TransportationRSS

Jim Hamre of WMATA pointed out that Metro’s current thinking on the separate Blue Line is that it would have to run one block west of the current Rosslyn station, to a new set of platforms connected by an underground walkway. I had hoped that the new tracks could pass right next to the old ones enabling a cross-platform transfer (after all, Rosslyn already has the two tracks on separate…  Keep reading…

US Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters spoke at the Brookings Institution today, giving an overview of her thoughts on the future of transportation. Peters has been courageously promoting new ideas, like congestion pricing, that we really need or at least need to thoughtfully consider. Her market-oriented solutions are a potentially revolutionary alternative to the build-more-roads…  Keep reading…

Metrorail is nearing its capacity, with heavy load in many key points throughout the system. At last week’s WMATA board meeting, staff presented recommendations for capital improvements to increase capacity at the bottlenecks. Press outlets covered the topic, but often with confusion on details. WTOP covered the Georgetown/M Street proposal but wrote that the new…  Keep reading…

At-Large Councilmember Kwame Brown is joining Mary Cheh (Ward 3) and Yvette Alexander (Ward 7) to oppose spending DC money to rebuild Klingle Road, the high-speed bypass through Rock Creek Park that we’ve done without for 17 years. City Desk calls the issue dead, as Brown, Cheh, and Alexander outnumber pro-highway Councilmembers Graham and Bowser on the relevant committee.  Keep reading…

The private parking garage at Bethesda’s Air Rights Center costs $6.00 per hour. The public lot across Woodmont Avenue charges only 50 cents per hour.  Keep reading…

Virginia communities are vying to get one more daily commuter train to Washington, reports the Post. Amtrak is willing to run another train from Lynchburg to Union Station via Charlottesville, Culpeper and Manassas, or from Newport News via Williamsburg and Richmond. Unfortunately, Virginia only has money for one or the other.  Keep reading…

My endorsement of the DC Council’s “clean air fee” proposal generated some lively debate. Here are some of the objections raised, and my responses.  Keep reading…

The Coalition for Smarter Growth crunched the numbers on car crashes that hit pedestrians, the percentage of crashes that are fatal to the pedestrian, and the rate compared to the total numbers of pedestrians on the road.  Keep reading…

Track Twenty-Nine has a new transit vision map of potential Metro and light rail expansion for the Washington region. I’ve also uploaded a minor tweak to my light rail and commuter rail map. Here is a quick roundup of all the recent Washington area transit vision maps. These maps and the various lines in them span a wide range of levels of realism, from serious proposal that’s…  Keep reading…

So many people are using Metro, biking or walking to Nats games that parking near the stadium is going empty, and the Nats are going to let fans pay to use it instead of just season ticket holders.   Keep reading…

For over 50 years, the U.S. economy has shaped itself around suburban development and car-centric life. From mortgages to insurance, companies assumed that the standard household occupied a detached single-family home and drove to work. This built-in bias meant that even as Americans, from young singles to empty nesters, started to crave walkable cities once more, the economic…  Keep reading…

House prices are falling fastest in the areas with longest commutes, reports NPR, upsetting the traditional real estate mantra of “drive ‘til you qualify” where homebuyers put up with longer and longer commutes for cheaper housing.  Keep reading…

I won’t be able to post much the rest of the week. But here are some links to keep you entertained:  Keep reading…

If a parking garage in DC rents out spaces, they have to pay a sales tax. But if an employer gives away the parking, they pay nothing. Yet they are still consuming space that could be used for other purposes, are still creating wear and tear on the roads and pollution. Is this fair?  Keep reading…

UPenn Law School is hosting a forum on “Urban Policy and the Presidency” on Thursday with reps from the Obama and Clinton campaigns. They’re discussing important urban policy topics, like economic development, affordable housing, and environmental justice. But, like so many “urban policy” discussions, transportation isn’t on the agenda…  Keep reading…

Politically difficult, congestion pricing nonetheless is probably a good idea, argues Fred Hiatt of the Washington Post.  Keep reading…

Obama, Clinton ride transit but don’t talk about it: Clinton and Obama both have good, though vague, plaforms on transportation policy, writes the Philadelphia Daily News. But transportation hasn’t been an issue in the campaign, while America needs visionary thinking in transportation. One thing’s for sure, but not in the article: McCain is much worse, by…  Keep reading…

Studies have questioned whether red-light cameras increase safety, arguing that they cause motorists to stop too quickly. One thing’s for sure: if the city deliberately makes the yellow light extra short to catch motorists and raise revenue, that definitely hurts safety. And it turns out some cities did just that. Via BoingBoing.  Keep reading…

April 26-27 is WalkingTown DC, a weeekend full of walking tours of neighborhoods all around DC from Takoma Park to East Washington Heights, alley tours of Capitol Hill, H Street, and Blagden Alley, tours of new development on the Southwest Waterfront and historic forts in Upper Northwest, tours of art downtown and in the Metro, eating and drinking tours, bicycle tours, and more.  Keep reading…

As I wrote on Monday, DC Office of Planning is considering a “buffer zone rule” that would require parking in multi-unit apartment buildings if they are within 400 feet of a low- or moderate-density residential building. As I argued, that rule is too broad.  Keep reading…