Morning links: Back to school

Happy new year

Today is the first day of school for District and Prince George’s County, and a few other DC-area school students. Classes also start today at American and Howard Universities.  Other counties start later this week or next week, while Northern Virginia students can enjoy another two weeks of vacation. Fox 5 has the full list of area start dates.  (Tip: Erik W)

Safer routes to school

Just in time for the new school year, DDOT will be installing flash beacons at four marked crosswalks in Northwest and Southeast DC, two of them near schools.  While not HAWK signals, they will surely improve the safety of these intersections. (TBD, Stephen Miller)  (Tip: Stephen Miller)

Trucking along

The blocks-long line for DCs new Lobster Truck may have attracted plenty of attention, meanwhile the DCRA is proposing new rules to regulate street vendors that would have particular significance for food truck operators.  DCRA continues to accept comments on the proposed rules until Wednesday. A website has popped up to rally support for the food trucks. (We Love DC)  (Tip: Erik W)

WMATA’s on fire

A bus caught fire in a commuter parking lot on Friday morning.  The CNG bus was completely engulfed in flames by the time firefighters reached the Anne Arundel County commuter parking lot.  Unsuck DC Metro has a video. (WUSA9)  (Tip: Erik W)

I-95 lesson plan

NPR kicked off a 6-week series, “I-95: The Road Most Traveled,” a look at the role of the highway in development and the daily lives of those on the eastern seaboard. Weekend Edition began the series with a look at the “missing” 12-mile section around Princeton, NJ just now moving toward completion. (Dr. Gridlock, NPR)  (Tip: Erik W)

Bullies in Tysons

After major Tysons Corner developers fought for years for a Metrorail extension east to Tysons, one of those developers is now posing the biggest roadblock to the project moving forward. In 2008, Virginia invoked eminent domain to claim some property belonging to Theodore N. Lerner’s company for $24 million. Now Lerner is claiming the taking was damaging to his company’s redevelopment plans, despite the fact that it is still moving forward on nine more properties. Virginia, meanwhile, thinks they overpaid. (Post, Joey)  (Tip: Joey)