Breakfast links: What you think about Metro
Metro gets good marks…
71% of residents rated Metro overall good or excellent in a Post poll. Riders give the highest marks for safety and hours of operation; lowest for value and convenience to home and work.
... but not from Hiatt
Post editorial editor Fred Hiatt is still a dissatisfied rider. That comes partly from frustrating experiences, and from Metro’s claims that its on-time performance has risen, but only because it gives itself a very generous buffer zone.
More Metro morsels
Most people who park at Metro stations drive less than 3 miles, but some come from distant places all over the region. (PlanItMetro) … SmarTrip auto-reloading won’t require keeping such a large balance. (Post) … A station manager embezzled farecards that had a small value left on them. (WTOP)
Survey also says
Two-thirds of residents support bicycle lanes. Drivers think congestion has lessened, and data from INRIX may back that up. (Post)
Bike bits
Before his (unanimous) confirmation, Anthony Foxx gave some vague answers on bicycling. (Streetsblog) … Chicago launched its Divvy Bikes bike sharing system. (Huffington Post) … Citibike convinced one New Yorker to learn to ride. (NYT)
Transit-oriented Wegmans at Tysons?
Wegmans is considering building a store right near the future Scotts Run Silver Line station in Tysons Corner. It would be a smaller (for Wegmans) store of 80,000 square feet as part of a large mixed-use project. (Post)
Howard tax break dead?
The development deal for Howard Town Center fell apart. Does that mean the $11 million tax break is dead, too? It’s not clear. (City Paper)
Would living wage scare off Walmart?
Walmart might not try so hard to open so many stores, or smaller stores, if DC’s living wage bill goes into effect. Or maybe it’s just posturing; it’s hard to know. This is why Tommy Wells opposes the bill. (WBJ)
Borderstan no more
The Dupont/Logan/U Street hyperlocal blog Borderstan is closing down. We will miss their focused coverage of local issues.
And…
Amtrak sees strong ridership to Norfolk. (RT&S) … A cigarette butt likely sparked the Fragers fire. (Post) … The Senate confirmed Dan Tangherlini as permanent GSA head. (WBJ) … What will GSA do with the Coast Guard’s Buzzard Point property? (WBJ)