Recent Comments

Could the FDA's vast grounds be open to the public? I doubt the underworld is looking for an opportunity to attack a duck pond.

by Steve in Science Gateway plan brings urban approach to White Oak on May 22, 2013 6:58 am • link • report

@JPH: Sure, which is why I mentioned the projected costs, and identified (very vague) offsets we could make in a tax neutral way.

Also, to your broader point, I fully understand the difference, but taxes are progressive, and age distributed, so:
a) you aren't paying for the education at the time of delivery, but have been "saving up" with tax payment before procreation, and will continue to "pay it off" after, with tax payment after they are no longer dependents.
b) taxes are sourced based on ability to pay, ensuring that this (and all other government services) don't prove an insurmountable burden to the payer
and
c) many taxes are indirect—the relevance here is not that they are hidden, but that they are not fully transferred to the consumer. Producer surpluses originating with market inefficiencies are common, and taxes paid out of them are not necessarily reflected in price increases as a result of substitution goods, etc. Obv this is not a forum for discussing basic undergraduate Intermediate Microeconomics, but you get the idea.

The idea that the money is coming from somewhere is also partially wrong; to the extent that this government spending has a multiplier effect, and increases the velocity of money, it literally creates money from a systems perspective. You may ask whether it's inflationary, as much as whether it costs too much.

And now (what, (e)?) we reach whether this spending defrays future costs; educating a student costs A, + B for early childhood ed. A high school graduate contributes X to the economy over their lifetime, a dropout saves Y education dollars by not showing up, commits crimes costing C, and ends up incarcerated for a certain number of years on average, costing D. Oh, and free full-time preschool enables Z in taxes from additional parents able to work outside the home.

I'm fairly sure that B-X-Z < C+D-Y; I say that because I believe my first article on daycare and early childhood ed linked to studies showing C+D-Y > $120,000, which wildly exceeds per pupil program costs expected for a 2-6 full day preschool commitment.

The reality is, this is a small program we're discussing. It's easy enough to pay for, we just need to (say) return to military spending circa 2000—when we were still a superpower, and would remain such were that our spending level at present. Of course, every proponent of a new government program raids that same account, so let's recall that this would only use 40% of that surplus, leaving $150 billion year in extra spending authority.

by Rahul Mereand-Sinha in Daycare is education, part 2: Early childhood care matters on May 22, 2013 6:56 am • link • report

I cannot disagree more.

-The concept of an M Street bike lane has been in the works for years. The only reason the attendees didn't know about it is because most of them live outside of the District.

-It isn't the "new" residents who are clamoring for bike lanes. Longtime residents have been working with DDOT since the late 1990's for this infrastructure.

-Longtime residents have been objecting to the preferential parking treatment of chruchgoers for decades, particularly those chrurchgoers who are not DC residents.

Ultimately, the city agencies and government are accountable to the residents who pay taxes, not the people who have an ancestoral claim to the District, but no other stake.

I don't mean to be harsh, but anyone paying attention to these issue has known about the M Street bike lane for quite some time, and quit frankly, it is offensive to suggest that new residents being demanding are to blame.

No one "forced" District residents out. People made an economic, or other choice, and in most cases "cashed out". I don't feel sorry for someone who bought a townhouse for $10,000 in 1965 only to sell it for $550,000 in 2009.

by William in M Street cycle track keeps improving, draws church anger on May 22, 2013 6:54 am • link • report

I just went through my second year of having a CABI subscription. I have not used it once. Thought I would, didn't. I didn't renew. Maybe someday. For now, walking and Metro gets me most places I want to go in DC.

by Steve in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 22, 2013 6:50 am • link • report

"We know France and Sweden provide better services at no cost to families."

Well...not exactly. Parents do not pay the daycare provider directly but, of course, they and others without children pay through taxes and other levies.

This is a great example of the persistent confusion about cost and price. The cost of providing daycare in France and Sweden is probably quite substantial; the price, at least as paid directly by the users, is zero.

One could argue that it is good public policy for citizens of country X, county X, city X, or whatever unit you want to focus, to pay enough taxes so that all children have a guaranteed daycare spot.

