Breakfast links: Volunteers needed

The new way to pay fares

Do you use Ballston, Bethesda, Eisenhower Ave, Farragut West, Gallery Place, Navy Yard, Pentagon, Pentagon City, Shady Grove, or Suitland Metro stations or the 37, 39, J4, K9, X9, or REX buses? You can volunteer to test Metro’s new fare payment technology.

Get dense

Some residents along two streets in downtown Bethesda want county planners to allow their neighborhood to grow denser. Some opponents think they just want to “cash in” on land values. (BethesdaNow)

DC General gets a playground

A new playground opened at the DC General shelter yesterday. The roughly 600 children who live at the shelter will now have recreation space, and a playground manager who coordinates activities. (WAMU)

Street Sense human cameras?

A writer for the Guardian has a plan to turn Street Sense vendors into human traffic cameras.  The vendors would use smartphones to record traffic violations at intersections. Is this a good idea? (City Paper)

Dig into DC’s past

The DC Public Library has released “Dig DC,” a digital archive of DC history which includes maps, photos, cartoons, oral histories, and more. (Post)

Not a giant rebate

As more shoppers bring their own reusable bags, Giant will stop giving a 5¢ credit for each reusable bag. Giant says it’s putting money into other environmental initiatives. (WTOP)

No more Hailo

The taxi-hailing app Hailo will stop operating almost “immediately” in DC and other North American cities. This leaves fewer good app options to take a regular taxi rather than Uber or Lyft. (City Paper)

So close yet so far

Even when areas try to increase density, rules about separation often mean it’s a long drive or walk even to a very close-by store. (Urban kchoze)

Bike crashes up and down

Subruban towns around Boston saw a 9% increase in bicycle collisions between 2010 and 2012, as they added bike lanes.  This is in contrast to New York, which saw a decrease in collisions between 2008 and 2011.  (CityLab)

And…

The mayoral candidates debated for the third time last evening. (Post) …  DC has installed curbs along the L Street cycletrack. (WashCycle) … Fairfax County has OK’d the Westpark Plaza development in Tysons, which includes a 31-story skyscraper.  (WBJ)