Rendering of potential future Tysons Corner Center development. Yeah, I know… skybridges.

One small step for Virginia, one giant leap for the FTA: Perhaps they saw the writing on the wall, that the Federal Transit Administration is soon to be transformed into an agency that actually promotes transit. Or perhaps Virginia really did allay their concerns. Yesterday, the FTA approved federal funding for the Silver Line, after months of analysis and frenetic lobbying.

Don’t forget the walkability: In a statement, the Coalition for Smarter Growth praised the FTA’s decision but reminded us that Fairfax hasn’t yet formally adopted the (pretty good) Tysons Corner vision. With rail approved, developers may want to start building now, but the current zoning still forces a suburban sprawl form.

Taxi fuel surcharge go bye-bye: WTOP takes credit for reminding the DC Taxi Cab Commission that gas prices are over a dollar lower now than when they instituted the $1/trip fuel surcharge a year ago. As of today, the surcharge is gone. Will many drivers continue to try to collect it in hopes that consumers don’t know?

It must be because of the transit: Crime has spiked in Tysons Corner. It’s also up around 15th Street between Dupont and Logan, which the neighbors call Borderstan due to its straddling two police districts, and in North Dupont. Crime always rises in the holiday season, and coupled with the declining economy, please be careful.

You pollute what you eat: Ditching a car by moving to New York didn’t shrink one writer’s carbon footprint as much as she expected; food is a huge factor as well. Transportation is still a bigger impact, but air travel is a huge chunk of that.

Missing the point: Navy Yard workers were illegally parking all day on nearby local streets. Instead of installing meters to get some money out of it as Michael Perkins suggested, DC just prohibited parking altogether at rush hours, which deprives the commuters of a space and DC of some money.