But don't delude yourself: That price is being paid by somebody somehow.

by JPH in Daycare is education, part 2: Early childhood care matters on May 22, 2013 4:56 am • link • report

The newly arrived mostly white college educated soon-to-be-plurality is demanding too much. I want bike lanes too. I commute by bike everyday and think we need to greatly expand our biking infrastructure. However, I'm disturbed by how much this new wave of residents thinks it's owed credit for this city's ongoing boom and fever pitch development, and the level of input it affords them. While the sentiment may be true in part, there is a severe lack of respect for what remains, and what was here before.

Take a step back. A church like many other tax exempt bodies in this city often serves people and interests not connected to those neighborhoods or even this city. Anyone going to encumber National Cathedral with any unwanted Traffic projects? It is important to remember the historical significance of this church, and respect the fact that it carried out it mission - in the worst of conditions. 10, 15 years ago few of thos clamoring for change would have dared walk some of these streets in daylight. So respect their anger and frustration when it feels like bike lanes are threatening their survival. they've already faced offers to leave and many other churches have left to the suburbs. The highly charged racial language and paranoia comes from a real place. It's not about disdain for cyclists or their safety ( As the article notes, a number of the seniors are from our ranks (no doubt doing it longer too) it's about entitled newcomer transplants - or even the perception of.

The bike lane will hurt the church, and the decision is pretty much done, and according to the church withoUt much in the way of warning. And, like the new apartment buildings, fancy grocery stores, restaurants, It's an improvement And service for newcomers to enjoy, newcomers who "forced" family and friends out, and never lived in the city when it was struggling rather than booming. This is what folks feel, how far off are they? Understand where they're coming from. When you do, you might be okay with a funky Sunday bike lane

by C-ton in M Street cycle track keeps improving, draws church anger on May 22, 2013 3:39 am • link • report

Many of the outside areas have enough room to fit a 3rd or even 4th track its just that the stations don't have the room.
Why not build stations with room left in so that if needed a 3rd track or more can be added in the future.

Take the Orange Line along 66 there is enough room to have a 3rd track between East Falls Church and West Falls Church. On Red Line between Brookland and Silver Spring there is enough room to add a 3rd track.

When it comes to Wye's there are a few places where you could add one or just let trains one on non revenue tracks that could solve some delays. Adding a second Wye at Fort Totten you could reroute Red/Green Line trains to the others tracks.

If they Built a Spur between Columbia Heights and Cleveland Park or Van Ness and a Wye going in all directions at Ft Totten you could solve most of the Red Line's issues

by kk in Long-term closures: A solution to single-tracking? on May 22, 2013 12:39 am • link • report

@ Matt S

How the hell do you not encounter delays of some sort ? Everyday i work on weekends I always have to deal with a delay of single tracking, or a shutdown station

I ride the system everyday usually anywhere from 11am to closing and deal with delays on almost a delay basis; if not by Metrorail by Metrobus (not related to traffic). I have never had a day when my trip was perfect with no problems.

I ride the Red, Orange & occasionally the Blue (if the orange is having issues)lines 6 out of 7 days and when I ride the others I seem to encounter problems on them also.

The only thing worst happening to Metrorail would be a train accident, inferno in the tunnel or flooding of one of the tunnels under the rivers. Anything else that could happen has happen at least once over the past 30+ years

@ TimK

If WMATA accepted receipts for reimbursement they would owe me about $200 a month due to delays forcing me to take cabs when I miss the last bus of the night cause of a train issue.

by kk in Metro policy for refunds after delays falls short, riders say on May 22, 2013 12:20 am • link • report

The construction's done, the station isn't coming back. At 14th and S we even lost our bus stop to a new development. Maybe there are some but I don't know of a single developer who's voluntarily incorporated bike share stations or even allowed them on adjacent public space.

by Tom Coumaris in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 11:36 pm • link • report

And yet CTA recently considered replacing the four-track NSM with a two-track subway. That proposal got very serious consideration and was applauded by most of the engineers I talked to. The result would be better local service, and very marginally worse service from the edge -- and suburban riders already often opt for parallel commuter rail anyways.

