You mean NoMa. I wish we had the MoMa.

by Nick on Nov 25, 2009 8:36 am  

Oops, typo. Thanks.

by David Alpert on Nov 25, 2009 8:38 am  

That Thorpe guy is a class act. The City Paper has had several stories on all the shenanigans he pulled while on the ANC.

I really wish the Attorney General's office would investigate what ANCs do with the thousands of dollars they get each year in taxpayer money. It seems that a number of ANCs buy computers and all sorts of other electronic gadgetry that is always stored in someone's house - for safekeeping, of course.

by Fritz on Nov 25, 2009 8:42 am  

@ Pedestrian fatality at 16th and Colesville -- is the Maryland State Highway Administration responsible for this intersection?

by jnb on Nov 25, 2009 8:57 am  

David,

The Railway Track and Structures article is a republishing of a WMATA Press release:

Metro's New York Ave-Florida Ave-Gallaudet U Metrorail station celebrates five years of service

by Sand Box John on Nov 25, 2009 9:12 am  

Relay Ride is perfect for DC. We do have a huge number of nice cars residents use infrequently and it would open up parking spots too.

The experience in Paris with vandalism of expensive shared bikes concerns me a little for the switch to Bixi. No thug with any respect is going to vandalize or steal a cheap SmartBike, but those Bixi bikes are more flashy.

The northbound 15th St bike lane is dangerous.

by Tom Coumaris on Nov 25, 2009 9:20 am  

re: ANC woes. I think it varies. ANC 4C is pretty well run and although they have a decent amount of cash on hand, they are very stringent about doling it out. Seems to be little or no drama amongst the board members either, which always makes for a pleasant (if boring) meeting

by smax on Nov 25, 2009 9:47 am  

I'm very happy to hear that Bixi is likely going to be our program. I had a conversation with a friend of mine visiting from France and she said that she admired the fact that our current bike share is members-only, as it creates accountability. For all of the reasons that a pay-to-play bike share system is great, I have to admit that I think members only is the way to go (or require the use of a credit card to unlock).

by JTS on Nov 25, 2009 9:50 am  

I'm continually impress with Google Translate. I mean, I really don't know French, but the translation almost makes sense.

by Tim on Nov 25, 2009 9:55 am  

Contraflow Lane 1, Sharrow Lane 1.

by crin on Nov 25, 2009 9:57 am  

RE: 15th ST. NW - the obvious solution is to replace the “sharrow” lane with another protected bicycle lane northbound, because obviously the cars are not sharing. Clearly there needs to be protection from cars in both directions!

RE: Biki - I'm curious if they will run the bixi program under the DC parking authority, the way they did so smartly in Montreal. This will be a very smart move!

by Lee Watkins on Nov 25, 2009 10:09 am  

By the by, there was an interesting Diane Rehm episope on "The State of Traffic in the US" this morning which touched on many of the issues discussed inthis blog.

by Thayer-D on Nov 25, 2009 11:08 am  

On the crosswalk design at 16th and Colesville: It isn't just that the crosswalks aren't marked (and are in strange places), but look also at how the sidewalks begin and end. A person walking on the left (west?) side of the street loses the sidewalk at the first "crosswalk" at the circle (see map on Silver Spring Trails to see what I mean). Assuming they make it to the other side of 16th, they'll have a sidewalk on the other side of the street. Once they go up a ways, there's another point where they're invited to cross back over, right in the middle of traffic, with no signal or even crosswalk markings. And then further up there's another place where it looks like peds are invited to cross, again right in the middle of traffic and with no signal or markings. So if you live on (or are going to) the left side of the street, what are your choices? Stay on the left and walk in the road till the sidewalk picks up again? Or follow the haphazard crosswalks and sidewalks, crisscrossing a street designed as a highway by an apparent lunatic. And why is it designed that way? 16th Street in Maryland is all of about a mile long.

by Eileen on Nov 25, 2009 11:11 am  

RelayRides sounds like a great idea but I'm not sure it is, at least for the vehicle owners. Based on the profit potential chart on the How it Works for Owners page, a person renting a compact car might earn as little as 13 cents per mile. It seems like for most vehicle owners this would be less than the cost to maintain the vehicle. The chart is vague, so I'm assuming the amounts listed are based on 52 weeks/year, 20 miles/hour (this is their free mileage allowance). It is also unclear how the owner is reimbursed for gas; there is some sort of system in place but it seems overly complicated such that it didn't make much sense on first read.

by bko on Nov 25, 2009 11:15 am  

I googled Bixi and found some shots of their bikes. MUCH cooler looking than the current DC Smartbikes. I know functionality is the more important thing here but I can't completely ignore aesthetics.

by Chris Loos on Nov 25, 2009 11:16 am  

Auto traffic protected bicycle tracks are the only way to go for safer cycling- I don't care what the macho guy racers and mountain bikers say. They can ride with the cars and risk their lives if they want- Im not trying to stop them. However- if we want a lot more people cycling and giving up their cars for those short trips- dedicated bikeways will work wonders .Anything less is the cheapo way and it is dangerous.

by w on Nov 25, 2009 11:45 am  

W, I've been cycling safely without bike tracks for 15 years. So have thousands of Washingtonians. Millions of bike miles have been completed in over a hundred years of urban cycling, yet there has not been widespread slaughter of the innocents. Bike tracks are NOT the ONLY way to go for safe cycling, no matter what your personal fears and incapabilities might be.

by crin on Nov 25, 2009 1:20 pm  

Crin
I was BORN in DC and have been cycling on the sidewalks here for over 40 years now- and this is why I have NEVER experienced any kind of accident on my bicycle. EVERY vehicular cyclist that I know of has had some kind of an accident or injury as a result of "sharing the road" with cars.

