Afternoon links: "War on Drivers" armistice unlikely

Transit

Afternoon links: "War on Drivers" armistice unlikely

by Joey Katzen • June 4, 2009 1:50 pm

Richmond's bypassed
Main Street Station

Another morning train from Richmond to DC: This week, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine announced the addition of another roundtrip train from Richmond to Washington, one of the two first trains funded by the Commonwealth. This will be in addition to the seven roundtrips currently made every weekday. Among the bright notes, this will provide VRE passengers with one more option in the morning and evening rushes. The lone disappointment, however, is that it seems the trains will start and terminate at Richmond's suburban Staples Mill Road station, bypassing the restored and historic downtown station. (Allan, Gavin B)

What isn't a war on drivers?: Ticket illegal parking? That's a war on drivers, says the Post. Don't ticket illegal parking? That's a war on drivers too, says the same publication. In the first case, the article complained of a $50 ticket for not moving a car in time for rush hour. In the second, Dr. Gridlock laments "the city's inability to enforce no parking rules at rush hour." (Ben R)

Proof of a "tipping point": Urban interstate vehicle-miles travelled in 2008 declined about 3% from the previous year. But congestion dropped 30%. The recession has given analysts unexpected data to confirm the traffic "tipping point" theory, which provides that the difference between a free-flowing road and one in gridlock might only be a small number of additional cars, but which push the road past its capacity, causing a sudden "crash" in throughput. (JTS)

D.C. to reduce Rock Creek pollution: The D.C. Department of the Environment has secured an $800,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to cut down on Rock Creek pollution by reducing stormwater runoff. The department will install green roofs, vegetation and porous pavement to absorb stormwater at the source. (WBJ, Gavin B)

DDOT wants to hear from you: DDOT is soliciting creative ideas to spend a couple million dollars on transportation projects, in the engineer-named "Transportation Enhancement Program". "Each application for a transportation enhancement project must (1) relate to surface transportation and (2) meet at least one of twelve eligible activities geared towards bicycle and pedestrian facilities, scenic highway programs, historic preservation, railway corridor improvements as well as rights-of-way acquisitions." (Topher M, Mike Silverstein)

Tysons shuttles won't be ready for Metro: In the face of a lack of funding, Fairfax officials are scaling back expectations that a fully functional shuttle system will be in place at the time the Silver Line stations open in Tysons Corner. Stating that "the redevelopment of Tysons Corner is a long-range plan," Fairfax County Chair Sharon Bulova hopes to have a smaller bus network to serve the stations in the short term. (Examiner, Gavin B)

More interviews with the candidates for VA 47: On the heels of Michael Perkins' reviews of candidates for Virginia's 47th District race, Steve Thurston has posted transcripts of additional interviews for the four candidates: Miles Grant, Patrick Hope, Alan Howze, and Adres Tobar.

And ... Arlington County has funded three new ART bus routes, (update: two of which go) to Shirlington, two of which replace Metrobus cuts. (CommuterPage, Gavin B) ... DDOT completes first phase of streetscape work at Eastern Market, with attractive pavers.

16 comments

Tags: DDOT, Eastern Market, environment, links, Richmond, Rock Creek, service cuts, traffic, trains, transit, Tysons Corner, Virginia

Proposed Tysons Metro station names are still a little dull (Oct 21, 2010)
Metro isn't always the best option for transit expansion (Sep 21, 2010)
Getting more out of Metro with "skip-stop" (Mar 4, 2009)
Breakfast links: Big steps (Dec 4, 2008)
Crossing Route 7 will mean long waits in Tysons (Jun 14, 2010)

Joey Katzen is an entrepreneur and attorney living in Arlington, Virginia. A native of the Commonwealth, he hopes our public and private sectors can work together to continue transforming each of our neighborhoods into attractive places we can be proud of.

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RE: Tysons shuttles won't be ready for Metro

"Right of way is going to be a significant issue"

Huh? How come they can't just use the existing roads? Why do our "leaders" need to make everything more complicated than it needs to be?

by Juanita de Talmas on Jun 4, 2009 2:21 pm • link • report

Re: the Richmond train: if you read that press release, it actually makes it sound like the DC terminus is L'Enfant Plaza: "The additional Richmond to Washington, D.C. route will begin operation in December 2009, with stops at Staples Mill Road in Richmond, Ashland, Fredericksburg, Quantico, Woodbridge, Alexandria, and L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C." Is that really true, or does it proceed on to Union Station? If the latter, maybe the stops listed are "intermediate" stops, and downtown Richmond is what we're supposed to undestand by "Richmond"?

Actually, I see further down in the press release that the Lynchburg-to-DC train is explicitly noted as "terminating at L’Enfant Plaza." Huh, I didn't know that station could be used as a terminal.

