Breakfast links: Budget barriers

DC budget brawl

Mayor Gray’s spokesman calls Council Chairman Mendelson’s proposal to cut streetcar funding like “taking a page out of the Koch brothers’ manual, and that the cuts will seriously threaten the streetcar program. Mendelson says Gray is overhyping the situation.

Alexander rewards a contributor?

Yvette Alexander (ward 7) cut hospital funding and gave $1.2 million to the developer of a housing project which is already complete and needs no more money. The developer donated to Alexander, and Gray suggests this is “pay to play politics.” (Wash. Times)

Bowser backs better buses

DC mayoral candidate Muriel Bowser is now asking DDOT to study a dedicated bus lane on 16th Street NW. She has not yet said whether she would support such a lane. (WAMU) … David Catania also says he wants the study.

Silver Line, finally

As of yesterday, WMATA officially took control of the Silver Line and will start testing. It now has 90 days to open the line, meaning you should be able to start riding it by the end of the summer. (DCist)

Fairfaxers for unwalkability

Fairfax Supervisor Pat Herrity doesn’t think the county should fund sidewalks and bike paths. It will have a bond referendum on $85 million in bike/ped projects, necessary because the state won’t fund them. (TheWashCycle)

Something about a map

Children west of Rock Creek Park are more likely to be proficient at math; 18- to 24-year-olds there are more likely to be employed. What other trends do you notice in DC Action for Children’s set of interactive maps?  (DCist)

Pay up Citibike

New York’s contract for Citibike requires the operator to pay for lost parking meter revenue because some stations are on the street. Alta would need to pay about $1 million unless NYC waives the requirement. (WSJ)

Robo-traffic?

The founder of Zipcar worries that self-driving cars will make traffic worse because people could send them to do certain errands like picking up cleaning, and not care if there’s a lot of traffic. Or maybe not. (Wired, Bacon’s Rebellion)

And…

Teams competing to design the 11th Street Bridge Park were narrowed down to four. (UrbanTurf) … Tuesday’s storms left about 30,000 people in the region without power. (WTOP) … Is this Atlanta road the hardest to cross in the country? (Streetsblog)