Photo by timbrell on Flickr.

Arlington follows some performance parking

Arlington has decided to reduce parking prices where meters aren’t full. In some places, the price will drop to 50¢ per hour. Arlington officially approved a performance parking policy goal as part of the master transportation plan, but exact rates are still in the county code. (ARLnow, Michael P.)  

Maryland public schools tops in US

Maryland has topped the list for public school quality according to Education Week.  The magazine, which ranked states based on education policies, “preparing students for the world,” and overall achievement, ranked Virginia as #4, and DC second to last, in front of only Nebraska. (WUSA)  

Pepco will now monitor own network

Pepco has devised a scheme to detect power outages through the network side rather than waiting for customer reports, and asserts that outages previously taking up to four hours to resolve could be resolved in under a minute. (WTOP)  

Metro puts theft warnings posters in stations

WMATA has posted new warnings about the rise in theft of electronics and smartphones.  Meanwhile, MTP officers remain posted at station entrances, swabbing your bag. (TBD)  

L’Enfant not so dangerous, Chinatown tops list

According to 2009 statistics (the most recent available!) Chinatown Metro experienced the most assaults as well as the most crimes overall.  L’Enfant Plaza, in the news a lot since last week’s random assault, doesn’t make the top 10 list. (TBD) …

released system-wide YTD crime stats for October 2010, but no station-by-station breakdown. (Unsuck DC Metro)  

Talking transportation in Fairfax

Fairfax County Chairman Sharon Bulova said it would be extremely expensive for the county to take over roads from VDOT. She also said its critical for mixed-use at Tysons to be walkable and bikeable. Meanwhile, County Supervisor John “A Bike Is Not A Transportation Device” Cook is skeptical about Tysons’ proposed parking maximums. (FABB Blog)  

Frederick gets money for trail extension

A $30,000 grant will help Frederick extend its Carroll Creek trail under US-15, furthering progress on the City’s 25 mile shared-use path plan that will eventually create a “beltway” around the city. (WTOP)  

And…

Despite relative pedestrian friendliness, pedestrian traffic in Friendship Heights and downtown Silver Spring never comes close to vehicle volume, even at midday. (PhilaTransport, Bossi) … Beset with months of delays already, the Norfolk Tide Light Rail project is being delayed further. (The Virginian-Pilot, Matt’) … The American Farm Bureau Federation will sue EPA over the agency’s Chesapeake Bay clean-up plan, saying it will put area farmers out of business. (WAMU)  (Tip: Bossi)