Breakfast links: Happy birthday Metro
In with the new
The first of Metro’s new 7000- series cars will begin passenger service on April 14. The new cars feature several safety improvements, an automated PA system, LED information screens, and a more comfortable seat design.
Arch Madness
Give Metro a birthday present and vote for their iconic station design in “Arch Madness.” Two other projects in our area, Dulles Airport and the National Gallery of Art, made it to the Elite Eight. This round’s voting ends at 3pm. (Architect Magazine)
Fear and loathing
Metro employees shared their biggest safety concerns including physical assault, malfunctioning equipment, and limited MTPD presence in stations. Workers also fear that managers will discipline them for speaking up. (WAMU)
Feed the rush
DDOT will test a new program that varies parking rates based on real-time demand. Installation began last week on the 1,300-space pilot in Chinatown, which has an anticipated opening in May. (District Source)
Move that bus!
The Metroway bus service will get another mile of dedicated lanes in Arlington this summer. Arlington also has plans to add rush hour bus lanes for the route around Crystal City. (Post)
Tune in for transit
Today at 12:30 David Alpert, GGW’s fearless founder, will talk the politics of Metro and other transit battles on WAMU’s Politics Hour with Kojo Nmandi and Tom Sherwood. Elissa Silverman also joins as a guest.
Beefed up bikeshare
Rearranging bikeshare docks to optimize bike availability and station access could increase ridership by nearly 30%. With Capital Bikeshare’s ongoing supplier problems, this could serve as a temporary stop-gap measure. (Streetsblog)
Partisan parking
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s recent parking job was a mess, but she’s not DC’s only politician parking offender. Jack Evans takes the number one spot on this list of poor parkers. (DCist)