Breakfast links: Not open and shut

by David Edmondson • May 8, 2012 8:42 am

Photo by Munish on Flickr.

Metro gets doored: The biggest source of Metro delays is problems with train doors. Though mechanical wear-and-tear thanks to stuck backpacks and caught arms are a problem, problems with internal door circuitry are just as bad. (TBD)

Spurned pot applicants sue: Three rejected applicants to grow medical marijuana in DC have sued, saying their applications were improperly scored and should be reconsidered. (Washington Times)

Memorial to Red Line victims: A memorial to victims of the 2009 Red Line crash is coming. WMATA is soliciting proposals for the memorial's design, which will be built near the site of the crash. (DCist)

Germantown steps a little forward: A new central park for Germantown Town Center has a good internal design, but the surrounding cityscape is so bland that it likely won't live up to its full potential. (BeyondDC)

Renting success: The shift from owning big-ticket items to simply renting them, from apartments to carsharing, opens Americans to the kind of mobility needed to best match skills with jobs. (WSJ)

Downtown needs to perform: Parking demand in downtown DC exceeds supply, meaning spaces are scarce. Performance parking will alleviate the crunch. (TBD)

Economics reaches Gaithersburg: Gaithersburg will probably start charging for parking near its MARC station. It's also considering building a new lot; perhaps they should charge first and then determine how much demand remains. (Gazette)

School gap grows: There is a larger gap than ever between DC's best and worst schools. At top schools, students gain more ground on standardized tests than those at bottom schools. (Examiner)

And...: DCPS will reopen its only planetarium, which has been used as storage for years. (Examiner) ... Legislative scenarios that would lead to budget autonomy do not look good for abortion rights in the District. (Roll Call) ... Please don't nail signs to trees. (District Curmudgeon)

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15 comments

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David Edmondson is a transportation and urban affairs enthusiast living in Mount Vernon Square. He blogs about Marin County, California, at The Greater Marin.

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I think it is time for Metro to start a campaign to remind passengers to "take the backpacks off before entering the train". Besides standing on the left, wearing backpacks on the trains, is my biggest pet peeve.

by RJ on May 8, 2012 9:11 am • link • report

Downtown has PLENTY of parking. It is underground. Now, the real interesting question is why it isn't available on evenings or during the middle of the day (try getting your car out of some garages around noon)

I've seen plenty of subways where TV cameras and a monitor give the driver a clear view of every door. I suspect hiring door monitors would also help. BID work?

by charlie on May 8, 2012 9:20 am • link • report

@rj, I hate the backpacks as well. As long as we are reuesting announcements, can we ask people standing near the doors to get off the train and get back on so they don't slow down people trying to get off the train. You would be amazed on how much this would help improve on time performance.

by nathaniel on May 8, 2012 9:49 am • link • report

A lot of door crowding problems would be solved if people simply filled the entire train and didn't stop at the door.

by selxic on May 8, 2012 10:04 am • link • report

The problem is mechanical, but it's also the lack of courtesy by customers. I've seen plenty of people try and cram on a Nationals bound train that was filled to capacity.

by Redline SOS on May 8, 2012 10:47 am • link • report

Charlie,

Most private parking garages downtown that I've had reason to use are pretty much at capacity from 9-5

And there are a number of them open at night, some choose not to be for a variety of reasons, cost, liability, security etc, but even at 10:00pm I have never found a parking garage that was cheaper, and rarely every more conveneint than street parking.

For all of DC's renaissance, it still isn't a late night town. Most of downtown is empty after 8-9, save for some pockets near popular restaurants/bars.

by Parking on May 8, 2012 11:25 am • link • report

I hate backpacks as well. But as someone who carries one @least 10 x's a week, I do realize that they aren't as cumbersome than having to deal with strollers.

The biggest problem with metro is the inability of it's passengers to be considerate of others. You are not..and I repeat NOT helping your fellow passengers by moving to the "nonopening" door side when there's already 4 people on that end. What you end of doing is standing in the way.

You are not helping by moving towards the center of the train and standing in the CENTER of the aisle.

You are NOT helping by not moving back and allowing people (on the train) to offload so that others can behind them. Move out of the way folks!

Seat hoggers: I could throw a pile of trash on people who (for whatever reason) decide to plop their a**es in the aisle seat and have their junk sitting in the adjacent seat.

Overweight: I feel for you, really I do. But if you take up two seats, maybe you should stand.

by HogWash on May 8, 2012 11:27 am • link • report

"the surrounding cityscape is so bland"

I love how anything that doesn't look exactly like Dupont Circle is "bland." Germantown Town Center, which is in the suburbs is a very successful walkable business/restaurant/cultural hub, and is packed with people on the weekends. It serves as a model of what every suburban, bedroom community needs to be vibrant and sustainable. It's the exact opposite of Milestone Center, which is the typical poorly walkable, sea-of-parking, big-box suburban center.

The post on Beyond DC is poorly written by someone who clearly hasn't been to Germantown.

by LivesinGermantown on May 8, 2012 11:32 am • link • report

$100 fine for holding the doors open.

We won't be able to enforce it, just like we won't enforce the no eating rule to the extent we probably should.

But the fine would establish a norm: It's not cool to hold open the doors. It holds everyone else up and could possibly break the train.

by Michael Perkins on May 8, 2012 11:37 am • link • report

@MP

No need for fines that would never get enforced. What we need is more vigilante justice on Metro.

by Adam L on May 8, 2012 12:14 pm • link • report

> the memorial itself is expected to cost over $1 million.
[DCist]

At that price, it should have at least two working escalators!

by Turnip on May 8, 2012 7:22 pm • link • report

The metro memorial is probably better described as a neighborhood park with a memorial element in it.

It's $1M to build the park, including a play area. $156K is for the actual memorial.

Here is the RFP.

It's in the path of the fort circle park system, so it would be interesting to see how they accommodate future development of that scheme.

by Neil Flanagan on May 8, 2012 9:27 pm • link • report

The memorial to the victims of the Metro accident is an appallingly disproportionate response. I don't understand why a tasteful plaque would be insufficient to the task. On a national level, we have smaller monuments to thousands of war veterans and victims. I really do not grasp the value to anyone of this gesture.

by Craig on May 8, 2012 9:40 pm • link • report

Metro is broken. Fares are rising and in many places maintenance is sub-standard. So, the new priority is to get s ONE MILLION DOLLAR memorial? Seriously, ONE MILLION DOLLARS?

This is the same crap with the 9/11 memorial in NY.. over 1/2 a BILLION dollars. This really is getting out of control. Perhaps a lovely boulder with a plaque mounted on it would suffice. A million dollars will not bring back the loved ones who were lost. Why on earth is Metro spending money like a drunken sailor?

Who needs to be targeted with an action to counter this stupidity? This is just a bureaucracy letting proposals move from one person to another without someone having the sense to say "wait a minute, what are we doing here?"

Simply put: ridiculous.

by Michael Rogers on May 9, 2012 9:01 am • link • report

I agree with Craig and Michael: the proposed memorial is extravagant. Neighbors who live near the proposed location also oppose it, according to what I heard on the radio.

I suggest a plaque at the main entrance of the Jackson-Graham Building and a duplicate, if necessary, in a location where WMATA employees who don't use the main entrance can see it as they enter the building to begin their workday.

by The Civic Center on May 10, 2012 12:10 am • link • report