Breakfast links: Cycling in the law and the press
Bike bills introduced in Richmond
It’s the start of Virginia’s breakneck legislative season. Bicycle-related bills include ones to allow the Idaho Stop cyclists to go through red lights that are activated by induction loops, add a “reckless cycling” violation, and to require leaving 3 feet to pass a cyclist. (FABB, Richmond Sunlight)
Bike baiting is really frio
TBD editor Erik Wemple engaged in some shameless bike-baiting on his Fuego/Frio segment last night in which he countered a Foggy Bottom Current article titled “Cyclists make a safety resolution” (PDF) with a highly edited clip of bike riders breaking traffic laws. (TBD)
Alternatives to extending Metro
BeyondDC says that for the price of extending Metro lines, as Connolly and Moran propose, Northern Virginia could build a lot of light rail lines and upgrade VRE so that it runs Metro-like frequencies. That could create networks like this and this.
East Falls Church planning enters final stages
Arlington has updated the East Falls Church plan and will have a forum in February. VDOT still opposes removing any parking spaces as the area becomes a more walkable neighborhood. (TBD)
DC makes inroads against chronic homelessness
The District’s Housing First program has made a significant dent in chronic homelessness during the height of the recession. Virginia’s chronic homeless rate dropped slightly, while Maryland’s rose 30%. (WAMU)
Foggy Bottom station closed over MLK weekend
This weekend will see major trackwork, including closing Foggy Bottom station and single-tracking in DC on both ends of the Red Line. (Dr. Gridlock) … You can always get all the info on service disruptions on our disruption calendar.
Nominate “most endangered” historic properties
The DC Preservation League has opened nominations for its 2011 Most Endangered Places List. Do you know of any historic properties that are facing “ill-advised alteration or demolition through neglect or abandonment?” (DCist)
Streetcars: a renaissance or transportation nostalgia?
Tom Vanderbilt examines the curious trend in urban transportation that has left futuristic monorails failing, while cities around the country and elsewhere scramble to build modern streetcars. (Slate)
Google Transit adds new features
You can now search for transit routes on Google based on which mode you prefer and how long you’d like to spend waiting for transfers, but you still can’t do it for WMATA routes. (Übergizmo)
And…
CaBi has released its first Winter Weather Warrior contest update, with more than a few GGW readers and contributors in the fray. … DC’s snow law dates to 1922 (DCist) … 13 people suffered minor injuries in a bus crash in Congress Heights … The first priority in DDOT’s solicitation (PDF) to optimize its traffic signal timing is to “make DC traffic signals safer and friendlier for the pedestrians.” (DDOT)