Posts from April 2010

The MRO/GGW/CSG letter called for raising prices only on those stations with heavy demand. Some staff comments suggested this would be too complex to analyze in time for this fare increase. However, we've been asking for this for six months now if not since last year. If it's too late now, how about the Board ask staff to lower parking rates, but also ask them to start analyzing possibilities for more station-targeted parking?

McKay suggested paying for this change by lowering the bus-rail transfer to 25¢ instead of 50¢. That's the wrong approach. As it is, bus-rail transfer passengers are paying even more in this fare hike, with both bus and rail fares rising substantially. The Riders' Advisory Council strongly recommended increasing the transfer, not decreasing it. The hearing docket included a proposal to raise it to 75¢.

As Matt Johnson tweeted, "WMATA should be encouraging riders to come by bus." He also suggested thinking of parking as a "car to rail" transfer. The way McKay was talking about it, he was suggesting eliminating "discounts," as if the bus-rail discount was a sort of favor to bus passengers. In many cities, like New York, bus to rail transfers are completely free. Here, Orange Line to Green Line transfers are free. We actually charge extra to switch modes, and shouldn't be making it even more expensive.

The Board also debated widening the peak-of-the-peak time period to 2 hours instead of 1½ hours. Kissal said that would raise about $3 million more. However, Interim GM Sarles said it wasn't feasible for a reason that I couldn't make out listening to the (often too-quiet) audio stream.

But such a proposal misses the point of the peak-of-the-peak: to both raise revenue and also provide an economic incentive for people to ride at less busy times. 1½-hour is already a bit too large. The rail system is really particularly crowded for about an hour. Advocates didn't push for narrowing this because we didn't want to cut out too much revenue, but if it might get raised to 50¢, we should look at that.

Staff should evaluate the revenue impact of the 50¢ core-only peak-of-the-peak for only one hour. If that's enough to raise the money proposed, WMATA should confine it to the busiest hour.

The system is particularly crowded during a single hour in the morning and evening peak, and in a small core section. Therefore, it makes sense to charge extra for trips in that area, during that time, but not for those people who are riding from Franconia to King Street and aren't taking up the most precious space.

Where should the charge apply? Based on Matt Johnson's terrific analysis of system crowding, I'd suggest applying it to trips that start, end, or pass through stations from Dupont Circle to Union Station, Rosslyn to Capitol South, and Pentagon to Gallery Place. Below are several alternatives and a rough analysis of their value.

1a. Charge at the busiest stations

Ideally this charge would only hits riders on the most crowded segments of the system, since the goal is to target only those riders who are using up the most precious space and who, if they switched to another time of day, would better spread out ridership across the system.

One approach would be to only apply it to the busiest stations. Looking just at the stations with the most passenger traffic (scroll down to the table), means that Shady Grove and New Carrollton would be included. But the trains aren't at their most crowded there, it's just that those stations have a lot of boardings.

1b. Charge at the busiest stations by morning exits

How about looking at exits in the AM peak? Click on "Exits" in that table to sort in that way. The top 19 stations are basically contiguous, which would apply the congestion charge to anyone getting off the system at any stations from Dupont to Union Station on the Red Line, Rosslyn to Capitol South on Orange/Blue, Crystal City to Gallery Place on Yellow and Blue/Yellow, or Navy Yard to Gallery Place on Green.

Anyone boarding at one of those stations in the AM peak, like a bus rider who transfers at Pentagon to go to King Street, wouldn't pay. Likewise, the evening rush would only apply to those who board at one of the stations in question. You could also argue for removing Crystal City, since the trains aren't particularly crowded along the Yellow-Blue segment there.

However, this doesn't hit riders who ride all the way through the congested core. They are taking up room on the busiest trains as well, and it makes just as much sense to create an incentive for a Grosvenor-Suitland rider to avoid the busiest times as a Grosvenor-Dupont rider—more, actually.

2. Charge for trips to, from, or through core stations

Another approach, therefore, would be to apply the charge to riders whose trips pass through the busiest stations as well as start or end at them. Then it wouldn't be necessary to count some more outlying stations like Navy Yard, since anyone going there from or through downtown would pay anyway, and people riding there from Congress Heights aren't contributing to congestion.

This is the approach I recommended above, and would apply to 17 stations, from Dupont to Union Station on Red, Rosslyn to Capitol South on Orange/Blue, L'Enfant Plaza to Gallery Place on Yellow/Green, and Pentagon on Yellow or Blue.

This would catch the through riders. It would also catch some reverse commuters who aren't contributing to congestion, like anyone going outbound from Dupont Circle, Pentagon, Rosslyn, or Capitol South, where the trains in that direction aren't crowded at all.

3. Charge for trips through the busiest segments

A more complex alternative would be to look at the segments themselves; we have Matt Johnson's analysis of which segments have the highest crowding. We could charge only people who are riding on one of those busiest segments, in the direction(s) where they are busy but not in the reverse direction.

