Afternoon links: Budget surprises

by David Alpert • June 23, 2011 4:41 pm

Photo by W Mustafeez on Flickr.

New revenue funds few priorities: DC's revenue estimates have risen by $77 million, but that's not enough to fund more police officers, affordable housing or any of the original conditional items after the council put green teams and Medicaid expenses ahead in the queue. (Washington Times)

Councilmembers should read amendments: The DC Council approved a huge smoking ban exemption at the last minute during the budget, but didn't mean to pass what they passed. Phil Mendelson may be the only one who actually read the language. Maybe they should avoid voting on things they haven't read in the future. (Smoke Free DC)

Residents obeying laws more: Great news: street sweeping and red light enforcement tickets are pulling in less revenue than expected because people are actually following the laws, stopping at lights, and moving cars out of the way for street sweeping. (WTOP)

NJ rep takes money from NJ rails: New Jersey Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen added an appropriations amendment to cut all the HSR money awarded to the Northeast Corridor and use it for Mississippi River flood control. (Star-Ledger)

Return of the luxury train: A West Virginia resort is building a private luxury train that will travel once a week from DC to the resort and back. Round trip tickets will cost $650. (Charleston Gazette)

Women biking = the economy?: Why don't more women bike? Commonly cited reasons are "fear and fashion," but maybe it's really the economy (which could also partly explain why more women bike in DC than most places). (Grist)

So much for conservation: To lower gas prices, the Obama Administration decided to release 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves. We might as well assume that a carbon tax or a gas tax increase is dead. (AP)

Hampshire-Cowen for TOD, solutions: New Prince George's WMATA Board member Artis Hampshire-Cowan wants to see more TOD in Prince George's, and otherwise, generally "want[s] to be part of the solution." (Post)

Council opposes Western Bypass: A Virginia town is speaking out against the Western Bypass. This particular one isn't the Outer Beltway DC area road lobbyists have been pushing, but a similarly sprawl-inducing freeway outside Charlottesville. (Daily Progress)

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11 comments

Tags: Artis Hampshire-Cowan, Barack Obama, bicycling, budget, Charlottesville, Congress, DC, DC Council, enforcement, gas prices, gender, Green Teams, health care, high-speed rail, links, Maryland, Outer Beltway, Phil Mendelson, Prince George's, roads, smoking, street sweeping, traffic cameras, transit, Virginia, West Virginia, WMATA, WMATA Board

David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington. He has had a lifelong interest in great cities and great communities. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.

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Boy that NJ Rep is stupid.

by NikolasM on Jun 23, 2011 5:47 pm

I don't get the smoke ban exemption snafu. They meant to relax it for TWO events a year ... but instead it's 'only' allowing ONE event at each of the 79 hotels? It's not like they haven't exempted hotels on an as-needed basis for these events in the past? So, now a hotel can only do it once in the year ... instead of twice?

While I'm all for the smoking ban, as I think it makes for a much more enjoyable evening out not having to worry about your neighbor lighting up, if these hotels are going to have events for smokers, it's only fair that these smokers get exempted as needed. For years everyone smoked everywhere ... and while it's not pleasant for non-smokers, they've never proved a link to cancer or anything else from second-hand smoke. I know it made it easier to pass the law if we all pretended it was 'for the employees', but let's not push this to irrational lengths. If a bunch of smokers want an event in a conference room they've rented, they should be able to do it every night of the year. It's about as fundamental a freedom for these folks as is that reporter's right to report.

by Lance on Jun 23, 2011 10:03 pm

30 million barrels is about 1.5 days worth of supply for the US, or about 3/8 of a day for the world.

by Michael Perkins on Jun 23, 2011 10:27 pm

That luxury train sounds nice! A little odd it's going to be pulled by C39-8s...they're very freight-looking.

by Matt Glazewski on Jun 24, 2011 6:52 am

The western bypass in Charlottesville isn't going to happen any time soon. If it was ever going to happen, it would have happened 15 years ago but they decided to widen 29 instead.

What should they have done? The city center has been built out for decades and they area has had tremendous population growth. The area is still too small for rapid transit. If anyone has any bright ideas for dealing with that situation that don't involve road widening, I'd love to hear them.

by movement on Jun 24, 2011 7:02 am

It's interesting that Charlottesville would oppose the construction of a road that isn't even in Charlottesville. This would be like DC opposing the ICC in the Maryland suburbs. I'd suspect the real reason for its opposition to this much needed bypass is that the interests of the many merchants along the much bottle-necked 29 North have won out over the interests of the Charlottesville residents who must share this slow-moving stretch of road with people who'd otherwise speed around the city. You'd think Charlottesville would put a little more thought into the needs of its residents with this matter.

by Lance on Jun 24, 2011 8:37 am

@movement: if Albemarle County didn't want VDOT to build the bypass way back when, they should've accommodated a cross section on existing 29 that would allow for elimination of the traffic signals. It's not just the population growth...Route 29 is a heavy/important enough through/interregional corridor that some sort of limited-access facility is in order.

by Froggie on Jun 24, 2011 8:40 am

@Lance: not really...most of the existing 29 corridor that the bypass would avoid is in Albemarle County, not Charlottesville.

by Froggie on Jun 24, 2011 8:42 am

@Matt: CSX has a large stable of GE C39s; undoubtedly that's where the Greenbrier train is getting them. Yes, carbodies would be better, but its been about 50 years since the last E9 was built.

by ksu499 on Jun 24, 2011 8:58 am

@Lance
For years everyone smoked everywhere ... and while it's not pleasant for non-smokers, they've never proved a link to cancer or anything else from second-hand smoke.

from www.cancer.gov:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Tobacco/ETS

Does exposure to secondhand smoke cause cancer?
Yes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. National Toxicology Program, the U.S. Surgeon General, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have all classified secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen (a cancer-causing agent) (1, 3, 5, 7).

Inhaling secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in nonsmoking adults (4, 5). Approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths occur each year among adult nonsmokers in the United States as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke (2). The U.S. Surgeon General estimates that living with a smoker increases a nonsmoker’s chances of developing lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent (4).

Some research also suggests that secondhand smoke may increase the risk of breast cancer, nasal sinus cavity cancer, and nasopharyngeal cancer in adults and the risk of leukemia, lymphoma, and brain tumors in children (4). Additional research is needed to learn whether a link exists between secondhand smoke exposure and these cancers.

by JeffB on Jun 24, 2011 3:07 pm

@JeffB,

I'd posted a link confirming that the claim that 3,000 deaths are caused by second hand smoke is from a study that has since been discredited ... But it seems to have disappeared! I will have to find it again.

by Lance on Jun 25, 2011 10:38 am