Breakfast links: Cabs and CaBi

by Steven Yates • July 6, 2012 8:37 am

Photo by Elvert Barnes on Flickr.

Cabs go plastic: DC has signed a contract to allow credit card payment in taxis, plus GPS tracking and TV for passengers. The system will be available by the end of the year if not sooner. (DCist)

Taxis against the world: New ways of getting around DC like CaBi, Uber, Zipcar, and Car2Go may be squeezing out taxis. But drivers are resisting changes rather than adapting to compete. (Atlantic Cities)

CaBi in Fairfax?: Officals are discussing adding Capital Bikeshare to Fairfax County. Initial plans focus building first in Reston, and then perhaps Tysons Corner. (Examiner)

NPS considering Arlington boathouse: The new NPS, now more responsive to area communities, is moving forward on an EIS for a boathouse on the Arlington side of the Potomac. [Rep. Jim Moran has been pushing NPS for many years.] (via WashCycle)

Light rail gets PAC: Supporters of extending The Tide light rail system to Virginia Beach have formed a PAC to try to pass a referendum in November. Even if that referendum passes, the expansion would still depend on getting federal funding. (Pilot)

Target streetcar, hit other things too: One congressman is trying to defund Cincinnati's streetcar, but his amendment could defund other projects, including bus-ways and water-ways. (Cincinnati Enquirer, Adam S.)

Get ready to fight in the states: The transportation bill had some defeats but also some successes; more importantly, advocates need to gear up to fight for good transportation in state legislatures and state DOTs. (Streetsblog)

And...: Airline passengers stuck in Chicago going to Milwaukee never considered the train. (Raschke on Transport) ... Yes, climate change probably has something to do with this year's weather. (Post) ... 2005's BRAC cost 67% more than estimated. (Federal News Radio) ... One Spanish city put a moving walkway on their sidewalk. (Atlantic Cities)

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11 comments

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

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Glad FFX is looking at bike share, but I think it shouuld be CaBi to integrate with the region, esp with Arlington - RBC and soon Shirlington and Columbia Pike via W&OD and other connections. Tysons is the key place. They may want to try Reston first to get the bugs out, but the vision should be focused on Tysons, not a free standing system in Reston.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Jul 6, 2012 9:42 am • link • report

I agree with AWITC that the focus for FFX should be Cabi in Tysons but Tysons needs to build out some of its bike infrastructure in the bike master plan for Cabi to be successful there.

In the meantime, Fall Church City needs to get on board with Cabi ASAP. It's the logical extension of Cabi down the RBC/W&OD corridor. Also, disappointing that Arlington's Cabi master plan doesn't include stations in East Falls Church given the pending development there and its rising importance as a orange/silver line transfer point.

by Falls Church on Jul 6, 2012 10:11 am • link • report

"TV for passengers"

No!!

by Boomer on Jul 6, 2012 10:28 am • link • report

Does anybody know whether rentals (e.g. kayaks and canoes) are a possibility for the Arlington boathouse? Or will it only be for people who own boats to store them there?

by Gavin on Jul 6, 2012 10:31 am • link • report

Regarding the "Raschke on Transport" link, it's worth noting that it's a television show and to quote a comment on that site

I saw that episode too and thought the same thing …. they were actually stuck in Tampa and the options they were given were either go to St. Louis, stay the night and catch a flight to Milwaukee, Stay in Tampa till the next day, or, as the above article indicated, fly into Midway and find your own transport …. it amazes me how many people don’t even consider rail ….. I would have loved it, either way, I wouldn’t have to drive …….

As much as we would all like every mode of transportation to be an easy and convenient end, that is not always the case.

by selxic on Jul 6, 2012 10:38 am • link • report

I sure hope no one from the taxi cab lobby reads that Atlantic Cities article. The way that cabs deal with new competition isn't by improving service -- it's by lobbying to get the competition outlawed (e.g., what happened with Uber). If taxi drivers figure out that car2go is competition, it will probably get a lot harder for car2go to expand.

by Rob on Jul 6, 2012 11:02 am • link • report

I don't know if it's healthy for CaBi to be seen as magic urban dust (to overstate) to sprinkle around otherwise unbikeable areas. It's great that it wants to expand into the suburbs, but the suburbs need to use CaBi as only part of a concerted plan for bikeability, walkability, and urban reform. I don't want it to come too soon.

by OctaviusIII on Jul 6, 2012 12:04 pm • link • report

@ Octavius:suburbs need to use CaBi as only part of a concerted plan for bikeability, walkability, and urban reform.

Didn't Fairfax just present it's bike lane plan?

by Jasper on Jul 6, 2012 1:53 pm • link • report

Intermodal transit allows me to take the Metro to Union Station to get either a MARC Penn Line train or AMTRAK to BWI to catch a cheap Southwest flight in as little as 58 minutes from my apartment to the boarding gate.

And while AMTRAK often shines in bad weather (they do better than just about anyone when it snows), there are times - like this past weekend - when storms make the tracks impassable. 232 AMTRAK passengers were stranded on a train in Prince, West Virginia for 20 hours when fallen trees blocked the tracks. Their intermodal rescue was a number of buses that finally arrived to take them to Cincy and points west to Chicago. Being stuck on a stopped train for 20 hours may be no picnic, but I'd take it any day over being stuck on a plane for that length of time.

by Mike S. on Jul 6, 2012 3:06 pm • link • report

When I flew through O'Hare during a snowstorm last winter, the first thing I did was call my parents to try to book an Amtrak ticket down to University while I ran to see if there were any flights with available standby positions, also trying to figure out if I could make it from O'Hare to Union Station in time. The plane beat the train though.

When we had mechanical problems on my flight from Newark to Baltimore, I pondered using Amtrak to get down, but the airport didn't have free Wifi, and I was concerned with shuttle arrangement issues from the train station as opposed to the airport.

by Joshua Cranmer on Jul 6, 2012 10:47 pm • link • report

An Arlington Boathouse would be nice but why is the NPS holding up approval on the George Washington University boathouse, adjacent to the Georgetown Waterfront Park in DC? It has none of the issues associated with the controversial GU boathouse proposal.

by GWalum on Jul 9, 2012 11:20 am • link • report