Links
Breakfast links: Different modes to work catch on
Photo by Dylan Passmore on Flickr.
Bike commuters get their own secure parking: Metro's first "Bike & Ride" facility is under construction in College Park. Commuters can park their bikes in the access-controlled space for 5¢/hr most of the day and 2¢/hr at night. (PlanItMetro) 
Fairfax chooses multi-modal commutes: 86% of county residents surveyed intend to walk, bike, or ride a bus to Silver Line stations. The county will need to add the sidewalks, crosswalks, and buses to make this overwhelming desire feasible. (Post)
Fairfax wants Pentagon to provide road upgrades: County officials want DoD to fund more road improvements around Ft. Belvoir, which is set to grow sharply due to BRAC. The base says it's adding parking at a lower rate to mitigate traffic. (Examiner)
Howard mostly divested of LeDroit: Howard U. made great strides renovating many of its vacant and blighted properties in historic LeDroit Park, but the university still retains a few vacant properties in the neighborhood. (Left for LeDroit)
Renting jumps in local city: Manassas Park experienced the nation's second-largest jump in the percentage of homes occupied by renters. The rental rate increased from 21% to 34.6% in the last decade. (Examiner)
Local developer's sons develop a taste for urban infill: Herb Miller's sons are betting big on H Street. They promise high quality development that the tax code, they say, unwittingly discourages. (City Paper)
McDonnell gets a representative: As if the WMATA Board weren't insulated from riders enough, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell will get his own appointee. McDonnell threatened to withhold state funding if NoVa's jurisdictions didn't yield to his demand. (Post)
Calling all DC transit fans: Mayor Gray is offerring several one-day scholarships to District residents and community leaders interested in attending Rail~Volution, the nation's premier conference on using transit to build livable communities. (DDOT)
And...: DC investigates Maryland and Virginia students illegally enrolled in DCPS. (Washington Times) ... P.G. receives federal disaster relief to clean up after Trop. Storm Lee. (Examiner) ... A new book explores the history of Alexandria, DC. (Post) ... DDOT quickly fixes erroneous wayfinding signs. (Park View, DC)
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 | Eric Fidler has lived in DC and suburban Maryland his entire life. He likes long walks along the Potomac and considers the L'Enfant Plan an elegant work of art. He also blogs at Left for LeDroit, LeDroit Park's (only) blog of record.   |
Comments
Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition
- Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition
- Judge denies injunction against closing schools
- Long-term closures: A solution to single-tracking?
- Metro policy for refunds after delays falls short, riders say
- M Street cycle track keeps improving, draws church anger
- Cyclists are special and do have their own rules
- O'Malley announces first projects using new gas tax money
Tue May 21
Sun May 26
11:00 am Roosevelt Ride in Greenbelt
Sat Jun 1
10:00 am CSG walking tour of Wheaton
We can't appoint Dyke to the WMTA board because:
1)The state proposal is to provide a primary appointee AND an ALTERNATE
A: "But Connaughton had said that the state is only looking for one seat on the Metro board."
2)There are some serious legal questions as to whether the Governors budget amendment may violate the WMATA Compact and even the rules of NVTC as outlined by the General Assembly and mirrored in the Compact.
A: Nonsense. The WMATA rules say NVYC will nominate someone. It doesn't say who. In terms of the NTVC rules, I can't answer that -- but clearly by appointing Dyke to the NVYC yesterday their serious legal question is answered.
3. "The NVTC and its localities haven’t said they won’t sign the agreement. They simply want to make sure they aren’t signing something that may put NVTC, their jurisdictions or Metro in legal jeopardy down the road. "
Yep, and the Governor has said the money will come once they appoint Dyke to the WMATA board. Legal jeopardy? Standing my ass.
4."The money in question is programmed by the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) in the FY 2012 six year improvement plan (SYIP). "
I like how in NVTC own finaical statement, they recgonize it is state money.
5. The 2.1% Motor Vehicle Fuels Sales Tax is completely separate from all of the monies in question"
Yep. The money here goes directly to NVTC. A 2.1% tax is fine. If they want to give up on the state money -- about $110 M last year -- they can triple the tax. Or quadruple it. An 8% sales tax on gas means an extra quarter a gallon at the current rate.
Three related points:
1. Why does the NVTC exist? I suggest we kill it. They don't DO anything.
2. The regional gas tax is a percentage -- which means it has declined quickly after prices collapsed in 08. Dangers of percentage taxing.
3. The links suggests that having a represenative on the Govenror on the WMATA board will mean more "insulation". I'd suggest the opposite. This hou-hah shows how out of control regional VA politicans are, and the need to smack down the boards of MWAA, NVTC and WMATA. They all deserve to be fired. I may not like the Governor, but he made a good choice for the board member, and we need to do something.
by charlie on Oct 7, 2011 10:08 am • link • report
In a democracy, if the voters think their politicians are out of control, then they should vote them out of office. We don't need big government coming in and telling localities how to run their show. How would you like it if the federal govt said they were withholding federal transport dollars unless they got a seat on the Commonwealth Transpo Board?
by Falls Church on Oct 7, 2011 10:19 am • link • report
by Gavin on Oct 7, 2011 10:33 am • link • report
A represenative from the Governor is just as good as an elected poltiican on the WMATA board. Ask Maryland. Or bad. At least the Governor will be gone in six years.