In a perfect world, sure, there should be passing tracks for express operation. I'd rather have more pocket tracks and wyes (and less of a focus on 9-to-5) that would allow us to optimize the system in the core, where it's most popular, rather than continuing to focus on speeding suburban commuters through.

by Payton in Long-term closures: A solution to single-tracking? on May 21, 2013 10:19 pm • link • report

Developers don't like them in front of new buildings on public space (which is valuable for sidewalk seating, etc.). We almost lost the station at 14th &R when renovation of the old C&P building into condos started and CaBi was kicked out.

That has more to do with the requirements of construction to close the sidewalk, does it not?

by Alex B. in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 8:03 pm • link • report

I doubt it's really such a money problem with increasing the number of docks in existing stations.

Initially CaBi needs to pull a certain number of bikes to free up more docks. Until the ratio of bikes to docks is better, the potential for customers to experience terrible problems returning bikes is too great, will happen too often, and CaBi's reputation will be tarnished.

The biggest problem is getting permission for a station. Developers don't like them in front of new buildings on public space (which is valuable for sidewalk seating, etc.). We almost lost the station at 14th &R when renovation of the old C&P building into condos started and CaBi was kicked out. Fortunately the Whitman-Walker Clinic allowed it to be moved to the public space in front of their building and there's room for twice as many docks.

Change zoning to allow a certain number of required parking spaces to be swapped for a set ratio of bikeshare docks on property or on adjacent public space.

by Tom Coumaris in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 7:40 pm • link • report

It's too bad that we don't really have a local (i.e. neighborhood) funding source to defray the cost of new stations or bigger stations.

Performance parking revenue could be a local funding source to fund Cabi stations in those neighborhoods. It seems like an intrinsically fair approach -- if you're going to charge people more money for parking, then give them some other transportation options.

by Falls Church in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 7:20 pm • link • report

@Nick

I don't see how adding office jobs, restaurants, shops, and entertainment to White Oak would contribute to the rush hour traffic you're referring to. All of that traffic is going from the suburbs to DC or sometimes to points west. The traffic resulting from this development would be in the counter-direction or during off-peak times, and there's available capacity at those times (unlike VA where there is substantial reverse commuting and off-peak congestion).

I'd agree that unlike office jobs and retail, the 5300 new homes could add some to rush hour traffic. However, these new developments would be walkable and transit-oriented, so their impact should be limited.

by Falls Church in Science Gateway plan brings urban approach to White Oak on May 21, 2013 7:12 pm • link • report

...I should clarify, that M-NCPPC and DPW&T do work together on other matters. But DPW&T has little money and no specific charge to seriously promote bicycling other than during the reconstruction of roads. M-NCPPC has more money, but neither the Council nor the Planning Commission has directed it to use its trail money to promote transportation or transit districts.

The County Executive and Planning Commission do have worthy goals, but they just haven't gotten around to learning enough of the details to actually set the staff on a direction toward achieving some of these goals. The planners don't need to be told, they are doing what they can, but ultimately the operations people need to buy into it and they haven't--yet.

by Jim Titus in Prince George's County struggles to get trails right on May 21, 2013 6:50 pm • link • report

@selxic: I think that Gull summarized this post quite well.

You are correct that this article does not provide a set of recommendations for the 200 miles, or even the 40 miles that WABA suggests should be done by 2020.

The two priorities that I have enumerated (extending the WB&A to the Anacostia via New Carrollton Metro and extending Henson Creek trail to Branch Avenue Metro) are roughly 15 miles. The trail extensions that others have mentioned west of US-1 are probably about another 7 miles.

In my view, there are probably more than 100 (maybe hundreds) of places where very short trails should connect cul-de-sac road networks to create parallel bikeways. That will be even more difficult to motivate, as long as transportation is not a goal of the parks department, bike-ped is not a goal of the transportation department, and getting these agencies to work together for the good of the county is not a priority of the County Executive.

