Posts by Letters to the Editor

Then a Metro employee came through the car from one end to the other, saying nothing, and not responding to anyone's questions. A couple more minutes of silence. Then "**static** evacuate **static** train **static** something safety."

At that point, a buzz went up through the car. "Did he say 'evacuate'?" someone asked. That's when a knot of passengers by a door began to discuss whether they should open it and evacuate. Why? Because Metro told them to evacuate.

After another minute or two with no more announcements and no sign of any Metro personnel, they began to open the door. And just after they opened it, someone from Metro finally came in from the front of the car and began giving instructions to offload that way.

If Metro is unable and unwilling to communicate with passengers during its frequent lengthy breakdowns, or is going to make unclear announcements with words like "emergency" and "evacuate," it can't blame passengers for following the instructions they do have. And it shouldn't—because sooner or later, the emergency is going to be a real, life-threatening one and if passengers are punished for taking the initiative now, they're not going to take the initiative when they need to do so to save lives.

Elsewhere, the City of Takoma Park has been working to facilitate mixed commercial and residential space along the University and New Hampshire Avenue corridors to make more housing and affordable housing available on mass transit and future Purple line routes. These are developments that take advantage of underutilized commercial and retail space to build new capacity and energy into an area—and new housing.

In both cases, the City is supporting more density where it makes sense. In fact, if you actually watch the video about Melbourne, Australia's urban development plans that Alex Steffen refers to, they did precisely what Takoma Park has been promoting—Melbourne avoided developing on any green space or historic areas and reused vacant commercial and retail to get more housing density.

And in reference to the claims of Takoma Park pushing poor people out, we have great data from the Community Indicators Project that shows just the opposite. We have a higher proportion of low and moderate income families than the rest of Montgomery County—34 percent of our households are low income compared to 19 percent for the County and the average rent for a vacant unit in Takoma Park was more than $400/month cheaper than the County.

Part of this is because since 1980, the City has had a rent stabilization policy in place that has been an effective way to keep rents down and not without sacrifice from other residents who end up paying a higher property tax burden.

The point is, not all development is progressive and if you look a little deeper, you will see a lot more evidence that Takoma Park knows how to balance quality of life, diversity and development far better than Mr. Reed suggests.

CANstruction benefits the Capital Area Food Bank (all food used is donated to the food bank). People can either go to the Building Museum and donate canned foods by voting for their favorite structure (one can = one vote), or they can go online and make a donation where $1 = one vote. It's a great event for a great cause, and we'd love for your readers to get involved.

One of the great mysteries is dealing with the [National Park Service]. Numerous people have told me that NPS does not support playgrounds on the parks they control. However all of the parks in Capitol Hill are parks maintained by the NPS and they all have playgrounds. How did this happen? Did Congress intervene?

NPS playgrounds rare and hard-won

To get an answer for Ms. Armijo, I talked to Peter Harnik of the Trust for Public Land. He addresed this very issue in a Washington Post op-ed (pay required for full article) on October 10, 2004:

The almost 7,000 acres of national park land in the District contain a grand total of 11 playgrounds. If you include playgrounds on the 800 acres operated by the DC parks department, Washington's total reaches 71. This compares with 129 playgrounds in Baltimore, 162 in San Francisco and 504 in Chicago.

Each of the 11 playgrounds on national park land has a political history akin to the passage of some major piece of legislation. The newest one, which opened last winter on Capitol Hill, took a group of Lincoln Park mothers six years of campaigning and resulted in an unfenced tot lot rather than the adventure playground they had hoped for.

It's not just a problem for small children: Even counting the wide open spaces and recreational facilities of Anacostia Park, the Park Service provides only 18 soccer fields in the whole city, compared with, for instance, 75 on a smaller land base in Seattle.

Frustration felt citywide

Steve Coleman, of Washington Parks and People, says the challenges of getting NPS to accommodate children goes beyond downtown. He wrote in an email:

Yes, the parks on Capitol Hill tend to have playgrounds. Residents have generally only gotten their concerns addressed through massive community effort. Stanton Park neighbors, for example, had to campaign for years just to make simple safety upgrades to their play area.

For some, the wait is even longer. At Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park, the Park Service approved, ordered, and began to install several play areas in the 1930's, then halted work because of budget cuts for World War II, never to be re-started. As a result, thousands of families living in the densest area of the city have faced the same dilemma as Chinatown residents of whether to give up on the neighborhood because of lack of adequate play facilities.

The Park Service has built some beautiful playgrounds in DC. But sadly, NPS has shown a tendency to build and care for play areas in some more affluent neighborhoods such as Montrose Park in Georgetown while providing far less care or support for the families living in many less affluent areas.

The Park Service's enabling legislation cites its mission as preserving the nation's natural and cultural resources unimpaired for the education, inspiration, and enjoyment of this and future generations. Many dedicated people in the Park Service work hard every day to advance this mission for all, despite budget shortfalls.

