Transit
Gaylord agrees to restore original NH1 route
Gaylord National Hotel, the convention center operator at National Harbor, has joined HERE Local 25 in asking Metro to restore the NH1 bus to its original route along Southern Avenue.
Photo by bankbryan.
Union members were protesting the recent changes, which switched the route from one that passed through Oxon Hill and other nearby neighborhoods to one almost entirely on the freeway from Branch Avenue. Workers in Oxon Hill now had to walk miles or talk multiple buses and Metrorail, while workers in other neighborhoods lost an easy transfer from other lines which terminate on Southern Avenue. Also, weekend service began later, making it impossible for workers with early morning shifts to reach their jobs.
Gaylord had originally requested the change, and though there was no concrete evidence, many believed the purpose was to make (mostly white) convention-goers more comfortable using transit to and from Gaylord without mixing with the (mostly black) bus riding employees.
According to the joint letter from Gaylord and the union, the original change was revenue-neutral, meaning Metro should be able to restore it without cost. I'm curious how it could be revenue-neutral despite operating fewer hours and making fewer stops.
Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson must also agree to the change, as does MDOT and the WMATA Board. At a special RAC meeting Tuesday to discuss the NH1, Metro bus planner Jim Hamre said it's probably too late to make the change for the December round of bus schedule adjustments. The change would take place in the spring of 2010, unless the Board asks staff to accelerate it.
Thanks to Frank DeBernardo for information about the RAC special meeting.
 | 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.   |
Comments
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by J.D. Hammond on Oct 23, 2009 12:31 pm • link • report
by Lucre on Oct 23, 2009 12:51 pm • link • report
by Jason on Oct 23, 2009 2:55 pm • link • report
I don't think that "Classist" currently has the derogatory connotation that I'd like to use to apply to this attitude, but "Racist" is a bit of a straw man when you see black lawyers and politicians that sport the same type of contempt for and fear of the poor. The middle/upper classes in our area have a similar concept of blacks, but it's based around echoes of the socioeconomic effects of racism and slavery rather than prejudicial expectations of behavior from someone who was born into a race. Actual racism tends to come from poor, rural, middleaged to elderly southerners. For the vast majority of the nation, any expectations that they may have towards blacks only survives because where they live, blacks overwhelmingly come from a culture plagued by poverty.
The number of people who will defend actual racism in this country has shrunken to a tiny group of nutjobs, and even the number of people who are obviously influenced by deep racist beliefs but won't talk about it are getting to be a pretty small minority. It's still enough to give Barack Obama a 400% increase in death threats over his predecessor, but at a national professional convention?
The crowd who would rather not hop on this bus because black people are on it is a tiny fraction of the crowd that would rather not hop on this bus because it runs through the poorest part of the city.
Is there a better word to use?
by Squalish on Oct 23, 2009 5:59 pm • link • report
You can count me as one of that crowd!
by Sam P on Oct 23, 2009 11:24 pm • link • report
care to mention why you would not; is it because of the possibility of crime or are you elitist.
by kk on Oct 24, 2009 6:40 pm • link • report
by Bianchi on Oct 26, 2009 1:09 pm • link • report
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