Breakfast links: Happy birthday Greater Greater Washington!
We’re 7!
Today is our seventh birthday and the last day in our reader drive! A generous donor gave us a birthday present to extend our match and hit our $18,000 goal. We need just $411 more to get every dollar of our match. Wish us a happy birthday today so we can do more amazing things!
More trains just for DC?
DC wants more transit, but Maryland and Virginia may not want to pay. Can DC go it alone with trains that turn around at the DC line? Board members shut down Harriet Tregoning’s efforts to explore the idea. (City Paper)
More on Metro
How delayed is Metro? Zach Rausnitz started an infographic to show it. … WMATA spent over $100,000 on TV ads to promote the Silver Line. (City Paper) … Trains will travel slowly in some spots to avoid cracked rails in the cold. (Post)
No tax Hogan
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan wants to stop automatically increasing the gas tax to keep pace with inflation, among other tax cuts. House Speaker Busch said that could be the “death knell” for the Purple and Baltimore Red lines. (Post)
Protect Purple
The Maryland legislature wants to prohibit Governor Hogan from unilaterally moving money from the Purple and Baltimore Red lines to road projects while the legislature is out of session. (Maryland Reporter)
No streetcar schedule
New DDOT chief Leif Dormsjo would not commit to any deadline for opening the streetcar, saying it could be “two weeks, or two months or two years.” (Post) … Tranpsortion committee chair Mary Cheh is losing confidence and wants to consider “further scaling back” the system. (NBC4)
Gondola transit
Georgetown businesses desperate for transit connections see a gondola to Rosslyn as a real option. But would the Park Service ever allow something with wires across the Potomac? (CityLab)
Virginians retiring
Mary Hynes will not seek re-election to the Arlington County Board this year. Along with Walter Tejada, this means there will be two open seats on the 5-member board. (ArlNow) … Fairfax Supervisor Gerald Hyland is also retiring. (Post)
More bikes in Baltimore
While Baltimore has fallen behind other cities in building bike lanes, it has now committed to a downtown bicycle network including a 2.6 mile north-south protected bikeway on Maryland Avenue. (Baltimore Sun)
And…
The NTSB will hold a hearing on the January WMATA smoke incident in June. (DCist) … Business leaders tell Governor Hogan to build the Purple Line. (WAMU) … The DC Council moved forward on a bill to end pre-K suspensions in schools. (Post)