Breakfast links: WMATA and Metro’s largest union strike a deal to slow privatization
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 protests working conditions under a Metro contractor at the WMATA headquarters in November. Image by GKJ.
Metro and its largest union agree to slow privatization
WMATA management and ATU Local 689, Metro’s largest union, have reached a tentative four-year contract that would end Metro’s privatization of operations like bus garages. The surprise agreement is expected to bring a bus drivers’ strike in Northern Virginia to an end. (Robert McCartney and Justin George / Post)
Virginia looks to fund transportation projects next year
Governor Ralph Northam is considering raising Virginia’s 22-cent gas tax to fully fund the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and establish a stable funding stream for projects like the Long Bridge rail expansion. (Max Smith / WTOP)
A Maryland woman hit by a USPS driver dies
Rita Jo Sultan, an 81-year-old resident of Silver Spring, died on Monday after the driver of a Postal Service truck hit her while she crossed University Boulevard. (Will Vitka / WTOP)
The District sues Greyhound over illegal idling
The suit charges Greyhound with violating the three-minute limit for idling commercial vehicles since Greyhound buses routinely idle near Union Station. DC is asking for $216,000 in damages over the bus’s exhaust pollution. (Jacob Fenston / WAMU. Tip: Chester B.)
Alexandria will review a dangerous intersection
The city’s Vision Zero Crash Task Force will review a collision at King Street, Braddock Road and Quaker Lane where a car flipped over. Despite this, and the high car and pedestrian traffic there, Alexandria says it is not planning a large scale project to fix the intersection. (Vernon Miles / ALX Now)
Montgomery County will extend its scooter pilot
The county is extending a pilot program to test e-bikes and scooters on park trails in order to get more feedback on how riders and parkgoers feel about safety on the trails. (Caitlynn Peetz / Bethesda Beat)
DC wants wealthy enclaves to open up for housing
As part of an effort to convince residents in wealthy upper Northwest DC neighborhoods to accept Mayor Bowser’s plan to add nearly 2,000 affordable housing units to the area by 2025, DC sponsored a screening of “Segregated by Design” and a talk about the history and present reality of housing segregation in Ward 3. (Graham Vyse / DCist)
A DC pilot program will test free Metro rides
DC will offer free transit for 1,000 low-income Washingtonians as part of a study to see how transportation impacts overall well being for residents. The city may fund more discounts and free Metro rides depending on the results of the study, which will take place over the summer. (Justin George / Post. Tip: Chester B.)
MoCo’s services for people experiencing homelessness are stretched thin
The county spent an extra $2 million on last-minute expansions for facilities serving homeless people this winter after its primary men’s shelter closed unexpectedly. That facility on East Gude Drive in Rockville was evacuated earlier this year due to noises and vibrations from the landfill next door, and may not be able to reopen. (Kate Masters / Bethesda Beat)
DCRA’s property inspectors are hitting the streets
DCRA has trained 133 people to conduct building inspections on a contracting basis. Twenty-nine of the “citizen enforcers” are already at work, though they only show up as needed, like when an inspection is requested on weekends. (Martin Austermuhle / WAMU)
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