Image from UMD.

Please enroll in transportation economics 101: UMD’s Residence Hall Association passed a resolution calling on the university to “explore ways to create new parking spaces and to reduce the number of cars on the campus.” As the first commenters points out, one way to start reducing the number of cars is not to create new parking spaces! An amendment to remove the parking space portion of the resolution narrowly failed. Tip: Carter.

Clearance on car dealers: Mayor Fenty closed 23 more car dealerships on Monday for legal violations. The Office of Planning is thinking about how we could productively reuse these spaces in the short term. How about some farmers’ markets once the weather warms back up?

SF trying performance parking: SF’s MTA gave the green light for that city’s first performance parking pilot program, which will set market prices for meters and municipal garages in high-demand commercial areas. Tip: Ben Thielen.

Amtrak CEO resigns: I hadn’t paid much attention to Amtrak CEO Alex Kummant or his recent resignation. But Orphan Road suggests a plausible rationale: In an August interview, Kummant seemed uninterested in new high-speed rail in the Northeast Corridor or elsewhere. Orphan Road hypothesizes, “It may be that the Amtrak board wants to use this opportunity to think big, and Kummant wasn’t down with that.”

Plus: After an audit, MTA Maryland realized they’re missing $475,000 (via Inside Charm City); The American Prospect ponders the possibilities for Obama’s Office of Urban Policy and discusses the growing local online movement around metropolitan issues (tip: Dan E).