Breakfast links: Heating up

Heat slows Metro

Metro has slowed down trains above ground starting last night. We’re in for more hot days, and heat caused a train to derail at West Hyattsville during the last heat wave. (DCist)

Pay by phone at 2 Metro lots

Metro is piloting pay by phone at the Rockville and Fort Totten parking lots. An app also lets you see real-time availability at those lots, to know if there is a space available before driving there. (PlanItMetro)

Wells wants to cut camera fines

Tommy Wells has formed a task force to look at reducing fines from traffic cameras. We’ve argued that fines can be lower once more cameras come in. (Examiner)

Wards 5 and 8 get largest slice of the pie

Wards 5 and 8 got the most public development money in next year’s budget, mostly from St. Elizabeths and schools for Ward 5. Ward 7 is scheduled to receive the least. (Post)

Long commutes contain sprawl

Commuting times correlate positively with urban size, but the difference between large and medium sized metros is modest. Cities’ mean commutes rarely go much above 30 minutes, a constraint on sprawl. (Old Urbanist)

Seattle plans for more, quicker density

Seattle relaxed parking minimums, allowed greater density, and reduced regulations limiting building. Though they only lowered parking minimums a little bit. (The Seattle Times)

Syracuse wants to lose “Berlin Wall”

Residents of Syracuse want to tear down an elevated highway that divides neighborhoods. But traffic engineers don’t want to do anything to slow driving times, and some worry about gentrification. (NPR)

And…

The mayor’s personal security costs nearly $1 million annually. (Examiner)… Transit riders are much less likely to be obese. (Streetsblog)… The 18th Street refurbishment in Adams Morgan is now complete. (Examiner)