Does anyone know if these trains will have a new cutesy Virginia-themed route designation, or just be part of the Northeast Regional brand?

by jfruh on Jun 4, 2009 2:43 pm • link • report

I'm not sure of the precise history of where the term originated, but "Transporation Enhancements" is the name of the funding stream for such projects included in SAFETEA-LU transportation legislation, and proper credit/blame for that whimsical title would thus lie with Congress.

by darren on Jun 4, 2009 2:54 pm • link • report

That doesn't make any sense - they're going to have to move the train up to Union Station to turn it, so it would make sense to offer service there (unless platform space at WAS isn't available, but I don't think that should be a problem).

This is going to be a VA-branded service, route names TBD.

by Ryan on Jun 4, 2009 2:56 pm • link • report

According to the three-year agreement between Amtrak and the Virginia DRPT, both trains will terminate at Union Station in Washington.

http://www.drpt.virginia.gov/news/files/Amtrak%20Three%20Year%20Agreement%20Demonstration%20Project%20Agreement.pdf

That agreement shows the actual daily schedule, along with route numbers.

by Joey on Jun 4, 2009 3:16 pm • link • report

(In the agreement, scroll to Page 21, where the appendices begin, to see the schedule.)

by Joey on Jun 4, 2009 3:17 pm • link • report

Re: bus routes to Shirlington: Only 2 of the 3 new ART routes go to Shirlington. The ART 42 replaces Metrobus 24P, which doesn't go to Shirlington.

by Gavin Baker on Jun 4, 2009 3:23 pm • link • report

Not sure what the second link has to do with a "war on drivers" (it relates to Chain Bridge construction).

by ah on Jun 4, 2009 3:53 pm • link • report

Re war on drivers: The quote, "This is part and parcel a war on the motorist," comes from a AAA spokesman, not somebody at the Post. And, it was an individual who was interviewed for the article who complained about the $50 ticket, not the article itself. The writer was just reporting a story about increased ticketing by the city, and obtained various views on the issue. Dr Gridlock is a column at the Post; it doesn't represent the view of the paper. Is it that challenging to understand how a newspaper works? I don't even disagree with the premise that drivers seem to find a way to complain about everything that doesn't work in their favor in the city. But, this just seems like misplaced snarkiness.

by Pedro on Jun 4, 2009 5:05 pm • link • report

VRE and MARC don't have to turn. They have cabs to control them in the rear cars. My MARC train in the morning always goes passenger car first. VRE also doubles them up on the ends at times too.

by Q on Jun 4, 2009 5:18 pm • link • report

Richmond's Main Street Station would be far more useful if the train shed were to be turned into a train shed again. All that is left is the main track for each line, so trains can't dally about all day waiting there.

by NikolasM on Jun 4, 2009 6:29 pm • link • report

jfruh:

Not only do the trains not "terminate" at L'Enfant Plaza, they don't "terminate" at Union Station either. They are extensions of existing trains serving the Northeast Corridor.

by Paul on Jun 5, 2009 9:47 am • link • report

Thanks, Joey, for the link to the schedule. Paul, based on the train numbers, it does look like they are extensions of existing NEC services, except there is about a 50 minute delay between when they arrive at Union Station from the north and continue on to the south. It would be nice if they could make that a little more seamless, so you could go efficiently from, say, Fredericksburg to Baltimore.

by RichardatCourthouse on Jun 5, 2009 10:26 am • link • report

@ Pedro: No, it is not, as you suggest, "challenging to understand how a newspaper works."

It's pretty simple, actually.

The Post piece on enhanced parking enforcement goes for a full ten paragraphs from the perspective of parking violators, before touching upon quotes from anyone in favor of the enforcement.

And even at that juncture, they quoted city officials in a vein that supports the article's slant: that it's only about the budget.

It's pretty easy for readers to be dismissive of city officials supporting parking enforcement. How about a quote or two from residents who support the enforcement, as early in the piece as the bleating illegal parkers?

by Joel Lawson on Jun 5, 2009 11:21 am • link • report

Paul,

if it's a VRE train it does indeed terminate at Union Station.

by Q on Jun 5, 2009 2:39 pm • link • report

They are not VRE trains, but they will be available for VRE riders on step-up tickets. They are regular Amtrak trains, with more comfortable seating, a business-class car and food service car. Looking at the schedule, those train numbers have their northern terminus in Boston or New York. Their southern terminals are being changed to Richmond and Lynchburg, from Washington. The long layover is a problem, but it's due to the switchover from electric to diesel locomotives southbound and vice-versa northbound. They probably also re-stock the food service cars in DC, since there are no commissaries in Richmond or Lynchburg. And there's no doubt some schedule pad too, so the trains don't get out of their assigned "slots" leaving DC. Advocates have been after Amtrak a long time to tighten up this layover, to no avail, in order to make through trips more time-competitive.

by Paul on Jun 5, 2009 3:28 pm • link • report