Breakfast links: Stops

by Steven Yates • July 16, 2012 8:32 am

Photo by ChrisDag on Flickr.

Trains stop: A computer glitch caused all Metro trains to be halted twice over the weekend. Trains were stuck at stations for about half an hour each time. (Post)

Graham killed project: Jim Graham may have used his influence to stymie a mixed use development on Metro owned land near the Shaw Metro because the developer did not work with a firm that had contributed to Graham's campaign. (Washington Times)

Cheaper Uber: Uber is considering launching its cheaper Uber X service, which uses hybrids instead of town cars. The new service would present more direct competition to DC's taxis. (Examiner)

Purple Line brings growth: The Purple Line would be a catalyst for growth in Chevy Chase Lake as developers plan for a transit oriented town center with 1.5 million square feet of new development. (Post)

Privately-developed maglev?: A private firm is lobbying to build a high-speed maglev line between Washington and New York, promising a travel time of an hour between the two cities. This proposal is unrelated to Amtrak's high-speed rail plan. (Post, Mel D.)

New pedestrian only avenue: New York City has created 6 1/2 Avenue, a quarter-mile-long avenue for pedestrians only by linking plazas and open building lobbies with mid-block crosswalks protected by speed bumps. (NY Times, Ben Ross)

And...: Police pull over Google's driverless car in DC. (Marginal Revolution) ... Georgetown's Campus Plan should be approved tonight after a long and contentious journey. (Patch) ... San Francisco is also considering micro-apartments. (SF Gate, HStreetLL)

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17 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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The maglev proposal has been around for almost a decade. It pops up from time to time.

by Amber on Jul 16, 2012 8:39 am • link • report

There's absolutely nothing to this maglev thought, but were past plans for that route private, Amber? I thought the plan that was essentially killed by 9/11 was public.

Uber X... I recall a few comments saw that coming.

by selxic on Jul 16, 2012 9:22 am • link • report

Time for Graham to go, too, I guess. These guys who hold office for decades aren't serving their constituencies well any more.

by Jack Love on Jul 16, 2012 9:33 am • link • report

@Amber This is an entirely new maglev proprosal. In the past, the various proposals around the country under the Maglev Deployment Program were using a German technology, but they have all officially ended at this point. This new proposal is for the faster Japanese superconducting maglev.

by Peter on Jul 16, 2012 9:36 am • link • report

Question Has any project at that Shaw Howard metro happened?
It's disgusting that a CM would delay or kill a possibility to get a development that would add to the tax base.

by danmac on Jul 16, 2012 9:42 am • link • report

There appears to be more to the police pulling over the driverless car... and by more, I mean a lot less. The police were simply looking at a parked car.

by selxic on Jul 16, 2012 9:53 am • link • report

Is there any actual lake near "Chevy Chase Lake"? Are there any genuine non-man made lakes anywhere in the mid-Atlantic? /northeasternerrant

by TM on Jul 16, 2012 10:56 am • link • report

As they say in Germany: "Maglev is the future of transportation, and it always will be"

by egk on Jul 16, 2012 11:18 am • link • report

Re: Chevy Chase Lake. I believe there used to be an artificial small lake/pond. I remember seeing photos in Offutt's "Bethesda: a Social History".

Thinking back to geography class. I don't think MD has any natural lakes and Virginia only has two: the Mountain Lake in Giles County (which tends to disappear) and Lake Drummond in the Great Dismal Swamp.

by Andrew on Jul 16, 2012 11:59 am • link • report

Chevy Chase Lake was an artificial lake built by the land company in conjunction with an amusement park. It was meant to attract buyers. It was located where Coquelin Run meets Connecticut Avenue and was made by damming the Run.

by David C on Jul 16, 2012 12:34 pm • link • report

"Maglev is the future of transportation, and it always will be"

They used to say Brazil is the country of the future, and always will be. Brazil has arrived (economically).

by AWalkerInTheCity on Jul 16, 2012 12:41 pm • link • report

@danmac:"Has any project at that Shaw Howard metro happened?"
The construction of Progression Place, right on top of the station, is well along: http://progressionplace.com/ . There are several other projects in the immediate area that seem to be happening/have happened. It is not clear to me from the linked article in the Washington Times (a right-wing publication owned by convicted felon Sun Myung Moon's church) just which project CM Graham allegedly improperly influenced.

by A Streeter on Jul 16, 2012 1:04 pm • link • report

@A Streeter: I keep saying that if GGW is going to link to pubs like Examiner or the Times, they also should link to the Daily Worker, although in this case, the unnamed project includes a complaint to the FBI.

by Rich on Jul 16, 2012 2:41 pm • link • report

The Times has raggy qualities to it, but it's done good work in the past. Don't discount the message on account of the messenger.

by OctaviusIII on Jul 16, 2012 4:51 pm • link • report

The Washington Times story covers the same development project that Colbert King has written about in some of his Washington Post columns. Those columns have disturbed Councilmember Jim Graham. Mr. Graham will not speak on the telephone to Mr. King.

by Jeffrey on Jul 16, 2012 6:25 pm • link • report

My friend from New York was amused that Baltimore has a "25 1/2 Street" and was astounded when I told him that Washington has a "Half Street".

So now New York is joining the cities with "half" streets.

by Frank IBC on Jul 17, 2012 12:00 am • link • report

The Google driverless car police stop (Police pull over Google's driverless car in DC. (Marginal Revolution)) was debunked:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/07/13/google_self_driving_car_what_happens_when_police_pull_over_autonomous_cars_.html

"Intrigued, I contacted the folks Google to see if they could offer any insights. As it turns out, the reality of the situation was more mundane: The police had simply seen the self-driving car parked on the street and were curious to know more about the technology."

by whitehatgirl on Jul 17, 2012 11:53 am • link • report