Breakfast links: Mendocracy

by Steven Yates • June 14, 2012 8:28 am

Photo by thedccenter on Flickr.

Mendelson, Brown win leadership posts: Phil Mendelson cruised to election as DC Council chair, but the fight over the pro tempore spot between Michael Brown and Vincent Orange was much more acrimonious, even bringing Yvette Alexander to tears. Brown eventually prevailed despite some doubt about his previous ethics lapses. (Post)

Purple Line tunnel could have sidewalk: The Maryland MTA believes it can include a 5-foot sidewalk next to the Purple Line in its Bethesda tunnel. That will let pedestrians, and cyclists walking, to avoid crossing MD-355 at street level if they wish. (WashCycle)

"A" for effort at least: The DC government now wants your feedback on how its agencies are doing. Grade.DC.Gov will even post letter grades on how each agency performed. (Post)

Columbia Pike streetcar survives: A measure that would have replaced the Columbia Pike streetcar with articulated buses was narrowly defeated in Arlington's Transit Advisory Committee. (ARLnow)

Space for charters: DC charter schools can have a tough time finding space. Meanwhile, many DCPS schools are empty or underutilized, but perhaps an independent authority could arbitrate to get to the best outcome for the city. (City Paper)

Some people are rude, including on bikes: When a health columnist wrote about the challenges biking 17 miles to work from the suburbs, some replies encouraged him to keep trying while others were just rude and accused him of wimpiness. (Post)

Don't rush to conclusions: The staggered train departures of Rush Plus will make Metro's on-time metrics look worse than they actually are. (Examiner)

Who's at fault: The largest number of driver and pedestrian collisions occur in the crosswalk when the pedestrian has the signal, followed by pedestrians outside the crosswalk (legally or not) and pedestrians without the signal. (TBD)

Where the car-free are: Ward 8 leads DC with nearly half of households car-free followed by Ward 2. Ward 3 followed closely by Ward 4 have the highest percentage of houses with cars. (TBD; this is actually not new, but many haven't seen it.)

And...: The new iPhone OS will drop Google Maps and therefore transit directions. (Streetsblog) ... Lots of rental property will soon become available in DC. (City Paper) ... A seemingly broke Texas DOT still found $2 billion for a new highway. (Streetsblog)

Thanks to Elissa Silverman for the title idea.

Have a tip for the links? Submit it here.

33 comments

Tags: links

Steven Yates grew up in Indiana before moving to DC in 2002 to attend college at American University. He currently lives in Southwest DC.

Comments
Add a comment »

The new iPhone OS is not dropping transit directions according to Grist:

Comments

13 Jun 2012 8:30 AM
Share on reddit Share on stumbleupon Share on email Share on print
Why the rumors about the iPhone ditching walking, public transit are wrong

By Philip Bump

Image by Zoli Erdos.

Okay, everyone. Take a deep breath. The new Apple operating system didn’t kill walking and public transit directions, as some have feared.

Feeling better? Good. Here are the details.(follow link for complete article)

http://grist.org/news/why-the-rumors-about-the-iphone-ditching-walking-public-transit-are-wrong/

by Ken Firestone on Jun 14, 2012 8:57 am • link • report

Hmm. I almost want to conclude that I'll be safer if I cross the street outside the crosswalk and against the light. I can identify some intersections in town where I think that's almost certainly the case.

by Lucre on Jun 14, 2012 9:09 am • link • report

@Council leadership
I saw on the news last night Vincent Orange very upset and saying that others would make him look like a fool (or something like that). I assumed this was if they didn't vote for him. What was his beef exactly? Does anyone know? Why would not voting for him make him look bad (any more than it would make any other candidate who wanted the position look bad)?

by rdhd on Jun 14, 2012 9:13 am • link • report

@rghd

Vincent has always been a public blowhard, someone who thinks any attention is good attention, despite it not serving him well in the past.

He wanted to position himself for higher power. He also isn't an idiot. He knows this election cycle is probably the last time he can make the play for Council Chair or Mayor.

by Vincent on Jun 14, 2012 9:27 am • link • report

Yikes! I'm nearly speechless. Arlington's own transit advisory committee came exceedingly close to throwing a huge wrench into the Columbia Pike Streetcar Project. Is this project in trouble, or what?

by Sage on Jun 14, 2012 9:33 am • link • report

Re: Arlington Streetcar

While I'm a supporter of the streetcar, the project is definitely in trouble simply because the numbers aren't as good as typical transit projects. By comparison, the Potomac Yard infill station will cost about half the price of the Columbia Pike Streetcar, result in 1.4M square feet of additional development, and largely get paid for through special tax districts and developer contributions. As another comparison, the Silver Line will result in enough property value increase around the four Tysons stations alone, to pay for the combined cost of Phase I & II and still have a few $billion left over.