The County priority letter gives you a sense of what the Parks Department and Planning Departments think are important.

by Jim Titus in Prince George's County struggles to get trails right on May 21, 2013 6:31 pm • link • report

The capacity issues discussed here make DDOT's slow pace and uncommunicative approach to expansion all the more frustrating. I was hoping we'd have the 54 installed and be on to the next round. Clearly there is demand for it.

by Dno in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 6:23 pm • link • report

If we did a big round of school closings before with a promise of more money available to local schools and the bottom line result was no more money to local schools why would we believe that the same group of people will do the same thing and get a different result? Sort of the definition of insanity.

If the 2008 closings cost $40 million, and by dcauditor.org's own numbers, we're saving "only" $10 million per year, that means we broke even in 2012, and we're approaching $10 million in savings this year (setting aside the incidentals). Over the next decade we'll save another $100 million, and that doesn't figure in the 2013 round of closings. Or the revenue we'll generate from the thousands of new residents in the empty schools that were converted to residential, and the revenue from the commercial establishments. All of that has to be put on the positive side of the ledger.

by oboe in Judge denies injunction against closing schools on May 21, 2013 6:14 pm • link • report

I'm actually ambivalent on the question of closing down empty, dilapidated schools. I'm extremely interested in a forthright, convincing argument that holding onto these buildings is a prudent thing to do--financially as well as in the interests of the kids.

But I'm turned off when I see these studies that make a comparison between, on the one hand, the one-time costs of closing school buildings, and on the other the *annual* savings that accrue to DCPS by not having to operate the facilities. These don't even take into account the huge cost of repairing these facilities which are often crumbling, and that the developer will have to eat in order to rehabilitate the property. Sorry, but that just seems disingenuous to me.

As far as counting DCPS' loss of students to charters as a "cost" to DCPS, that's not particularly convincing either. We're talking about the cost to the city, not DCPS. If we can provide DC's schoolkids with an excellent education exclusively via charters, I have no problem with that at all. So when you say, "Closing this school cost DCPS $10 million (because those schoolkids are getting a better education at Yu Ying, or wherever" that's not an argument that holds much water either. The point should be the best education possible for DC's kids while holding down costs. Not protecting DCPS' turf.

by oboe in Judge denies injunction against closing schools on May 21, 2013 6:11 pm • link • report

@oboe

The actual number in the report is $39.5 million, and yes some of it is capital cost but those costs could be argued to be very low. Since many of the buildings have been transferred to other DC agencies, charters, or developers and are no longer available to DCPS, lets say current trends in population increase continue and DCPS cleans up its act so it is a great choice to go to school everywhere in the city not just ward 3 and some isolated other schools. Then the cost would be the replacement cost of the facilities. Right now in Ward 5 we are probably going to spend at least $50 million more than necessary to create middle school buildings because the Taft facility has been turned over to a charter and is not available to DCPS. The renovation at Brookland will be $50 million and the facility will be smaller, not as good a footprint for a school, and without the expansive athletic fields(we are separately renovating part of McKinley this year for $11 million for middle school kids). So in essence that cost could all be laid at the feet of the turning over of that building at the time of the closings and consolidations, though you probably have to include the turning over of the school at Fort Totten to UDC as well. The "impairment cost" didn't even look at say the sale of Hine. Here is a building listed as worth $44 million that is sold for $21 million to a developer and it isn't listed as an impairment to DCPS.

I also think the $1.5 million in transportation costs in 2008-09 is probably a continuing cost every year. As more schools are closed transportation costs are going to go up, not down. Also some of the originally projected savings were the elimination of FTEs that would have to be moved to the other schools if children stay in DCPS. If they don't stay in DCPS, DCPS loses the per pupil funding and therefore no savings.

I agree that this report only shows the direct costs for closings and identifies problems with contracting that means a relatively small amount was spent on things that were not supposed to be done, but a lot of money was spent on things that there is no proof they were done. That doesn't mean it wasn't done.
This was a chronic problem at OPEFM as shown in http://dcauditor.org/sites/default/files/DCA162011.pdf. Allen Lew, the manager of that agency was promoted by Gray to City Administrator.

