Lunch links: How we compare

Metro areas ranked by pedestrian safety

The DC area is 34th most dangerous for pedestrians, 2 spots better than Baltimore but far worse than Boston, Cleveland, New York, Pittsburgh and Minneapolis. The 4 worst are all in Florida. That’s not just because of its many seniors, but pedestrian safety will become even more important as the numbers of seniors and people with disabilities grows. (T4America, NPR)

Why Washington is better than Atlanta

Atlanta and Washington both had few walkable places in 1976; today, our area has many while Atlanta still has few. A big difference: we invested in Metro while Atlanta let MARTA stagnate. (AJC)

DC second fittest; biking a factor?

DC was displaced by Minneapolis as the fittest city in the US. Minneapolis also happens to have a lot of bicyclists, and the most equal gender ratio of people biking; DC is also high in both. Coincidence? (Post, DCBAC)

Gray wants Skyland Walmart

Mayor Gray told Walmart that they better open a 5th store at Skyland, in Ward 8

7, or else he’ll fight their plans to open 4 others elsewhere in the city. (Post)

Cheh proposes awesome budget ideas

In a great joke budget memo, Councilmember Mary Cheh announces plans to build an amphitheater in Klingle Valley to host a musical about Sulaimon Brown, using eminent domain to destroy all DC campuses and replace them with strip malls and dog parks, and much more. (DCist)

VRE bends over backwards

A freight train broke down in Alexandria yesterday blocking VRE trains. The railroad originated outbound trains at the Van Dorn Metro, offering to hold trains for customers who got stuck on Metro and to cover taxi costs for those who missed the contingency service. (Train Talk)

HSR an even clearer win for California than France

Facing near-constant calls by some quarters to cancel California’s high-speed rail, a Sacramento Bee editorial and amazing graphic notes that Calfornia’s system would be a similar size to France’s, which operates at a profit, but serve even more people. (Burrito Justice)

Building transit takes a long time

If you want to build a heavy rail line with 30-50% federal money, it takes 9-15 years even if there’s 100% support. Doing it without federal money takes 6-8+ years. (PlanItMetro)