Based on that, we could apply it to Glenmont-bound Red Line trips from Cleveland Park to Gallery Place, Shady-Grove bound trips from Union Station to Farragut North, Orange or Blue Line eastbound trips from Virginia Square to Capitol South, westbound Orange/Blues from Eastern Market to Metro Center, or Yellow trips from Pentagon City to Gallery Place.

Any trip passing through one of those segments would get charged. If WMATA implements this charge by simply looking up the trip in a table of start and end points, it's technically easy; for any station pair, we can tell whether that trip does or does not pass through that area in the proper direction. However, it'd be confusing to explain to riders.

Therefore, the simplest yet fairest approach would probably be to designate the 17 stations I listed and charge for any trips to, from, or through those stations in the busiest time periods.

2. Wheaton is both routinely overlooked by the county as a whole and also posseses great economic and social potential as a vibrant, walkable, sustainable town. What is your vision for Wheaton's future?

Wheaton's time has come! The next Council must prioritize Wheaton for investment and support. There are many interesting and good plans for revitalizing the parking lot in the center of town into a community square. We should move those plans forward.

However, the elephant in the room is the Westfield Wheaton Mall. We should establish a walkable street grid with housing on the mall property, and use economic development dollars to incentivize the transformation through gap financing. If we attract more residents who embrace walkable lifestyles to the urban core in Wheaton, the small businesses there will flourish. It is a very risky proposition to move existing businesses out of their spaces and hope that they survive during a rebuild—and will be able to afford new-building rents afterwards.

If well designed, such a transition of the Mall would work without jeopardizing Wheaton's existing small business character. Finally, if the County is going to give Westfield $4 million to build a Costco, they should use that as leverage to get going on a mixed use (housing + retail), walkable street grid on mall property—without any more gas stations. Georgia Avenue already has plenty.

I will also add that plans for Wheaton have come along every few years and have gone nowhere for a variety of reasons. We're only going to see success during this coming Council term if we bring together the bloggers, transit advocates, neighborhood activists, immigrant organizers, small businesses, property owners, and others, in a mighty chorus of "Now is the time!"

3. In your campaign kick-off, you expressed a clear vision for locating many new jobs along existing infrastructure in East County rather than in new office parks in Gaithersburg West. What sites do you envision for new jobs and do you see a need for new transit infrastructure to support them?

We have plenty of room for new jobs in Silver Spring, Wheaton, White Oak, Burtonsville, and Glenmont. Many of these areas are currently served by Metro. Others are in the Route 29 corridor, which needs a rapid transit service in order to support new jobs. One cost-effective transit solution would be a next generation bus system, as described by Councilmember Elrich, with its own separated lane and priority through intersections. In our present time of fiscal austerity we will need to think creatively about how to finance it—we need a model that larger landowners can pay for.

I helped push the Council to a good compromise on Gaithersburg West, but one of the concerns I raised was that the plan is projected to reduce job growth in East County. We can't let that happen! East County has been given short shrift for too long. We need good planning to create the commercial space, housing, and transit that will get this under-served area moving again.

We also need policymakers who can get new people involved to support the kind of change that we need in the County—people like Councilmembers Valerie Ervin (D-5) and Nancy Navarro (D-4). I hope to join them in this cause and I am grateful for their support of my efforts to get this County moving again.

Inside, bright colors dominate the building's lobby and adjacent auditorium, along with the stained wood that wraps around the building inside and out.

The Civic Building is oriented to be on axis with Ellsworth Drive, meaning that you'll be able to stand at the front door and look straight into the Discovery Building a block away.

We weren't really allowed inside the courtyard, though you can see that trees are planted and pipes laid for a special, water-saving irrigation system. When completed, this space will serve as a space for informal gathering.

From the front desk, visitors will ascend a flight of stairs to the second floor, where classrooms and government offices are located.

Upstairs, this hallway will lead to a suite of offices originally set aside for the Silver Spring Regional Services Center, though other county agencies will now have space there as well.

Many of the building's windows—specifically, those between the first and second floors in any double-height spaces like the hallway above—are frosted with little penguins, the unofficial mascot of Silver Spring.

A second-floor classroom enjoys panoramic views of Downtown Silver Spring, courtesy of those nifty wraparound windows I've been ogling over the past year.

Two floors down, the entire basement has been given over to Round House Theatre in return for $1 a year in rent, as part of an agreement made several years ago. There will be a practice studio designed to mimic the stage at the actual theatre, located a block away on Colesville Road, ten individual offices, and a large area for cubicles. The suite even has its own private entrance, located on Veterans Place, a new street behind the Civic Building.

Regional Services Center director Reemberto Rodriguez (pictured, above right) has been leading a community-wide discussion about the use of public space in the community, both at IMPACT Silver Spring's yearly networking event and on his blog, Silver Spring Speaks. While the Civic Building adds much-needed meeting space and replaces the popular "Turf", which was removed two years ago, it's unclear how much space will be available for the community when the complex is finished.

