Morning links: More muck

by David Edmondson • June 12, 2012 9:39 am

Photo by SoulRider.222 on Flickr.

Yet another investigation: Add the DC Lottery contract to the list of things under federal investigation. The FBI has begun interviewing staff close to the contract negotiations, though the FBI has yet to acknowledge the probe. (City Paper)

End entitlement, end tickets: A Post editorial suggests eliminating free sports tickets and constituent service "slush funds" to start combating DC councilmembers' "sense of entitlement."

The occupation is over: Occupy DC's last remaining tents in McPherson Square were knocked down Sunday night, leaving only a few piles of debris and the muddy remains of a park. Occupy hasn't gone, though; they have an office just up 16th. (DCist)

Some parts of DC get whiter: Three of the 25 ZIP codes which gained the most percentage of white residents are in DC, basically all around the Green Line. Four were in Brooklyn, the others in cities that might surprise you. (Post)

Metro becoming paperless: SmarTrip starts its two-year-long makeover next month with new card dispensers and new passes, to be followed by automatic reloading in September and a card management app in June. (Examiner)

Bag searches catch nobody: Metro has not arrested a single person from its random bag searches. Police Chief Taborn claims it's necessary just to be random, and that the public "welcomes" it, ignoring the strong objections from the RAC. (WTOP, Froggie)

TBD Off Foot: TBD On Foot blogger John Hendel, the last remaining TBD employee, is leaving, likely spelling the end of the blog. Hendel did a great job covering transportation, especially taxi policy. TBD will remain only to publish WJLA content. (City Paper)

Time for a freeway's exit: What does one do with a well-used, much-hated, massive elevated freeway in downtown Baltimore? Developers and activists want the Jones Falls Expressway demolished, but city officials maintain a conspicuous silence. (Urbanite)

And...: U Street's streetscape overhaul began yesterday. Construction will go on for at least a year. (WTOP) ... DC's long-vacant library kiosks are finally up for licensing by the private sector. (City Paper) ... An oversaturated convention center market is putting a strain on our own convention center. (Atlantic Cities)

Have a tip for the links? Submit it here.

13 comments

Tags: links

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

Comments
Add a comment »

"By early 2014, Metro said it should be able to sell the cards for about $1, according to a presentation for the Board of Directors. But first it needs to make other changes such as eliminating the ability of cards to carry a negative balance, so riders cannot game the system."

Sigh. That is one the primary benefits of Smartcards -- you can leave the system without dealing with exit fares.

by charlie on Jun 12, 2012 10:36 am • link • report

New Orleans is considering removing I-10, Baltimore is talking about the JFX downtown going, but DC's Southeast/Southwest freeway remains (and in fact is enlarged with the new bridge).

When you fall behind places like that in creative new urbanism it's sad.

And we should have closed the center-leg freeway long ago.

by Tom Coumaris on Jun 12, 2012 10:38 am • link • report

@Charlie: But they've also implemented the auto reload option so you should never go negative.

by Michael Perkins on Jun 12, 2012 11:09 am • link • report

@Michael Perkins; that assuming that I want WMATA tracking me, I have enough money on a credit card/debit card and I trust WMATA enough to give them credit card information.

Not everyone is federal worker!

A much simpler rule: you can only buy one card at a time.

by charlie on Jun 12, 2012 11:14 am • link • report

[This comment has been deleted for violating the comment policy.]

by Gray on Jun 12, 2012 11:18 am • link • report

@Gray; a federal worker is relevant because their smartrip is already linked up to get benefits. Those of us w/o it have little incentive to keep large amounts on our cards.

And yes. This was argued about here a few years ago when WMATA wanted to cut smarttrip prices, but as long as you institute a little hassle the fraud problem will go away. There isn't much of a market for paying $2 for a smarttrip to take a $6 bus ride to the airport. Far far less to buy a $2 card and use it for a $3 subway fare.

I understand WMATA is rightfully terrifed after being burned on the multimillion chop your paper card up and exchange it fraud, but it is a few bad actors that are the problem.

by charlie on Jun 12, 2012 11:24 am • link • report

@charlie: You just identified a very strong incentive for non-federal workers to keep a balance on their SmarTrips: doing so allows them to avoid having to deal with negative balances. The other reasonable option is to use the auto-reload feature.

If a rider doesn't want to do either, then it seems reasonable to remove the ability to leave the station with a negative balance.

Or we could just make it marginally harder for people to buy SmarTrips, I guess.

by Gray on Jun 12, 2012 11:39 am • link • report

"When you fall behind places like that in creative new urbanism it's sad."

I don't know what this means. When I think of Baltimore, I think of the transformation of row house neighborhoods, of harborplace, of the Central light rail line, etc - I am not sure I get why it would be considered a poor stepchild wrt to urbanism, old or new.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Jun 12, 2012 11:46 am • link • report

as for the JFX, its only the lower elevated section south of Chase Street under discussion. The comparable DC highway, the center leg of I395, is already partly in tunnel, and will be decked as part of the restore L'enfant plan.

As for SE-SW across the city to connect to I295, the baltimore comparable is I95, which no one is suggesting tearing down.

I would note that the new 11th street bridge connection has resulted in plans to convert the stub end of SE-SW to an urban boulevard, which sounds much like what is proposed for the JFX.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Jun 12, 2012 11:53 am • link • report

Agreed. I'd argue that Baltimore has it better than a lot of places when it comes to urbanism, simply because it has a more traditional urban infrastructure of neighborhoods with vibrant commercial and retail amenities. Sure, there's an elevated highway in the way, but they still have a lot to work with.

by JustMe on Jun 12, 2012 1:54 pm • link • report

The center leg freeway is a leftover from plans to build 95 into DC. The comprehensive plan calls for it's closure. The main purpose it serves is to provide a shortcut for Maryland-Virginia drivers across DC so they don't have to use the WW bridge.

It's a major headache for DC.

Same thing for SE/SW. It should be a surface grade boulevard.

by Tom Coumaris on Jun 12, 2012 2:30 pm • link • report

The headache is the failure to complete DC 95 and those that disregard design and routing. It's like being plauged a century or more ago who were against urban railways and did not care if they were tunneled, as if coal mattered more than electrification.

by Douglas Willinger on Jun 12, 2012 3:42 pm • link • report

"The center leg freeway is a leftover from plans to build 95 into DC. The comprehensive plan calls for it's closure. "

cite? My understanding is the call is for decking it (where its not already covered), not closing it

"The main purpose it serves is to provide a shortcut for Maryland-Virginia drivers across DC so they don't have to use the WW bridge. "

1. I live in Va and have used it to get to and from places in DC, and I imagine its used by DC residents to get to and from Va. And of course having an alternate route to the beltway for someone going from say Arlington, to Md is not a bad thing - I suspect if that section were made a blvd, it would still be used that way.
It's a major headache for DC.

"Same thing for SE/SW. It should be a surface grade boulevard"

It might have been better to build it that way to begin with, which would have saved on construction costs and disruption to existing neighborhoods. But we are where we are - I doubt the benefit cost for doing that is close to positive (note well, DC height limits reduce the amount of incremental development you could get from doing that) I dont think its comparable to the JFX in Baltimore (and note, the JFX thing is still at the being talked about stage, it may not happen for decades, if ever)

by AWalkerInTheCity on Jun 12, 2012 3:51 pm • link • report