Breakfast links: Not spending the money

by David Alpert • April 27, 2009 8:42 am

Photo by alancleaver_ 2000.

Will Metro give money back while cutting service?: Metro currently projects a $9 million surplus for the end of this fiscal year in June. If that holds up, the money will go back to the jurisdictions, especially since at $13.7 million, the operating reserve is almost at its allowable maximum. If MetroAccess cost increases don't eat it all up, Metro should at least use the $9 million surplus or increase the reserve fund instead of giving the money back. (Examiner, Kreeggo)

Fenty not spending meter increase money: The Mayor wanted the meter revenue to go to the DDOT fund. The Council wanted to earmark it for housing programs and the O Street Market. Mayor Fenty hasn't submitted a supplemental budget, leaving the 2009 share of the money just sitting around for now. (Examiner)

T4A to Congress: save transit: Transportation For America is calling on Congress to issue emergency funding for transit operations to stave off service cuts. (Gavin Baker)

Huge unused runway, or great rail line?: Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania is getting considerable criticism for directing federal funds to an "Airport for Nobody," an airport with huge runways and modern control towers east of Pittsburgh that only served 20 people per day last year. The bigger scandal is that Amtrak takes seven and a half hours from DC to Pittsburgh. How about steering some federal dollars toward a nice high-speed line in Pennsylvania? (ABC News, Ward 1 Guy)

Benning on track for tracks: DDOT is accelerating the Benning Road Great Streets reconstruction, which includes installation of streetcar tracks for a future streetcar service. Now that we have tracks, the decision on the power source is holding up further progress on a streetcar in this area. (Streetcars4DC, Michael P)

NYC may require "green retrofits": Mayor Bloomberg has proposed energy audits every ten years for buildings of 50,000 square feet or more, and mandatory retrofits such as green roofs for buildings not meeting emissions standards. 80% of the carbon emissions in New York City come from the buildings. (GlobeSt, Gavin Baker)

11 transit success stories: The Environmental Defense Fund created a list of the most innovative and transformative transit projects across the nation. Prince William County's flexible-route OmniLink buses made the list. (The Infrastructurist, Jaime)

Bad BRAC bike setup still static: The National Naval Medical Center's Transportation Program Manager talked to Two Black Tires about the sad lack of bicycle facilities at NNMC and in the broader BRAC plan. He was open to some ideas, but TBT isn't hopeful much will change very soon.

LaHood gets bicycling: BeyondDC compares and contrasts statements by former DOT Secretary Mary Peters and current Secretary Ray LaHood. Peters claimed that bicycle trails and similar facilities weren't "transportation"; LaHood says that mode is an important part of the mobility mix.

PW-DC ferry in testing: This week, Prince William County will test ferry service to DC. It would probably run from Quantico to the Navy Yard with potential stops in at Fort Belvoir, National Harbor, Nationals ballpark and more. (WTOP, Froggie)

Zipcar managing governmental car sharing: In a pilot program in DC, Zipcar ran a separate car sharing system for DC government workers, using a city-owned fleet but a similar reservation system. DC saved over $1 million in the first year. Now, Zipcar is taking the system, called FastFleet, to other cities. (WTOP)

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David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.

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The interesting thing about the streetcar power question is that right now H St. already has overhead wires. They appear temporary and they're on the side, not running down the center, but I think they do a decent job of showing how streetcar catenaries wouldn't be objectionable.

by Reid on Apr 27, 2009 9:04 am • link • report

While I think a high-speed link between DC and Pittsburgh would be great (with service on to Chicago) what we really need is just "normal" speed. Right now it's a "slow boat to china" speed train. The normal Amtrak Regional from DC to NYC has an average speed of 67 mph. The Acela is closer to 80 mph. What's the average speed from DC to Pittsburgh?

31 miles an hour.

That's a god damn joke. So no, nobody's talking about building a maglev train to get yinz from downtown to dahntahn, but improvements to bring it up to standard speed would be worthwhile.

by Reid on Apr 27, 2009 9:45 am • link • report

I suggest not giving Murtha any more ideas for ways to waste US taxpayers' money on spending in his district.

by ah on Apr 27, 2009 1:17 pm • link • report

I am all for the DC-PW ferry. I don't have any particular use for it--might want to take a round trip ride on a nice afternoon like today, I guess. But I see it as the camel's nose under the tent for getting the Navy to give back a thin strip of what they took in 1789 when they snatched the Navy Yard location. L'Enfant's idea was that 8th Street SE would stretch all the way down to the water. Think how nice it would be to stroll down 8th Street on game day, have a bite to eat, continue on your way south to the water, then turn right and take a short walk through the waterside park to Nationals Stadium at 1st Street.

Delightful!

When is Barrack's Row going to propose this to the Navy. If they made this proposal tomorrow (for the Navy to hand back to the District a narrow walkway to the river), I'd recommend we call the point where the 8th Street extended walkway meets the water "Ray Maybus Point" for all eternity.

by Trulee Pist on Apr 27, 2009 4:15 pm • link • report

I think this is what kinverson is talking about:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/12/corridor.h/index.html

Well worth the trip! A monstrous, 4-lane behemoth of a highway from nowhere (roughly near the Molly Dodds and the source of the Potomac River) to nowhere (as the article indicates, it ends abrubtly near the Virginia line at an excellent ice cream shop in Wardensville, WV), with almost no traffic from one end to the other (Wardensville, for example, is Pop. 246). You can drive real fast!

Why? Bobby Byrd.

by Trulee Pist on Apr 27, 2009 8:15 pm • link • report

[b]Ferry:[/b] I *might* be able to snag a ride on the test ferry. If so, will pass along whatever info I can.

[b]Zipcar:[/b] Arlington County government has been using zipcars for a long time.

by BeyondDC on Apr 28, 2009 10:17 am • link • report

As I recall, the ferry was included as part of PWC's long-range transportation plan.

by Froggie on Apr 28, 2009 10:22 am • link • report

Here's a Free Lance-Star article I found with a little more information on the ferry.

by Froggie on Apr 28, 2009 12:46 pm • link • report