A different roadside stand. Photo by protoflux.

And then there was one

Boston’s MBTA is now participating in Google Transit. That leaves WMATA as the only major transit agency not participating. Michael calculates that 9.5% of transit trips tracked by APTA are now on non-participating systems; about two-thirds of those are on WMATA. NY/NJ’s PATH is the second largest laggard. (Globe)  

They’re called roadside stands for a reason

The State Highway Administration is shutting down a popular fruit stand that’s operated on River Road in Bethesda for 10 years. They say it’s a safety hazard. When can planning around roads consider them in the broader context of what we want communities to look like, instead of just how to clear out everything, including trees, for the cars? Local political payback is playing a role as well. (Post via Yglesias)  

Go Saqib

Eleven Maryland state legislators from the Potomac, Rockville, and Germantown parts of Montgomery County, plus two Frederick County delegates, signed a letter supporting light rail for the Corridor Cities Transitway and two new lanes on I-270. Saqib Ali, the young (for a delegate), software engineer representative from North Potomac quickly clarified that he doesn’t support the widening, and hadn’t seen its brief mention in the letter before signing.  

Not another passive park?

Richard Layman argues that maybe the two-district option for Poplar Point could work if the park in between contained active recreation, amusement, and education, with museums, recreation centers, libraries, theaters, or even a Ferris wheel. The federal rules might prohibit any building in the park area, however, even for recreational or civic uses. (RPUS)  

A safer McLean

Even in more auto-oriented towns like McLean, bicycle and foot traffic is increasing amid insufficient facilities and safety precautions. A task force there is looking to add missing crosswalks, sidewalks, and bike lanes in McLean’s central business district. (Fairfax County Times, mooniker)  (Tip: mooniker)  

States not fixing it first

Many states have skipped repairing old and decaying bridges with their stimulus money, preferring instead to spend it on shiny new ones. Virginia is one that is fixing its bridges, however. (AP, Froggie)  (Tip: Froggie)  

The condo paradox

Following up on the U Street noise debate, Rob Pitingolo points out that many younger residents want to live in neighborhoods with bars, but generally lack enough savings or long-term job stability to buy a condo. Paradoxically, thanks to the greater developer profits on condos, new buildings right on nightlife streets like U Street are mostly condos rather than the rental apartments that many people who want to live right on U Street might be able to afford. (Extraordinary Observations)  

Tweet of the day

@eschor: NY Times has THREE reporters live-blogging the #^!%$@ “beer summit”. Death of journalism, meet your defining moment. … The Post’s blogger outreach publicist also sent around an email saying that Post reporters had surveyed local bartenders about which beers the participants liked.