You can go ahead and play macho boy- but you are BEING SELFISH by not considering the broad majority of people who would bicycle but for the lack of safe infrastructure. It is not a matter of being a wuss- it is amatter of self - preservation. Go ahead and play Lance all you want- but you wil never be able to screw up the progressive and inevitable rational bicycle planning that will naturally and eventually result in dedicated auto -protected bikeways that EVERYONE can use- not just wreckless macho guys in skinny tights using fussy equipment.

by w on Nov 25, 2009 2:02 pm  

Is anyone else really tired of this? w, we get it, but it doesn't change anything. Good for you for being in a situation that never requires you to mix with traffic. As for the rest of us that don't live and work in downtown DC, but wish to bike, we have other things to consider. Give us some credit for not giving up and driving everywhere. Please, give it a rest. Nobody except for you thinks that vehicular cyclists are part of some sort of secret society dedicated of young white men and their proclivity for biking at 25+ mph, whose sole aim in life is to prevent you from biking on the sidewalk. Get over it.

by JTS on Nov 25, 2009 2:29 pm  

The experience in Paris with vandalism of expensive shared bikes concerns me a little for the idea of Relay Ride.

by ah on Nov 25, 2009 2:49 pm  

The widening of the Deegan ramps IS needed, though I am no fan of the current congiguration.

What is going on in NY is a highly orchastrated protest with perhaps a sole meeting that was barely advertised and had none of the using public in attendence, and with a browbeaten NYSDOT making a rash decision without considering the reletive costs of construction before or after trhe area is jammed with new buildings; more at:

http://cos-mobile.blogspot.com/2009/11/activism-steered-to-maintain-wall-of.html

http://cos-mobile.blogspot.com/2009/11/policymaking-steered-to-maintain-wall.html

by Douglas Willinger on Nov 25, 2009 4:28 pm  

Folks
Please read today's Wash Post, to get an update on the DC Taxi Cab industry because this DC Taxicab Bribe issue is just the tip of the iceberg if the Washington Post and Wpfw Radio get real and look a little deeper and ask the right questions.

What role did large taxicab companies and big corporation in and out of the city play while C. Toney was chair of the DC Taxicab Commission and wrote hack laws that created the 40 to 50 percent loss of income from independent/ owner/drivers to starve them out of the business?

This issue fail on deaf ears when we told you that big corporation and large taxicab companies was going take total control of this historical independent/ hack/operator business and ownership, in other words, the For Hire License as suggested by the DC hotel and restaurant association in 1997 at a meeting held at Embassy Suites Hotel, Wisc ave, Military Rd NW.

The issue then in the Taxicab Industry was about Transparency with the fare, this could have been easily solved with the Zone Calculator that permitted Shared Riding with no loss of income to driver/owners or service to the riding public.

This could have made the DC Taxicab System the best transportation system in Washington DC and America, in the case of an Emergency.

The big loss from putting meters in DC Taxicabs is to senior citizens and folks that are on fixed or have low incomes.

It's a shame that DC taxicab/owner/ drivers that are US Armed Force Veterans were not allowed to apply for US Government Grants to put wheel chair accessible taxicabs on the streets of DC.

When 80% percent of all DC Taxicabs are owned by independents and all the US Grant Money was given to two large taxicab companies and US Armed Force Veterans, like myself was left out in the cold and can only lease from the companies that got those 20 wheel chair taxicabs for free.

Something is wrong with this and so very unfair, don't you think so?

Folk's forget this is a historical free enterprise/ independent system that gave the Black Man Economic Freedom in Washington DC from 1837 to Stand Up and be a Free Man when he could own no other business in America.

Today,
I feel, I was made a Slave by Mayor Fenty, the DC City Council and the leader in the closing of DC General Hospital for the gentrification of DC, C. Toney the former chair of the the DC Taxicab Commission.

I don't think he is going to jail for bidding the will of the power that be in DC by removing people of color from the city unless the heat is turned up and I would have loved to have some air time to address this issue in a way only I can do in my old format but I'M persona non grata to Wpfw Air the last 20 years even with Grigsby Hubbard as IGM of Wpfw.

A 45 year public service provider as a DC, hacker/taxicab/ owner and driver and a 32 year former Wpfw producer/programmer / Lsb and Pacifica National Director that the DC Taxicab Industry allowed me to be Committed and Free to give all that I can to My Community and the Pacifica Mission as a Real Free Black Man in America and if anyone who knows me will tell you, I will be dead before I will ever be a Slave.

