Photo by Joe Penniston.

Another suicide?

Another person was hit by a Metro train, this time at Columbia Heights. Metro says that according to preliminary information, it looks like the person jumped in front of the train. Update: WTOP reports he may have been playing a game of chicken. Doesn’t “chicken” require a vehicle that can veer off at the last minute?  

Wah, the monorail wasn’t working

Atrios had the best explanation for the teabaggers’ obliviousness to the irony about complaining that Metro didn’t make it easy for them to get to their anti-government spending protest: They see DC and other cities as “urban theme parks,” and the subway being down is like the Disney monorail not working. I assume they wouldn’t have wanted to pay $75/day to come here, though. (Eschaton) … Metro is responding with a straight face and promising Congressman Kevin Brady (R-TX) that they’ll respond about why their system didn’t provide the anti-government protestors the government services they want. (Streetsblog Capitol Hill) … An Examiner opinion writer thinks the protestors are right.  

Libertarians against property rights

Why do libertarian-leaning economists keep advocating for government rules limiting property rights to build housing or jobs? Tyler Cowen bizarrely concludes that Fairfax shouldn’t try to make Tysons into a city because it’s too late to try. Ryan Avent rebuts.  

Hyland v. Keam on transportation

The candidates running for the open Virginia House of Delegates seat in Fairfax’s 38th district (Fair Oaks, Oakton, Vienna, Dunn Loring) gave their perspectives about the major issues. Number one: transportation. It’s hard to tell from a few answers, but Republican Jim Hyland seemed a little less bad than Democrat Mark Lee Keam: Hyland wants more funding for transit and roads, and wants a tunnel for the Metro through Tysons; Keam just talked roads, roads, roads and widening I-66. Do you know any more about the relative positions?  

High-speed map of rail

Where would the nationwide high-speed rail network go? RPA created a great interactive map showing various phases. (America 2050)  

Yet another transportation subsidy: general aviation airports

Congress spends $1 billion a year subsidizing general aviation airports, which serve recreational flyers, private jets, and sometimes — you guessed it — Congresspeople. About 95% of the cost of these airports comes from Congress. By the way, John McCain and Tom Coburn did not introduce any amendments yesterday to strip airport funding. (USA Today)  

Keep those bus passengers away from our walkable town

Some Salisbury merchants don’t want Greyhound buses stopping in the commercial district because having buses there will bring in more pedestrians, increasing “the risk for motorists.” Actually, they seem to just not want the kind of people who ride the bus, who sometimes scare the women, want to use the restroom (or occasionally urinate in public), or even “try to enter the stores,” sometimes more than one at a time. (Salisbury News)