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Breakfast links: Getting there
Photo by jcolman on Flickr.
Metro raises SmarTrip minimum: Metro's SmarTrip cards now require a minimum balance of $1.20 to enter. Previously, riders could ride with any credit on their card. Metro is also adding SmarTrip vending machines to all stations by November. (DCist) 
Passenger trains come back to Norfolk: Train service will return to Norfolk for the first time in 35 years. Trains will begin daily coverage of the 5-hour trips from DC this December. (Post, Gavin)
Gray and employment: Unemployment in DC has fallen during Mayor Gray's administration, and his "One City, One Hire" program may bear some responsibility. Yet, the disparities between better- and worse-off wards remain stark. (Post)
Flooding problems: In the wake of flooding in LeDroit Park and Bloomingdale on Sunday night, Kenyan McDuffie called for the DC government to establish a relief fund to help these neighborhoods with frequent flooding problems. (Post)
Reflecting Pool reopens: The Reflecting Pool on the National Mall opened to the public after two years and $34 million of renovations. The pool will now be supplied by water filtered in from the Tidal Basin, instead of tap water. (WAMU)
Bypasses go out of favor: One state DOT decides widening is not always the answer and wants to find alternatives to bypass after bypass. A graphic in their report illustrates induced demand. What state is this? Would you guess Tennessee? (Streetsblog)
And...: Should DC include cafes in its new libraries? (DCist) ... Does a focus on new transportation technology distract from more practical maintenance? (Streetsblog) ... The Washington Times' founder is dead at 92. (DCist)
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Comments
Young kids try to assault me while biking
- Young kids try to assault me while biking
- Metro bag searches aren't always optional
- Focus transportation on downtown or neighborhoods?
- Endless zoning update delay hurts homeowners
- Redeveloping McMillan is the only way to save it
- DDOT agrees to repave 15th Street cycle track
- Vienna Metro town center won't have a town center
Um, yes.
Urban heat island effect discussed on NPR this morning (sorry)
http://www.npr.org/2012/09/04/160393303/as-temps-rise-cities-combat-heat-island-effect#commentBlock
by Jazzy on Sep 4, 2012 8:49 am • link • report
by charlie on Sep 4, 2012 9:18 am • link • report
Why is this trip an hour and a half slower than by car? Do passengers have to help building the rails? Is there time included for expected hold-ups by bandits?
Should DC include cafes in its new libraries?
Only if is costs nothing, and they realize they're not a Stabucks or a book store.
by Jasper on Sep 4, 2012 9:30 am • link • report
Reminding everybody in the backup-prone areas about the insurance seems like a reasonable approach. By analogy, communities in the coastal zone often include a reminder about federal flood insurance in the tax bill.
Rather than establish a new fund, why not send a letter to all property owners reminding them to insure for this risk? Local governments in the coastal zone often remind taxpayers to purchase federal flood insurance.
by Jim T on Sep 4, 2012 9:33 am • link • report
Why is it slower than by car? Because of speed restrictions implemented by CSX and FRA.
by MLD on Sep 4, 2012 9:41 am • link • report
You hear this sort of thing all the time, but it doesn't really say anything. The clear implication is that, if only we had some sort of excellent city job program, we could erase the disparities between wards. In fact, so long as there's a place for extremely poor people in the District (a good thing) there will be huge disparities between wards.
You might just as well say that under the Gray administration, unemployment has fallen precipitously, but there are still economic disparities between Ward 8 and McLean.
by oboe on Sep 4, 2012 9:44 am • link • report
Doesn't make it right either way but it is what it is.
by drumz on Sep 4, 2012 9:55 am • link • report
Ok, rephrase: Why do they want this rail service to fail?
by Jasper on Sep 4, 2012 10:01 am • link • report
by spookiness on Sep 4, 2012 10:38 am • link • report
Remember, to do this drive, you would be driving north on 95 into the city in the morning, and south on 95 out of the city at night.
I do agree, it should be faster though..
by Kyle-w on Sep 4, 2012 10:46 am • link • report
As for the FRA, they seem pretty wary of passenger service as well, though I really can't figure out what their incentives are.
by Gray on Sep 4, 2012 10:47 am • link • report
And this is why train travel in the South is impractical, uncompetitive, and hurts Amtrak's bottom line (in general, the VA trains are partially state funded). This, and the region's low density/low population cities, car-centric culture, and anti-rail politics.