Not every transit project has to be at the standard of Potomac Yard or the Silver Line but it certainly helps.

by Falls Church on Jun 14, 2012 9:50 am • link • report

Pedestrian walkers, joggers and runners right alongside cyclists in 5 foot wide tunnel, that sounds super safe.

by Fitz on Jun 14, 2012 9:53 am • link • report

After reading the ARLNow article I think Warren and Antonelli made some pretty compelling arguments for implementing articulated bus service over a streetcar. The Columbia Pike corridor is in itself already ripe for development, so that means that you don't have to shoehorn every gold plated transit system in, especially when estimated costs keep going up as the project becomes more defined.

I think it's reasonable to set aside the streetcar system and implement a high quality articulated bus system, along with developing the corridor into a more walkable, livable area. You can always plan for future streetcar development as well.

by Fitz on Jun 14, 2012 10:11 am • link • report

DC charter schools can have a tough time finding space. Meanwhile, many DCPS schools are empty or underutilized, but perhaps an independent authority could arbitrate to get to the best outcome for the city.

This will be true once "the city" recognizes that 41% of its public school students are in schools with inadequately funded facilities. Mayor Fenty always treated charter schools like they were part of the suburbs or something. Despite his talk, Mayor Gray is doing essentially the same thing. As a charter parent, I don't trust him to set up an independent authority and I haven't seen evidence to trust the Deputy Mayor either.

by Ward 1 Guy on Jun 14, 2012 10:17 am • link • report

My understanding is that the new iOS has an open architecture to allow stuff like transit/bike data from developers to be easily plugged in, so my guess is that those features will be functional and pretty robust by the time the release is finalized.

by MM on Jun 14, 2012 10:24 am • link • report

The new iOS has an API that you can build into your transit app that allows the maps app to pass O-D information along. Your app then uses that information to plan a trip.

This is a huge step backwards - transit needs a unified system with all agencies included and Google and GTFS are working toward that. Apple's method provides no incentive for agencies to have a common standard. So instead of having a one-stop shop for transit in a zillion cities (Google Maps) now I have to download a DC app if I'm in DC, and another one if I go to NY, and another one if I go to SF, etc. And I have to pick the right ones that have chosen to add support for iOS' API.

by MLD on Jun 14, 2012 10:37 am • link • report

@ Fitz:Pedestrian walkers, joggers and runners right alongside cyclists in 5 foot wide tunnel, that sounds super safe.

Oh, it's standard practice on the Mt Vernon trail under Memorial Bridge and on the spur to Crystal City under the GW Parkway and the VRE tracks.

You're right though. Not safe.

by Jasper on Jun 14, 2012 10:38 am • link • report

Re: Purple Line tunnel in Bethesda

Five feet in width does seem rather narrow to accommodate both pedestrians and bicyclers safely. However, if bicyclers were required to "walk" their bikes through the tunnel it should be OK.

by Sage on Jun 14, 2012 10:41 am • link • report

@RDHD, my understanding is that Orange was upset that his colleagues weren't considering him for the pro tempre because of Brown's documented history of finanacial problems.

Considering past months of council scandal, I can't say he doesn't have a point..even though I don't particularly take issue w/Brown being in that slot.

Good look on the dc.gov grading system. I wonder how an honest assessment grades.

by HogWash on Jun 14, 2012 10:49 am • link • report

I'm not an Apple of iPhone person, but they never really had the "Google Maps" app. They had access to some of the information.

"Some people are rude, including on bikes" was part of yesterday's links.

by selxic on Jun 14, 2012 11:16 am • link • report

The statistical reasoning in the analysis of pedestrian collisions seems faulty to me. Yes, they happen most often in crosswalks when the pedestrian has the signal, but that's also probably the most common way for pedestrians to cross the street. Non-crosswalk collisions are ~21% of all collisions, but if non-crosswalk crossings were only, say, 15% of total street-crossings (regardless of whether they resulted in collisions), non-crosswalk crossing would be over-represented in collisions, and might then actually be more likely to result in a collision than with-signal crosswalk crossing. This analysis doesn't actually provide any guidance, as far as I can tell, about the relative risk of different ways of crossing the street.

by Andrew Pendleton on Jun 14, 2012 11:17 am • link • report

@Ken. The new Maps actually did kill support for transit directions, insofar as native support is concerned. Killing native support and directing users to download 3rd party apps is, for all intents and purposes, killing support.

Almost all the native apps that Apple provides - namely, email, calendar, clock, SMS messaging, Youtube, Safari and Maps -- can be provided by a 3rd party app. So imagine if Apple just said, "OK, we're no longer going to support Safari, instead, users can download Atomic, Opera Mini, Aquari from the App Store if they want to browse the internet on an iPhone". Imagine if Apple said, "OK, we're no longer going to support a built in clock app on iPhone, instead users can feel free to download the hundreds of available clock apps from 3rd party developers that offer more features than the built-in clock". The kind of head scratching this would provoke among users is basically what's happening on a smaller scale with respect to transit directions.