I guess the bottom line is that there weren't apparent savings in the sense that schools didn't see the amount of money per child increase, and no one has been able to point to real savings. Maybe it is mainly due to poor management, but I'm not sure that is an argument for them. If we did a big round of school closings before with a promise of more money available to local schools and the bottom line result was no more money to local schools why would we believe that the same group of people will do the same thing and get a different result? Sort of the definition of insanity.

by Mary Melchior in Judge denies injunction against closing schools on May 21, 2013 5:38 pm • link • report

The bike shop owner's implication was that people who ride bikeshare have not been 'good' for biking. This is completely and totally wrongheaded.

I see plenty of dumb behavior committed by people on all kinds of bikes. I would not say CaBi riders are worse than anyone else.

by MLD in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 5:34 pm • link • report

CaBi is awesome. I commute by my own bike each day and park in the garage, but use CaBi to get to meetings, meet folks after work, etc. It is awesome.

I think the bike shop owner's comments were right on, however. Most of the bad riders in town seem to be CaBi riders. It's not prejudice, it's safety. Please learn to ride and do a better job not angering drivers, sidewalk users, and fellow bikers. Biking is a world of joy, but it entails some responsibilities to those around us.

Also, if docks are full then there's another station nearby. I don't have to deal with the busy station commuters' problem, but I do run into blocked docks here and there. The app works and there are others nearby.

by BikeCommuter in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 5:14 pm • link • report

@ Matt S. - "it could always be worse"? Sure, but that's not exactly holding Metro to a high standard of professionalism, is it? That's part of why we have such crappy customer service in this country. Customers have dropped their expectations through the floor. I think "Why the heck isn't Metro better?" is a more constructive approach.

by Chris S. in Metro policy for refunds after delays falls short, riders say on May 21, 2013 5:07 pm • link • report

Washcycle had an awesome fantasy bike trail/lane map a while back, mostly toward the southern part of the county I think: http://www.thewashcycle.com/2011/05/eotr-fantasy-trail-map.html

by PA Ave Cycletrack -- where have my bollards gone? in Prince George's County struggles to get trails right on May 21, 2013 5:04 pm • link • report

Thanks for the good article David. Your analysis is spot on. Nicely said. You were an early proponent of the system, well before it was even launched and your advocacy helped ensure a regional system too. And we'll (the locals who provide the system) get better at this as we deploy more stations.
Chris

by Chris Hamilton in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 5:03 pm • link • report

So... um... what connections should the trails be making? Where should they go?

by selxic in Prince George's County struggles to get trails right on May 21, 2013 5:03 pm • link • report

@ MLD; I think ther are two types of docks -- some of the newer have the keys slot. MUCH easier.

You can also just call them and they'll look you up.

by charlie in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 5:00 pm • link • report

@ selxic

I think the author is actually relaying his point directly to you, and you got it. But instead of saying that you're not sure where the author wants the trails to go, the author is suggesting the County and the various agencies (Parks, Transportation) are unsure where they want new trails to go. I think the general desire of the author is for trails to actually go somewhere useful, and first priority should be transit, followed by other activity centers.

Right now Parks is taking the lead (on paper) in trail creation, but at the end of the day, Parks mission currently is to create and maintain recreational amenities, and therefore sees nothing wrong with nice segments of wooded trail going no where in particular. Without someone from the county's transportation department stepping in and saying hey, we see these trails as bike infrastructure too, nothing is likely to change. That type of coordination exists in Montgomery County right now, where DOT and Parks agree some trails in Parks should be built to a higher standard and used for transportation, and therefore have more connections (or planned connections) to activity centers, and others are purposefully built to just be recreation.

by Gull in Prince George's County struggles to get trails right on May 21, 2013 4:58 pm • link • report

Whoops, looks like according to their FAQ you have to enter your key number into the kiosk. I've never actually done it, just heard before that there was a slot for the key. Would be tough for me to enter the number as the bar code and number on my key are LONG gone.

by MLD in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 4:57 pm • link • report

Good to know!

by Alan B. in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 4:54 pm • link • report

It's @Stronghold_DC

by MLD in DDOT social media goes from gold standard to gaffe-filled on May 21, 2013 4:53 pm • link • report

@Alan B
If you put your key into the slot on the kiosk on a full station, the system will give you 15 extra minutes.

