Breakfast links: Got a GM
A general manager, almost
The WMATA Board has selected Neal Cohen as Metro’s next general manager. Cohen has served as CFO and VP for several aerospace and airline companies. But it’s not a done deal; salary negotiations are still ongoing. (Post)
More time for PTC
Congress has passed a bill that gives railroads three more years to implement positive train control technology. The original deadline at the end of this year would have halted commuter and freight rail service across the country. (WTOP)
Teetering toward tolls
Plans to add toll lanes to I-66 outside of the Beltway are nearing final approval. The Commonwealth Transportation Board approved the expansion project, bringing it one step closer to federal funding. (WAMU)
Creative cops
A Montgomery County police officer posed as a homeless man with a cardboard sign to catch drivers using their cell phones … A DC cop’s dance off with a teen has gone viral. The cop says she was just doing her job to help diffuse conflict. (Post)
Test the testing
A panel will decide if students in Maryland are tested too much. The panel includes Montgomery County Schools superintendent Larry Bowers, who successfully pushed to get rid of final exams in his schools earlier this year. (Post)
Drive-to urbanism
Atlanta has walkable places but most people arrive to them by car. The city wants to combat drive-to urbanism by improving transportation options on all streets, even those outside of developing areas. (Streetsblog)
For the public good, or not
Cities with large minority populations spend less on public goods, like roads, parks, and police, than more homogeneous cities do. Why? One theory is that whites create private alternatives to public goods because they don’t want to put money toward public funds they fear will be spent poorly. (Post)
The self-driving choice
How should self-driving cars react to an unavoidable fatal accident? In theory people tend to like the idea of saving the lives of many at the cost of one, but what happens if that one is you? (Post)
Idaho in Europe
The Idaho Stop, which allows cyclists to treat red lights as stop signs and stop signs as yields, is becoming prominent throughout Europe. Even during political campaigns candidates are standing up for the stop. (The Guardian)