Worst of all, Apple's excuse to remove native support for transit directions is pretty lame. Apple chose to drop transit support and pick up native turn by turn nav support on the basis that there are plenty of good transit apps out there. Yet, reality is that there are a LOT of great turn by turn apps out there from 3rd party developers. Apple is simply making this move to try to compete directly with Google's turn by turn navigation, and instead of acquiring good transit data from local agencies like Google did, is hoping by dropping transit support it will buy itself some time and earn a little chunk of app revenues in the process.

On top of all this, Apple has always positioned itself as a brand for cosmopolitans in major cities (particularly in New York and SF), so it's kind of troubling that it would drop native support for transit directions.

by Scoot on Jun 14, 2012 11:35 am • link • report

Quibble with your wording - the transit committee could not replace the streetcar with buses, horses, or anything else. They could pass a resolution recommending a course of action but they don't have the power to actually change the project.

by Dave on Jun 14, 2012 11:37 am • link • report

Re: Rush plus on time performance.

In close to 5 years of riding Metrorail, I have never once looked at a timetable. All I care about is that trains come frequently and get me from point A to B quickly and reliably without breaking down. Realtime arrival data seems to solve the problem of having to memorize when trains are supposed to arrive. But I am not a transportation planner, so perhaps there is some crucial value that on-time performance metrics provide which I am overlooking.

That being said, I predict WMATA will just lower its standard for on-time performance and then claim that its goals have been met, as it has done in the past.

by Scoot on Jun 14, 2012 11:43 am • link • report

@RDHD, my understanding is that Orange was upset that his colleagues weren't considering him for the pro tempre because of Brown's documented history of finanacial problems.

Just wanted to point out that the four votes in favor of VO for pro tempore were Barry, Evans, and *gasp* Councilmartyr "Saint" Tommy Wells.

Also, a Mendocracy literally means "rule by liars". All hail the new boss. :)

by oboe on Jun 14, 2012 12:08 pm • link • report

and *gasp* Councilmartyr "Saint" Tommy Wells.

I was shocked too. Ok, not really shocked. Moreso like, "really"?

I really would like to know what were the CM's reasons for supporting one over the other though.

by HogWash on Jun 14, 2012 12:59 pm • link • report

I really would like to know what were the CM's reasons for supporting one over the other though.

Sounds like it was Michael Brown's misdemeanor for campaign finance violations and problems with debts and the IRS-- too much like Kwame Brown. But I guess they disliked Orange that much.

Plus, anything that drives Yvette Alexander to tears can't be that bad.

by JustMe on Jun 14, 2012 1:10 pm • link • report

Someone pointed out that Wells may have thrown Orange a bone on a largely symbolic move with the intent of gaining some favor in W5, W7, and W8 for his upcoming mayoral run when Gray is indicted shortly.

by Kyle W on Jun 14, 2012 1:10 pm • link • report

Plus, anything that drives Yvette Alexander to tears can't be that bad.

CM Alexander "needs" to be driven to tears? Wow! I guess the Council reflect the constituency.

[Deleted for violating the comment policy.]

by HogWash on Jun 14, 2012 1:19 pm • link • report

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

by Gray on Jun 14, 2012 1:44 pm • link • report

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

by HogWash on Jun 14, 2012 2:09 pm • link • report

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

by Gray on Jun 14, 2012 2:18 pm • link • report

Can't you just delete the whole post, without teasing us with the silhouette of what is likely a hilarious back-and-forth? I picture David, or a moderator, sitting at a computer saying, "I know something you don't know!" Sheesh.

by dcd on Jun 14, 2012 4:56 pm • link • report

OK, that's kind of funny. :)

But even better is going to an article on the Washington Post, and seeing "Top Comments"... "this comment has been deleted for violating terms of service".

by Frank IBC on Jun 14, 2012 5:15 pm • link • report

It's true! I was incredibly hilarious and witty, but you'll never get to see my amazing comments because . . . I apparently also violated some minor "comment policies."

Sorry about that. I'll try to be less witty in the future. And also less in violation of site policies. :-)

by Gray on Jun 14, 2012 8:13 pm • link • report

All of the deleted comments on this site actually make subscribing to comment sections worth it.

by selxic on Jun 15, 2012 7:26 am • link • report

I just used grades.dc.gov. I am not confident that the system will work. It asks open ended questions in ALL the fields. There is no 1-5 scale for how satisfied people are. That means there's no way to easily quantify satisfaction. And THAT means that there's reason to worry the comments will just get swept under the rug.

by Weiwen on Jun 15, 2012 10:38 am • link • report

@Fitz Pedestrian walkers, joggers and runners right alongside cyclists in 5 foot wide tunnel, that sounds super safe.

The idea is that it would not include cyclists. It would be more of a walkway. So, it could be super safe.

by David C on Jun 17, 2012 3:44 pm • link • report