The trip on a Northeast Regional local is 3.5 hours DC/WAS to New York/NYP (~225mi vs ~200mi DC/Norfolk)--very competitive to driving. I'll applaud Virginia, particularly wingnut gov. McDonnell, for continuing Tim Kaine's effort of expanding rail service in the state (à la North Carolina), but the "Virginia Service" Amtrak trains from DC to Newport News, Richmond, Norfolk, and Lynchburg (with only one round trip to Norfolk) simply aren't practical enough in their current form to be seriously competitive to driving (NoVa I-95 parking lot notwithstanding).
by King Terrapin on Sep 4, 2012 10:53 am • link • report
But don't necessarily discount the 95 parking lot effect. My parents live in the Richmond area and I for real don't see them much during the summer months just because 95 is so bad. And then you consider the awfulness of 64 east (which I don't have to deal with but I know plenty that do). Hopefully they can brand the service ("get off of 95!") and pair it with improvements to the service and I can see this as a great beginning.
The train made my mom (who is completely apathetic to our aims here at GGW and such) a believer and this is her preferred way to visit my wife and I up here.
by drumz on Sep 4, 2012 11:06 am • link • report
by Paul on Sep 4, 2012 11:26 am • link • report
The Tier I FEIS development plans for both corridors from Richmond Main Station to Newport News (north of the river) and to Norfolk (south of the river) was just approved by the FRA. The FEIS projects a total DC to Norfolk trip time of 3:35 with 6 daily trains when the upgrades for both the DC to Richmond Main Street Station and then the segment to Norfolk are done. That will be more than competitive with driving, although it will take many years and a fair amount of funds to reach that goal.
Meanwhile, the Virginia Regionals (extensions of the NE Regionals) have been doing very well. The Lynchburg has been running at a net operational surplus and the Newport News trains have almost been breaking even.
by AlanF on Sep 4, 2012 11:38 am • link • report
Ok, rephrase: Why do they want this rail service to fail?
Who is "they?"
CSX doesn't give a crap about passenger traffic, they would probably be happier if there were no passenger traffic on their tracks. If they're going to be forced to allow it, then they want as few trains as possible and as little disruption as possible to their freight operations.
FRA regulates a system where nobody wants to spend the money to invest in positive train control, and so in order to make mixed-tracks "safe," they impose speed restrictions and make passenger trainsets really heavy so they are more crash-worthy.
Also I assume you are comparing to Europe, the US has like 7 times the freight rail traffic of the EU.
by MLD on Sep 4, 2012 11:40 am • link • report
The DC-Newport News service isn't always profitable, but is generally also one of Amtrak's best-performing non-NEC routes. It's been profitable for the railroad this year, despite running a schedule that would generously be described as "unusable," even in light of I-64 traffic.
The Norfolk service should get more riders than the Newport News service.
Personally, I'd like to see VA show some real vision, and support an upgrade of the Richmond->Newport News corridor plus a tunnel under the harbor, rather than maintaining two separate/unconnected spurs between Richmond and Hampton Roads (still, it looks like the Norfolk spur has two tracks, which is a big advantage).
by andrew on Sep 4, 2012 11:44 am • link • report
Good question. I don't believe sewer backup coverage is always available on renter's insurance, so the tenant's belongings that are damaged by the backup would not be covered by the landlord's policy. Also, there's a question of whether the damage is caused by a sewer backup (covered) or a flood (not covered unless you buy flood insurance which is entirely different policy from normal homeowners/renters insurance).
Also, the default sewer backup coverage is $5K with a $1K deductible. That's not very much coverage and DC should remind everyone to up that to at least $10K.
It would be a good idea for DC to require that all insurance companies operating in DC provide the option of sewer backup coverage on renters policies.
by Falls Church on Sep 4, 2012 11:49 am • link • report
Not with the single RT frequency they're using.
by King Terrapin on Sep 4, 2012 12:06 pm • link • report
So yeah that's a lot more miles than going via Williamsburg and through a (non-existent) tunnel under Hampton Roads. CSX isn't known for top-notch maintenance, and it looks like they're trying to cobble off some federal funds to improve trackage through Richmond as part of this deal.
Still, it's amazing anything is happening with rail in Virginia, so a project that to me looks like it's on the wrong side of the river is better than nothing. Long-term, I don't see the US 460 corridor as being as viable as Wmsburg/NNews/Hampton.
by Jack Love on Sep 4, 2012 12:34 pm • link • report
I personally know both Statefarm and Progressive offer it. In fact, it is standard and not additional. If someones insurance doesn't currently cover it, I suggest looking into alternative insurers.
I feel for the folks suffering through it, but this is an issue with the homeowner/renter and their insurer, not with trying to get DCWATER to pay for your damages.
This problem isn't new. This has been happening in Bloomingdale for 12-15 years. It only happens during torrential downpours, not regular rain events. (The one last weekend dumped 3 inches of rain in NW DC in 2 hours).
This has nothing to do with new residents as there is clearly sufficient capacity in the system. Otherwise, sewage would be backing up every morning between 6-8 am as everyone showered etc.