There are signs that Park Service leaders may want to finally address the under-investment and shortcomings of inner-city DC parks management. Yet in many under-served parts of the capital, the reality is that the enjoyment of this generation of children has been all too often left by the wayside.

Park Service spokesperson Bill Line did not respond to multiple emails sent over the course of 2 weeks asking for comment on Ms. Armijo's question.

The bike access to the 14th Street Bridge path was closed. All of the people that wanted to use this area had to wait in line and go through a security checkpoint. It did not make any sense. That small corner of road at Independence and 15th is an important access point for cyclists and pedestrians. It's not part of the Mall or the Washington Monument. Why close it? Other nearby areas, including 14th Street as it crosses the Smithsonian area, were open to bikes and pedestrians.

The guards at the Bureau of Engraving sprung out of their booth when they spotted me and a fellow biker evaluating alternate routes on 14th Street. The shortcuts through their building lots had been taped off.

"Can I help you?" one of them asked.

"Can we get to the Jefferson Memorial and the bridge bike path by heading down that way?" I asked, pointing south on 14th Street towards the freeway-ish looking overpass.

"Only if you want to get hit by a car," he reassured me.

My biking comrade claimed that he had used this route before, so we decided to chance it. It was a half-mile sprint across the overpass to the Jefferson Memorial area. We pedaled hard as cars zipped past us at highway speeds. But we made it.

On the way home from Potomac Mills, I once again crossed the 14th Street Bridge. This time I decided to wait in line and go through the Tidal Basin security checkpoint to access the bike route.

A member of the Alexandria police force rummaged through my backpack once I reached the bag check area. He spotted a 12-ounce glass jar of Target-brand cheese dip that I had purchased just moments earlier along with other glass-enclosed groceries. "You'll have to throw all of those things away if you want to get through here," he told me.

This was outrageous. This city is my home. This is where I've lived for ten years. Now I can't even bike back from the grocery store with cheese dip. Had I been in a car, I could have easily driven any of the numerous roads to get home, including the 14th Street overpass.

The guard directed me towards a Park Police lieutenant who gave me the same "tough shit, buddy" look that his underling had. He told me I could either bike back across the Potomac and head many miles north to the Key Bridge crossing and on into Georgetown or bike many miles south to another crossing that he said would lead me to the Capitol.

Once again, I decided to improvise. I headed away from the checkpoint down Maine Ave., another road that didn't feel super safe for biking, and found a place where I could drag my bike under the overpass, across a couple of metal guardrails, and up 14th Street once more.

Event planners need to be mindful of common bikeway access points when setting up street closures. It is not appropriate to use a one-size-fits-all security approach anymore where people are treated as cars or non-cars. Fine, close off the Mall. Set up a perimeter. But take into consideration those of us who bike and go about our daily lives as residents of this city.

There is no need to close off bike access on 15th Street. This is how cyclists, including many tourist cyclists, access some of the area's best trails. Moreover, there is no security interest that is being protected by closing this street.

When setting up a security perimeter, please look closely at these locations instead of blankly eyeing a map and setting up roadblocks. There are freeways and overpasses in this area not just a flat street grid. Many of these roads are dangerous for pedestrians and bikers, both of whom will be forced to use these areas when left with no choice but to wait in a security line.

This draws a few questions for me:

1. What did I do wrong? I left the cyclist the entire lane while I passed.
2. What do motorists expect of cyclists?
3. What do cyclists expect of motorists?

What I expect of a cyclist:

• If you are on the street, obey the rules of the road (including stop signs, stop lights etc.)
• Stay to the right of the road. You don't have to be on the curb, but assist the motorists if they desire to pass you. It creates a safety issue if you are in the middle of the road going 15-20mph.

What I would expect of a motorist:

• Treat the cyclist as a slow car.
• Give the cyclist plenty of room if you need to pass.
• DO NOT PASS if the road is narrow and there is oncoming traffic (see suggestion two)

It seems like Bradley did nothing wrong in this case, but riding in the middle of the lane is often the right thing to do.

Meanwhile, Steve W. writes,

This morning, I picked up a CaBi bike from my local station for the typically relaxing commute to the office. I made my way onto the cycle track on Pennsylvania Avenue NW. I would typically think of this section as being one of the safer and more segmented parts of my commute with no car doors to open or traffic sharing the same lane with me.

However, as I started through the 11th Street intersection going east, a minivan also going east made an illegal left turn in front of my path and onto 12th Street. Fortunately, I was able to slow down and only tap the minivan as it sped by without any consideration for cyclists.

Not only did the minivan not pay attention as it passed me and then turned in front of me on Pennsylvania Avenue, but it also made an illegal left turn as turns are never allowed at this intersection. Unfortunately, many drivers, especially tourists, are not familiar with having to pay attention to bike lanes that are separate but intersect at cross streets.

Perhaps these no-turn intersections should have some sort of red lights to additionally make drivers aware when and where they should not turn. Alternatively, maybe some sort of double yellow line would provide greater awareness to drivers.

