Breakfast links: Capital Bikeshare delivers

CaBi to expand further

At last night’s Capital Bikeshare birthday party, DDOT Director Terry Bellamy announced that DC will add 50 more stations beyond the 32 already planned, along with 500 more bikes early next year.

CaBi employee recovers a stolen bike

Bystanders in Woodley Park chased after a bike thief.  A CaBi employee was able to recover the victim’s bike. (PoP)

CaBi blew SmartBike away

Why did SmartBike never match CaBi’s success? It lacked day passes, enough locations, good marketing, and the bikes looked goofy. It serves as a case study of what not to do. (TBD)

Chinatown Metro is really is crowded

Growth downtown has made ridership at Gallery Place skyrocket, but the narrow platforms and T-shaped layout make it tricky for riders. WMATA is studying possible solutions, including filling in a “moat,” cutting into vault corners, or even a new elevated walkway. (PlanItMetro, Examiner)

Steps forward and back for transparency

Mayor Gray reversed the fire chief’s decision to censor tweets. (Post) … 9 councilmembers booted reporters from an internal ethics chat. Closed-door sessions are permitted in some circumstances. (DCist)

What if Arlington never left DC?

The 100-square-mile District would boast 1 million residents, 12 wards, 1 Walmart, and still no members of Congress. (City Paper) … This assumes the rest of local history wouldn’t change.

No such thing as a free highway

With gas tax and toll revenues falling, Maryland is raising tolls to compensate.  Virginia wants to add tolls to I-95 south of Richmond to fund repairs. (Post) … Will this increase public awareness that highways are expensive?

Pedestrianize Penn Ave on Sundays?

Yesterday’s Car-Free Day festivities inspired columnist Harry Jaffe to advocate making Penn. Avenue a bicyclist-pedestrian street on Sundays.  It’s symbolic, but would other streets be livelier venues? (Examiner)

And…

Fall began this morning at 5:04 am. (Post) … The earthquake and tropical storm caused over $100 million in damage in Virginia. (Washington Times) … All Metro riders (who register their cards) can now refill SmarTrips online. (Post)