Breakfast links: Born to run
Wells to run
Tommy Wells will announce he’s running for mayor on Saturday, joining Muriel Bowser as the only other officially announced candidate. (Post)
Eastern Market plaza upgrade?
The plaza around the Eastern Market Metro stop may get a makeover that will improve pedestrian access but will not reroute Pennsylvania Ave. (WBJ)
Southern access
Many who live close to Southern Ave. Metro drive instead of walking or biking to the station. Metro blames the station’s poor connectivity and a pedestrian-unfriendly Southern Ave. Can fixes encourage people to walk or bike? (PlanItMetro)
Air rights up in the air
Should MWAA prepare for development on top of Phase 2 Silver Line stations now? It’s cheaper to build foundations now, but still expensive and there might be too much available land to make selling air rights worth it. (Post)
Amtrak’s new toy
Amtrak showed off its new locomotives that will be used in Northeast Corridor. The locomotives will be able to convert their braking into electricity to send through the overhead wires. (WTOP)
Still #6
In the second year of rankings, DC kept its position as 6th most bikeable city according BikeScore. DC was unable to move up the list despite new bike lanes and the increased popularity of CaBi. (DCist)
Young people drive less
Another new report says Americans are driving less, especially young people, who don’t idolize driving so much, can have social contact online, and perhaps also are more often unemployed. (NYT)
And…
The MTA is aiming for a 2020 opening of the Purple Line. (WJLA) … Check out the benefits of biking to work. (Streetsblog) … Alexandria still doesn’t want Norfolk Southern transporting ethanol to trucks in the city. (WAMU)