Another thing specifically about Tom's situation is that that area needs more stations. It could use a station at 11th & Q, 11th/12th & S, and probably more docks at 14th & RI.

by MLD in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 4:51 pm • link • report

Or perhaps if you arrive at an full dock there could be a way to stop the clock on your 30 minutes or top it up 10 minutes to give you time to get to another one?

The system already gives 15 minutes of extra time to find another dock. I think you have to press a button on the screen at the kiosk to activate it. Maybe CaBi could do a better job of advertising this feature.

by Scoot in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 4:45 pm • link • report

Looks like a twitter gaffe in the author byline - @strongholdDC is a dead account!

by Stella in DDOT social media goes from gold standard to gaffe-filled on May 21, 2013 4:41 pm • link • report

Are there any technological work arounds in the meantime for dockblocking? Maybe you could reserve a bike/dock for a set amount of time, maybe with a penalty if you abuse the system. Or perhaps if you arrive at an full dock there could be a way to stop the clock on your 30 minutes or top it up 10 minutes to give you time to get to another one?

by Alan B. in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 4:38 pm • link • report

I'm a casual biker with an uncool Schwinn hybrid and no spandex clothes and I like the Bike Rack. Their free clinics are great, and I've had nothing but good service there. I don't agree with the bikeshare hate, but I'll keep going to the store.

by Linda in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 4:34 pm • link • report

CaBi definitely isn't worthless in Dupont/Logan, particularly during weekends and mid-day, but I understand Tom's frustration. It's too bad that we don't really have a local (i.e. neighborhood) funding source to defray the cost of new stations or bigger stations. Whole new stations are probably way too expensive for local groups, orgs, and businesses to sponser, but I'd gladly contribute money to a group effort to get a few more docks when new stations do come online in my neighborhood.

@Scoot: I've noticed that the smartphone apps are a bit slow when there's a lot of turnover at the stations (as there can be at my home station at 17th and Corcoran on a Thursday night, for instance). I try to check my phone before I get home, usually when I'm stopped at one of the many long red lights on the 15th street cycletrack, but the app is often off by a couple docks. Even the "nearest station" app on the kiosk at my local station has sometimes sent me to a full station that was supposed to have (or 5 minutes earlier had had) a few empty docks.

Anyway, despite the problems at my local station during weekdays, CaBi still rocks on weekends when I need to get to/from Metro at Farragut West or Shaw. No more transfers from the Red Line, and fewer worries over weekend track closures thanks to CaBi!

And on a side note, while I'm happy for NYC, all those pictures of shiny new bikeshare keys that have been popping up on the blogs over the last couple days have been making me a bit jealous! My old black key is all scraped up, and I'm going to have to replace it with a red one soon. First city problems, I know.

by Steven Harrell in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 4:31 pm • link • report

With two exceptions, it's unclear to me what connections are missing from reading this article. I'm not sure where the author wants new trails to go.

by selxic in Prince George's County struggles to get trails right on May 21, 2013 4:29 pm • link • report

@Chris

I was simply pointing out that the area has changed. It was historically white and affluent, today it's less affluent and mixed.

by dan reed! in Science Gateway plan brings urban approach to White Oak on May 21, 2013 4:23 pm • link • report

@Tom

Yeah, if you don't have a smartphone and the app then running into a full dock situation sucks. Does the screen tell you multiple stations nearby that have empty docks and how many docks there are?

by MLD in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 4:23 pm • link • report

I'd love to see a fantasy bike trail map sometime btw

by Steve in Prince George's County struggles to get trails right on May 21, 2013 4:22 pm • link • report

@PA Ave

The Indian Creek Trail is extended to Greenbelt Metro in the 193 sector plan. I'm not sure how much is on the development there and how much is in forest.

by Steve in Prince George's County struggles to get trails right on May 21, 2013 4:19 pm • link • report

