Paint Branch Parkway in College Park. Photo by thisisbossi.

MATD?

Car and Driver tested reaction times of texting, reading, and being intoxicated while driving. They found that drivers’ reaction times while texting was much, much worse than being intoxicated. Participants’ reaction times ranged from twice as bad to 20 times as bad. (How We Drive)  

Unsafety in College Park

After a bicyclist was hit and injured at Paint Branch Parkway in College Park, officials are looking for additional safety measures. The Gazette article includes a perfect example of the human agency paradox, where people tend to describe cyclists using human terms but “cars” as objects: “The man was crossing the street … on a bicycle May 21 when he was struck by a car.” (Gazette)  

Fairfax County City?

Fairfax County executive Anthony H. Griffin has suggested having Fairfax County become an independent city. Among other things, that could give the county more control over transportation, including the ability to raise taxes to pay for improvements that Virginia has failed to provide. However, if I understand Virginia law correctly, they’d still be very restricted in which taxes they could choose. Finally, they’d need to come up with a name, as Fairfax City is already taken. (Post, Joshua D, Liz)  (Tip: Joshua D)  

Metro bits

NextBus is working okay, but still has some warts (Post) … The track circuit which failed in the Metro crash had just been replaced (Examiner) … Ridership declined briefly after the crash, but has basically returned to normal. (Unsuck DC Metro)  

Council clippings

Jim Graham suggests capping the number of taxicabs … Yvette Alexander won passage of a bill to require video surveillance in gas stations (Examiner) … the Council also reasserted its power over its cable station after the Mayor aired a deposition Councilmembers had asked not to be aired. (Post)  

Cities growing, but anti-city assumptions still exist in reporters’ heads

Big cities are now growing faster than other areas, according to the Census. For some reason, AP reporter Hope Yen says in the lede that this stems from “an economic crisis that is making it harder for people to move.” The experts quoted in the article, however, explain that a lot of the growth comes from the growing desire among many people to live in those cities, as opposed to it being too hard to go elsewhere. (AP, JTS, Michael)  (Tip: JTS)