Check out this slideshow of the Civic Building's progress over the past year, including photos of my tour.

The 750 foot long Duke Ellington Bridge separates Adams Morgan from the station that bears its name. Image from Library of Congress.

However, whereas Adams Morgan's western border is 0.3 miles away from the station—and this is over the 750-foot-long Duke Ellington Bridge—Park View is only about 247 feet south of the station that ignores its existence.

Answering an inquiry on why this intersection was chosen for a station in the first place, Metro cites the location's long association with mass transit among the reasons that lead to its selection. If this is the case, Park View certainly played its part in helping to permanently establish Rock Creek Church Road, Georgia, and New Hampshire Avenues as a permanent stop for streetcars, then buses, and now Metro.

While there are numerous examples of the Park View Citizens' Association fighting for better streetcar service along Georgia Avenue, their most relevant accomplishment to this discussion occurred in 1914. It was in that year that the Citizens' Association took on the Utilities Commission to insist on a stop at Rock Creek Church Road for southbound trains. Prior to their plea to the Commissioners, streetcars only stopped at this location during their northbound journey.

Initially, the Commission rejected Park View's request. Not taking no for an answer, residents pressed their case and ultimately won in September of that year, causing the Commission to authorized the Washington Railway and Electric Company to establish a far-side stop at Georgia and Rock Creek Church Rd. That was the beginning of the intersection becoming the significant transportation hub that it is today.

The East Falls Church area had historically been a railroad commuter town, named after its train station on the Washington and Old Dominion line. Three rail systems, the W&OD, the Arlington and Falls Church trolley and the Southern Railway served the area, with the last system added in 1895. In 1951, passenger service at the station shut down, and in 1982, the core of what was a small downtown area was removed to make way for Interstate 66.

In 1986, rail service was restored when the East Falls Church Metro station opened. What remains is a grid-pattern residential community with 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s brick homes on a grid pattern oriented toward the freeway. Some of the larger parcels have been redeveloped into townhomes or medium-density condos. I live in a townhome built in 1976 inside the study area.

The plan incorporates many features that are common throughout Arlington. Wider sidewalks, on-street parking, bike lanes and bulb-outs are planned, making intersections more friendly to pedestrians and cyclists. Travel lanes for cars will be narrowed from 13 feet to 10 feet in many places, which has a psychological effect on drivers and reduces their average travel speed.

New bicycle and pedestrian connections will be built across I-66, which divides the formerly cohesive community in two. The Metro station will get a new entrance at the opposite end of the platform, connecting the northwest and southwest in addition to the existing eastern entrance.

Pedestrian (left) and bicycle (right) improvements in the plan.

The Metro station north parking lot will host a new two-building mixed-use development with a plaza and direct access to the Metrorail platform, and retail along Washington Boulevard and Sycamore Street. The south kiss-and-ride parking lot will have a smaller residential building and a plaza. Building heights will be 5-6 stories closest to the Metro station, tapering off to 3-4 stories nearest the single-family home areas.

The existing 5 acres of Metrorail parking (about 450 spaces) will be reduced to 200 spaces. Bus facilities will continue operation. Bike lanes will replace former on-street bike routes.

My overall conclusion for this project is that if you live in the area and wish you had something worth walking to other than the parks, bike trails, and Metro station, you'll be happy. If you live in the area expecting it to continue to be a sleepy, low-density residential area for decades to come, big changes are planned. I'm looking forward to having a lot more neighbors and amenities.

Retain design element uniformity

Metro was designed with many motifs and unifying elements. That uniformity extends beyond the architecture of the stations. Even the railcars play their part. The color palate used on the current fleet is similar to the standard station architecture.

The brown stripe, which Metro is ditching for the 7000-series, is one of the major common colors systemwide. In terms of the station architecture, the stripe reflects the browns of the columns, signs, sides of escalators, and other elements. Additionally, it reflects many other aspects of the system, from faregates to station agent booths.

Photo by the author.

And when a train is in the station, the red-orange floor, the brown stripe, and the gray-white walls play together to create a unified ensemble.

One of the drawbacks of the 7000-series railcars is their proposed departure from the Metro palate, especially the loss of the brown stripe. Not only will the cars not match the rest of the fleet, they'll be missing a major aesthetic design element of the system.

The 7000-series will make up a very large part of the railcar fleet once all the cars have arrived. Failing to make some of the changes now means that we will be stuck with certain inadequacies for decades to come. At the same time, a failure to consider the design elements standard across the system threatens the uniformity and quality of the experience - a major basis for the popularity and success of the system.

And that success has become a major hurdle. Dealing with the throngs of riders, especially in this funding climate, has become increasingly difficult for Metro. While the design of the 7000-series will allow for longitudinal seating, and more standing room, Metro's failure to consider other improvements is shortsighted.

What other opportunities are being missed by the 7000-series?