Photo by Brian Jackson on Flickr.

Blame the fire department

The firefighter and paramedic unions now blame Metro’s smoke incident on the DC fire department’s lack of disaster and rail emergency training. (Post)  

Regional service

About two-thirds of Metro riders cross state or county lines during their trip. Unsurprisingly, Maryland and Virginia riders are more likely to travel between states. (PlanItMetro)  

Can downtown Bethesda grow?

Neighbors in single-family homes around downtown Bethesda are fighting preliminary plans to allow some more density toward the business district’s edges. But one neighborhood might go the opposite way. (BethesdaNow)  

Franklin School plan stalled

Mayor Bowser has halted plans for a contemporary art museum in the old Franklin School building. The mayor’s team says the museum missed fundraising deadlines; museum officials disagree. (Post)  

Boom or bust?

DC has frozen some program spending over fears of big budget shortfalls. But DC ended last fiscal year with a huge surplus and some council members are saying that the mayor is being too cautious. (Post)  

How to update our infrastructure

Spending more money to update our infrastructure is not a silver bullet. Reexamining how to spend that money over the long-term will lead to smarter, more durable transporation investments. (Streetsblog)  

Growth in the suburbs

Over the past 15 years, Americans have built more housing in the suburbs than in urban areas. Far-out suburbs are growing faster than urban suburbs, but so are the densest urban areas. (CityLab)  

The longest walk commute

A Detroit man walks 21 miles to get to work and back every day. His car broke down a decade ago, and cuts to bus service has left him with no other choice for his commute. (BuzzFeed)  

And…

Budget shortfalls are contributing to delays on several Montgomery County projects, including additions to the Metropolitan Branch Trail. (Gazette) … Virginia’s population growth is the slowest it’s been since the 1920s. (Bacon’s Rebellion)