I'm fortunate that no one was injured today, but not everyone is as fortunate.

Turning across the Pennsylvania Avenue lane illegally and without looking is definitely not the right thing to do.

Mr. Wells has worked extensively with GGW over the years when it comes to transportation and developing new policies to encourage residents to get out of cars and use alternative means of transportation in DC. Although Mr. Wells brings new ideas and progressive policies to the table, he is only one voice.

The possibility of adding a second voice to support Mr. Wells would be great for the city. For years, DC has appointed members who may either not take the role seriously or have no background in transportation. This is a great opportunity to bring something new to the table. The appointment of a non-traditional transportation expert on the board will send the message that DC welcomes new ideas and will look at different and new ways to improve WMATA service for District residents.

Chairman Kwame Brown has the power to appoint a new board member to WMATA. I encourage him to explore this great opportunity. This potential appointment could be a win win for everyone. I encourage you to call Mr. Brown's office at 202-724-8032 or email him directly at kbrown@dccouncil.us and ask him to meet with Greater Greater Washington to discuss possible appointees to the WMATA board.

Currently we have a required 8 hours off in a day, which comes from the FTA/DOT recommendations. The assignment of overtime is performed by management, not the union. Mr. Bassett and the union have never spoken about time off or the safety climate at WMATA, but most importantly, it is ATU Local 689 (the union) which holds WMATA's feet to the fire concerning 8 hours off in a 24 hour period as required under our contract.

In a Greater Greater Washington morning links post, it was reported that Mr. Bassett made this statement: "that you (TOC) would like to increase time off between shifts for Metro operators to allow 8 hours of sleep but has met resistance from the ATU (the union), since members are cashing in on overtime." It is important to the union that statements such as this one, made in jest or by those unfamiliar with the functioning of WMATA, be exposed either as errors or intentional misstatements for nefarious purposes.

The union has not resisted any conversation regarding an attempt to govern overtime. I think it wise, as a public official for Mr. Bassett to familiarize himself with the process for negotiating our union contract before making statements that can be construed by the public as accurate. His misstatements cast a questionable light on the intentions and good faith dealings of the union and cast a pall over its members.

Lisa Farbstein's statement, "The agency is filling vacancies and hiring more employees. But in the meantime, staffing shortfalls means extra cash and long days for some workers," is similarly problematic to me. Farbstein's statement encourages readers to assume that the agency has no structure for workers, as they "happily" make extra cash and work from sun up to sun down!

It is crucial for readers to understand that the maintenance track work being performed is hard, manual labor that shortens the work life of our members even if they are lucky enough to escape injury. And right now, Metro is trying hard to run an efficient agency and make repairs to an aging system at the same time.

Finally, it should be noted that train operators play a very small part in this type of overtime work which raises the question: Why the inquiry into overtime costs? Again, accuracy is the issue. I must put this in the proper perspective: Only 1 out of the 10 employees mentioned in the Examiner article was a union worker and none were bus operators, train operators, or station managers. The 1 union worker was from the skilled crafts.

The union cannot be accused of opposing workplace safety rules in order to boost income without speaking out. That inference is not true! Union members are guaranteed 40 hours of work a week. Anything over 40 hours a week is overtime. That overtime is scheduled by WMATA management, not the union. When union members work overtime to accommodate extraordinary demands on the public transit system for travel downtown during the 4th of July or other public events, no articles appear in the newspaper the following day alluding to misappropriate use of manpower.

Additionally, a hiring freeze that was imposed last year to prevent a higher budget gap, which would result in a reduction in service. The railroad has continued to function because it is our job to make sure every customer gets home safely.

For safe, efficient, and effective travel on our public transit system, manpower must be used. Union members take time away from their families to ensure the safety and reliability of the Metro system for Virginia, Maryland, and DC residents and their families. Overtime is often required to get the job done and to keep the system working. WMATA employees are hired to do their jobs.

Now all day long
Mickey rides through DC's streets
saying "What will become of me?"
The app says there's a free spot
Up by the Cathedral
And another at UDC. (CHORUS)

Mickey's boyfriend goes down
To the Q Street bike lane
Every day at quarter past two.
At the corner of 14th
He hands Mickey a sandwich
As his bike goes wheeling on through. (CHORUS)

Now you bikers of Washington
Don't you think it's annoying
That you can search for a dock all day?
Join the Capital Bikeshare
Pay your 75 dollars
Get poor Mickey off that bike someday!

Or else he'll never return,
No he'll never return
And his fate will be unlearn'd
He may ride forever
On the streets of Washington
He's the man who never returned.

The other thing you can do to help get Mickey off the Bikeshare is to keep encouraging DDOT to expand the numbers of docks, bikes and stations. They're accepting comments at DDOT.Bikeshare@dc.gov, and there's a public meeting on expansion locations on Wednesday, May 25, 6-8 pm at 441 4th Street (One Judiciary Square), room 1107.