Breakfast links: VRE advances its Crystal City expansion ahead of the Amazon incentive vote
VRE from the Mandarin Oriental hotel in DC by Adam Fagen licensed under Creative Commons.
VRE plans to expand its Crystal City station
Virginia Railway Express plans to redesign and expand its Crystal City station in order to improve service. Arlington also plans to add a second entrance to the Crystal City Metro Station that will be closer to the VRE stop. (Max Smith / WTOP)
DC Central Kitchen just lost a lot of funding to provide meals in homeless shelters
DC Central Kitchen, a nonprofit that serves food at nearly all the city’s homeless shelters, is facing financial troubles and layoffs after losing a large portion of its long-held homeless shelter food service contract. (Morgan Baskin / City Paper)
Metro plans to offer a subsidy for late-night trips using Uber, Lyft, or taxi
Metro is following through with plans to partner with ride-hailing companies to help fill its late-night service gaps. Metro will pay $3 towards the cost of the trip as long as it takes place between 12 am and 4 am, and the passenger is traveling home or to work. (Faiz Siddiqui / Post)
Metro single-tracked to rescue an injured bald eagle
On Wednesday, an injured bald eagle was spotted on the tracks near the Morgan Boulevard station in Prince George's County. Trains single-tracked on part of the Blue/Silver lines during rush hour until the bird was rescued. (Marissa J. Lang / Post)
A local H2Q opposition coalition wants Amazon to attend public hearings
A local coalition has asked the Arlington County Board to delay a vote on a $23 million dollar incentive package for Amazon. The group “For Us, Not Amazon” asked the board to delay the vote until Amazon agrees to attend public hearings with the community. (Matt Blitz / DCist)
Traffic lights in NoVa and DC will be able to “talk” to vehicles
Traffic lights in Northern Virginia and DC will soon be able to communicate with newer models of Audi vehicles to let drivers know when lights will turn green. This technology will help reduce “startup lost time.” (Jordan Pascale / WAMU)
Montgomery County is installing metal bike rails
MCDOT is installing a metal protected bikeway barrier along Nebel Street in White Flint as part of a pilot project. (MCDOT / Twitter)
MoCo Council wants to address racial and economic disparities
The Montgomery County Council wants to collect better data in order to create policy that addresses racial and economic disparities in the county. It also plans to create an office dedicated to equity. (Dan Schere / Bethesda Beat)
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