In the last two years Wpfw/Pacifica as an opinion makers seem to be trying to bum rush other independent/ owner/drivers to an early grave, one that come to mind is Ted King, that I know laid down his life for 8000 DC Taxicab Drivers and there Families. />>Billy Ray

by Billy Ray Edwards on Nov 25, 2009 9:24 pm  

I used the Bixi system in Montreal this summer and it's really quite good. Maybe most importantly, it has a by-the-day option (rather than only annual memberships) which make it attractive for visitors. They have some issues with load balancing (some stations are frequently empty while others are frequently full), but at least there are many, many stations. It is a little pricier than SmartBike. The bikes are fine -- fun looking and solid, with lights built in. The biggest change I'd hope for in DC is the pricing system, which starts charing extra if you keep a bike for longer than half an hour. As the airline industry proves, customers get annoyed at nickel-and-diming. Raising the free time period to an hour still encourages turnaround without sticking users for frequent extra fees. Overall, I'd be very happy to see Bixi in DC (and Arlington, if we can hope).

by Gavin Baker on Nov 27, 2009 2:28 am  

RE: JTS - The only people who are willing to ride a bicycle in the street with cars absent any protected barriers or buffers are the ones who are currently doing so - a very small percentage of the population. And yes most of them are young men, including the one hit recently on the 15th St. "sharrow" northbound lane.

At least half of the population actually is willing to ride a bicycle frequently, and the remainder at least occasionally if there is a rich network of protected and color-coded lanes that feel safe and legitimate. We could actually reach a point of more bicycle trips than automobile trips with such a network in place, and only a fraction of the space and money currently used for automobile traffic would be necessary to get this done. Any further growth in the use of bicycles will come about due to the implementation of physically protected, color-designated, and signalized bike tracks.

The safety in numbers effect created by large number of cyclists is far more effective than any specific safety limitations bike tracks may involve. FEELING SAFE, and Legitimate, is key. The safety of the individual cyclist increases quite dramatically with even a tiny increase in numbers - and in fact DC is quite close to known a known "tipping point" where cyclist safety goes up dramatically. An even very moderately expanded bike track network will quickly push us past that tipping point.

Fearmongering about helmet use or selling people on special clothing, sporty bikes, etc. is counter-productive - it's the infrastructure that is subpar. People behave according to the environment. If an old lady doesn't feel safe or legitimate on her rusty old 3-speed, than the infrastructure has failed. When a 27y/o male gets clipped by a car in a "sharrow" lanes, what is the rest of the population supposed to think?

by Lee Watkins on Nov 27, 2009 7:49 am  

Bixi is great! I also used the system as a visitor, and it was extremely easy (just insert your credit card). They deal with vandalism/theft by stating that your card will be charged $1000 should the bike not be returned. I didn't find the escalating fees to be unreasonable. It reinforces the idea that the system is primarily for short trips to guarantee availability. That said, you can have as many individual, 30-minute trips as you like in a single day for one $5 charge. If you want to actually be *on* the bike ride for a long time (pleasure riding), it is more cost effective to go to a bike rental shop - but I don't see that as a failure in the system.

by Erica on Nov 27, 2009 10:32 am  

I'm not disputing anything you're saying. I am in complete agreement with you. It's common sense. But that doesn't change the fact that the cycling community is shooting itself in its collective deraillieur when it gets all divisive or vitriolic.

My point to w was as follows: 1) I'm sick of hearing him rip on Lance Armstrongs, because it's annoying and it I don't feel that it adds to the conversation; and 2) not everyone lives and works in downtown DC, so the decision to use bikes requires more thought, as in, I bike 22 miles to work, mostly on roads with no sidewalks. to w, I am a macho jerk because I don't wear a suit on a 40 pound beach cruiser.

Everyone who uses a bike as a primary form of transportation yearns for better infrastructure. It's ridiculous to suggest otherwise.

by JTS on Nov 27, 2009 10:33 am  

Well said, JTS.

We're all on the same team here, guys.

by Alex B. on Nov 27, 2009 11:00 am  

I would've liked to see Subsidyscope do a breakdown by level of government.

For example, recent "bailouts" notwithstanding, highway funding at the Federal level has been 100% covered via user fees. At the state level, it's hit or miss. Some states are 100% (Minnesota being one), while others aren't (like Virginia and their sales tax for transportation). Then you also have the case of user fees at the state level being diverted to non-transportation uses...Texas is one that comes to mind.

The biggest disparity, and the one driving that percentage down the most, is at the local/county level, where it's largely property taxes that are paying for road improvements.

by Froggie on Nov 30, 2009 9:03 am  

Froggie: I, too, would like to see that breakdown - but in terms of the end user product, what difference does it make?

Saying that this silo is covered but that silo is not doesn't really help things when the whole system is what matters - and I say system beyond just the road network.

by Alex B. on Nov 30, 2009 9:06 am