Pak's comments fit nicely with the experiences I've had the few times I went to the Bike Rack when I first moved here: smug, arrogant and dismissive of casual/novice riders in favor of the spandex set. I've since started going to Bike and Roll at Union Station, where the experience couldn't be more pleasant. And I've never been scoffed at for forgetting the different between a schrader and a presta valve.

by Novice in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 4:18 pm • link • report

I'm with MLD. The system is still useful, and ridership shows that subscribers are still utilizing it extensively. I also think that tourists are part of the solution to the bike flow issue, not part of the problem. Anything that introduces volatility into the system helps with commuter and other group movement issues.

by CJ in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 4:08 pm • link • report

I was a big fan of CaBi and even paid for it for my tenants (I don't rent to people with cars). I always check online to see if a bike is available at 14th &R and if it's not I'll take the bus, cab, or my own bike.

The first time I had trouble with returning a bike was horrendous. It was mid-day on a hot summer weekend. 14th & R was full and the screen told me to go to 14th & V. It was full when I got there but told me to go back to 15th and P. That was full when I got there and 17th and Corcoran was next. Full again. Finally I found an empty dock at Dupont Circle and took a cab back to my house at 14th and S. I got 15 minutes of extra time when a dock was full but it took me over an hour and a cab ride home.

After that I became much more cautious of using CaBi and I caution tenants on how unreliable it is around here.

The ratio of docks to bikes is too low and the ratio to users in this neighborhood is too low. When a system becomes that unreliable and has high potential for that horrendous an experience, it becomes worthless.

Alta seems a fairly competent outfit. The incompetence of the shortage of docks reeks of typical DDOT gross incompetence.

by Tom Coumaris in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 4:07 pm • link • report

@oboe, the one thing I think should be added to the equation is the loss of students to charters when the local DCPS is closed. Each student leaving DCPS takes ~$10K/year with them. So if 6,000 students were affected by the 2008 closures, and half of them left DCPS for charters, you're looking at a further annual cost of $30 million.

(I have no idea what percentage of students left DCPS after the 2008 closures. However, DCPS has itself acknowledged that its retention rate for students from closed schools was terrible, hence the planned campaign to "market" receiving schools to familes whose schools will close this round.)

by ZetteZelle in Judge denies injunction against closing schools on May 21, 2013 4:06 pm • link • report

@ Dan - "While White Oak has several historically affluent neighborhoods, today it has no majority racial or ethnic group..."

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but is this implying that diversity is not beneficial? Seems like a positive thing, no?

by Chris S. in Science Gateway plan brings urban approach to White Oak on May 21, 2013 4:00 pm • link • report

Also a big portion of the "cost" claimed by the auditor are impairment losses, and I'm not sure how you count those as a "cost" to the city when you're talking about something like a school. It's not like the city has to pay the difference in the book value and the fair market value of the building to someone.

Not to mention the fact that the auditor's report doesn't say anything about the costs of closing the schools relative to the savings gained, because it doesn't talk about savings.

by MLD in Judge denies injunction against closing schools on May 21, 2013 3:58 pm • link • report

If you're out for a leisure activity or touring around town, then it works great. For everybody else: not worth the money.

Wow, totally disagree with this. I use bikeshare in the most crowded part of the system - Adams Morgan/U Street/Dupont - and it works fine for me. Can it always be relied on? No, but it's worthwhile most of the time. I would say the annual membership is definitely worth it even if you only take one trip a week, just to be able to grab a bike without thinking about it.

A gimmick for tourists? I see zillions of people riding those bikes to work every day!

by MLD in Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition on May 21, 2013 3:52 pm • link • report

@ DaveS: I don't know, in my experience I do not usually see a large number of buses on 355. I don't think taking them out of the flow of traffic will do much to make up for the loss of a lane, unless a significant percentage of current drivers decide that the BRT is more appealing and convenient than Metrorail and switch to transit.

As for the Nebel St/Bou Ave alternate route, I'm thinking it might be faster to use E. Jefferson and Executive Blvd on the west side of 355. In either case, you're running into lower speed limits, so I'm not sure you would save much time over 355.

by Chris S. in Montgomery residents debate bus lanes at BRT hearing on May 21, 2013 3:47 pm • link • report