Breakfast links: Stupidity and violations

Move cars faster, geese or no geese

A man in Reston stopped to help some geese to cross a four-lane divided highway. Police arrived, yelled at the man, and wrote him a ticket for jaywalking. The judge agreed that he violated the law against blocking traffic, but as long as he has no more tickets for six months, it’ll be dismissed. (Post, Andrew)  (Tip: Andrew)

Bus not a good getaway vehicle

Some suburban communities opposed transit in the past because they worried criminals would use transit to arrive, commit crimes, then leave by transit. That didn’t happen, and here’s a good example of why: some men did try to do that, committing a robbery at a light rail station in Anne Arundel County, then fled by bus. But police caught up with the bus and arrested two of the suspects. (WTOP)

You’d get there slower in Zipcar marketing’s brain

Zipcar ran a dumb promotion in New York City, handing out fake “tickets” to pedestrians for moving too slowly. A sign read, “You’d get there faster in a Zipcar. (PSFK, Stephen Miller, Streetsblog)  (Tip: Stephen Miller)

Bad driver, bad rider

A driver blew through a stop sign and collided with a car Mayor Fenty was driving (NewsChannel 8) … Vandals damaged about 20 bus stops on Sunday night. (DCist)

Three Steeple Square?

BeyondDC wonders what to call the area where 16th, Columbia, Harvard, and Mount Pleasant Streets all merge. It’s a major crossroads with a park and three iconic churches, but no name.

Bike & ride the Alleghany

The C&O Canal towpath connects to a hiking and biking trail all the way to Pittsburgh, the Alleghany Passage. Unfortunately, riders can’t take the trail one way for part of the route and return via the parallel Capitol Limited Amtrak train, because bicycles aren’t allowed on the train except in boxes and at stops with baggage handling. Amtrak

The Allegheny Trail Alliance is conducting a survey to gauge interest in accommodating bicycles. (Stephen Miller) Update: Clarified that boxed bikes can go aboard at certain stops, and corrected the sponsor of the survey.  (Tip: Stephen Miller)

New York’s planning drama in books

A new book looks at the epic Jane Jacobs-Robert Moses battle. Jacobs’ attacks on “urban renewal” planning also founded the modern neighborhood preservation movement, which like any has had its important victories and its excesses. … The New York Review of Books also looks at New York’s recently-opened High Line park, built on an old elevated railroad in Chelsea. (HM)  (Tip: HM)