more federal gas tax?
A new bill in the House of Representatives proposes eliminating the federal gas tax and making states pay for roads and transit themselves. Would that be good or bad for transportation? The Transportation Empowerment Act (TEA), by Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Representative Tom Graves (R-Georgia), would virtually eliminate the federal gasoline tax over a 5-year period and… Keep reading…
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Is DCPS ready to outsource middle schools to charters?
Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson told a DC Council committee on Friday that DCPS hasn’t succeeded in attracting families to its middle schools and suggested that the District should just funnel middle school students to charter schools. What was she thinking? The Council’s Committee on Education held a roundtable hearing last week on the plan to revise DCPS… Keep reading…
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Walkability, parking, and TDM influence whether you drive
Arlington has tried to reduce traffic by clustering development around transit and using transportation demand management (TDM) programs to raise awareness of alternatives to driving. According to a new study of residential buildings, it’s working. We found that regardless of age or whether a building is condo or rental, people who live in Metro corridors or in areas… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: The political consequences
The GOP’s Virginia hopes; Conservatives take on transit; Japan’s big maglev offer; Instant biking cities; Where are the fed jobs?; Monday night derailment; Pentagon City Mall improvements; Bike lanes planned for North Bethesda; DC approves licenses for the undocumented; Around the world. Keep reading…
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The door opens a crack for taller buildings in DC
DC needs to find a place for substantial new housing and jobs in the future, and federal planners now seem to acknowledge that fact. They’re willing to create a process, though an exhaustively long one, by which some future growth could exceed the federal height limit. It’s a tiny step forward for the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), a very cautious federal… Keep reading…