I would wager a years salary that the issue is one of the combined sewer pipes that drains that geographic area is partially collapsed or clogged with something. It would be as easy as putting a camera down the main lines draining that area to see what the problem is, but the city wastes months with "task forces" and "we are on it".
The biggest laugh is they keep touting the 2.6 billion dollar tunnels they are building as the solution. Umm...the tunnels are physically located no where near bloomingdale and will do nothing to alleviate the issue..unless you replace or fix the main sanitary storm line(s) between Bloomingdale and these new tunnels, nothing will happen.
by sewer on Sep 4, 2012 12:43 pm • link • report
Makes sense. Although I cannot for the life of me imagine what more there is to be studied. I-64 narrows from a wide high-speed four-lane highway with an HOV lane to a rural two-lane facility in the space of a mile there by the NNews Airport (PHF). Westbound backups are legion. Eastbound is tight all the way from Wmsburg. It's been that way for about 20 years. For this they funded a study?
I think they're just kicking the can until they find a way to HOT-lane it. Maybe the practical results of the I-495 project will be informative? Maybe some political payoffs or board appointments are being negotiated? In any case, I expect that an I-64 HOT lane will be wildly successful in getting families to the beach.
by Jack Love on Sep 4, 2012 12:44 pm • link • report
For those lambasting the South's anti-transit orientation, note that you'll be able to transfer to Norfolk's new light rail upon arriving. And Virginia Beach is voting on a referendum in November about whether to extend the light rail, potentially all the way to the oceanfront.
by Gavin on Sep 4, 2012 1:00 pm • link • report
Not really this time. In Europe, there would probably be already be high speed rail to Norfolk. I was just comparing travel times. You will not get people of their cars if they will not save time. Therefor, I have to ask why this service is tried. If this is, as King Terrapin suggests, to get something started and start collecting data, then it's fine. But I have a hard time imagining people using this service. It simply takes too long.
I do not understand why McDonald will allow this study but rejected money to improve speeds between DC and Richmond. Being a cynic, I have to conclude that he's setting it up to fail.
My main surprise with how the US treats rail travel is that the US used to be fantastic in rail. Rail built this nation. And currently, passenger rail is slower than 100 years ago.
the US has like 7 times the freight rail traffic of the EU.
The US is also a lot bigger than the EU, and has less people. Hence, always, more transportation miles. The EU also has more maritime waterways, having not only Atlantic access, but also penetrating seas (North, Baltic, Black and Mediterranean).
To give a sense of the size of the US compared to the EU. New York-Los Angeles is about the same distance as Amsterdam-Bagdad. New York-Honolulu is comparable Amsterdam-Madras (and I acknowledge that there is no train traffic between the two).
I will say that I am always surprised to see how many more trucks there are on the road in Europe. But my view maybe thwarted because I "live" between two massive harbors there (Rotterdam and Antwerp).
by Jasper on Sep 4, 2012 1:07 pm • link • report
Just for comparison, the EU and USA have about the same amount of road freight traffic, so your perception on that is correct considering the EU is about 1/2 the size of the lower 48. Way more trucks on the road in the EU. And yes, EU has way more waterway freight traffic.
by MLD on Sep 4, 2012 1:24 pm • link • report
The reason it floods there is two-fold. First, the area is in a drainage bowl, so everything north of the area drains through here. The Tiber Creek used to run through there, and when you cover up a naturally-occurring drainage mechanism it doesn't just go away. The water will still try to go the same way - it's geography. Second, the sewer pipes in the area are some of the oldest, and therefore smallest, in the city. So you have a massive capacity need, combined with the restricted capacity of the sewer, and the water has no other place to go than down the street and into people's homes.
As someone else said, this is not a new phenomenon.
by MLD on Sep 4, 2012 1:24 pm • link • report
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betuweroute
The problem is (regrettably) still in international collaboration....
Ignoring the TEN-T and bilateral agreements, the Germans will not complete reconstruction of their section before 2015.
by Jasper on Sep 4, 2012 2:44 pm • link • report
It always took longer than driving, even with bad traffic.
A lot of the problem seemed to be waiting around in Richmond. Most times we ended up waiting at the Staples Mill station in Richmond for 30 minutes to an hour. Amtrak should get that sorted out and it would cut down on travel time.
Also, it is a lot more expensive to take the train than the trip costs in gas money.
by Mary-Austin on Sep 4, 2012 4:48 pm • link • report
Do you also factor in the wear on your vehicle? It costs more than gas money to drive, you know. But yes, the Richmond thing is a mess w/ Amtrak.
by Jack Love on Sep 5, 2012 12:55 pm • link • report
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