by charlie on Oct 7, 2011 10:35 am • link • report
Yes. stop. Our servers are hosted by Western Union. stop. That means we have to keep posts short. stop. Charged by the letter. stop. Hope you understand. stop.
by Matt Johnson on Oct 7, 2011 10:41 am • link • report
All the lower case 'i''s on the internet have been temporarily taken up by Steve Jobs commemorations.
by Kolohe on Oct 7, 2011 10:44 am • link • report
Sharon Bulova and my local supervisor certainly represent me better than Gov McConnell does.
by AWalkerInTheCity on Oct 7, 2011 10:46 am • link • report
I lived in Arlington for 10 years. Overall, I'd say it's one of the best governed counties in the country, so it's not surprising that its politicians are popular. I believe in democracy which means that people should get the representatives they want, not the ones dictated by some higher authority.
A represenative from the Governor is just as good as an elected poltiican on the WMATA board. Ask Maryland. Or bad. At least the Governor will be gone in six years.
And a benevolent dictator might be just as good (or bad) as an elected President. But, it's the principal that matters. What the Governor is doing smacks of big government and probably goes against our founding father's vision of democracy.
by Falls Church on Oct 7, 2011 10:54 am • link • report
Traffic patterns are changing. On the road as well as in transit. The BRAC is swinging to Ft Belvoir.
by Jasper on Oct 7, 2011 11:09 am • link • report
Faster. He'll be gone in Jan 2014 after the VA 2013 elections. VA is the only state with a one-term governor.
by Jasper on Oct 7, 2011 11:13 am • link • report
Yes, Governor Cuccinelli with be a huge improvement. Good luck with that. I'd rather have the clown parade that currently occupies the DC Council.
by dcd on Oct 7, 2011 11:50 am • link • report
THAT will be one helluva fight.
by AWalkerInTheCity on Oct 7, 2011 12:08 pm • link • report
@AWalkerInTheCity; I don't know. Who will the D be? McDonnel has done a reasonable job. The delays in the credit card bill won't be felt for a few years. I don't think Virginia will elect Cuccinelli, but somebody has to run against him. Not very happy when I think about it.
by charlie on Oct 7, 2011 1:17 pm • link • report
You hung out too much with our senior French correspondent Lance? French presidential terms are 5 years BTW. Chirac had those shortened because he was afraid the public deemed him too old to be re-elected for 7 years, the pervious length. He also mumbled something about aligning the assemble terms with the presidential terms, and then lost the assemble at the next early elections. Luckily for him, the French lefties were so divided that no left-wing candidate then came through the first round of the presidential elections, which led the infamous Jean-Marie le Pen to end up at the ballot against Chirac. Well, that was an easy choice for France. And mind you, thanks to the NYPD, Sarkozy might end up in the second round of the coming elections against Le Pen's daughter: Marine. L'histoire pourrait se repeter.
I don't think Virginia will elect Cuccinelli, but somebody has to run against him. Not very happy when I think about it.
I agree. Cuccinelli has made himself pretty unpopular in the North, and around campuses.
BTW, Cuccinelli always makes me think of that infamous Italian member of parliament la Cicciolina.
by Jasper on Oct 7, 2011 1:33 pm • link • report
you cant hardly go to a Fairfax dem event this year without running into Harris Miller, doing some favor or other for a local Dem pol, giving a speech, whatever.
I daresay he's not doing it ONLY out of the goodness of his heart and his vision for Fairfax County.
by AWalkerInTheCity on Oct 7, 2011 1:43 pm • link • report
by Lance on Oct 7, 2011 7:26 pm • link • report
Subsidizing efficient forms of transit that provide society wide benefits = smart
Subsidizing inefficient, pollution-causing forms that negatively impact society = dumb
Not too hard to figure out.
by N Bluth on Oct 7, 2011 11:16 pm • link • report
I guess if you can define the externalities you can define them as zero, huh? Try driving around DC during rush hour now with the 'oh so high' percentage of bikers who don't know (or maybe just flatly refuse) the rules of the road. We're experiencing so very serious externalities.
by Lance on Oct 8, 2011 8:58 am • link • report
by Fred on Oct 8, 2011 9:57 am • link • report
Still, since the bikes can park approx 20 in the same space as one car, this is charging about $9.00 per workday for the bikes compared to $5.00 per workday for cars.
by Michael Perkins on Oct 8, 2011 4:12 pm • link • report
GGW advocated (and got for us) a downtown parking rate of 7 1/2 minutes for a quarter ... that's $2/hr or approx. $16 per day. And that's only on the street. It's also advocated for far higher rates in actual parking garages (like this one) by (a) pushing to limit the required construction of garage spaces in new construction and by (b) pushing for a new tax on employees use of their employer's parking. I.e., GGW is definitely not out to help convenience parking for drivers. Yet, it seems definitely cheerful in conveniencing parking for cyclists. Do you not see a double standard there?
by Lance on Oct 9, 2011 8:27 am • link • report
Also, a world exists past your windshield. Cyclists get blocked by cars far more often than cars get blocked by cyclists, at least in my experience.
by Payton on Oct 10, 2011 11:57 pm • link • report
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