Links
Brunch links: Western wires
Image by Daniel Jacobson.
Student plans Oakland streetcar: A Stanford undergraduate designed a plan to revitalize Oakland, California. The centerpiece is a streetcar line connecting two BART stations and the city's center. (Chip Johnson/SFGate, Michael P.)
Hybrids or electric trolleybuses?: Seattle's transit agency wants to replace electric trolleybuses with hybrids because they're more expensive and can't detour around each other, but residents love their quieter operation and better acceleration. All of these arguments also come up in streetcar debates. (Scott Gutierrez/Seattle PI)
Boycott driving, drill for subways: Some consumers are boycotting BP stations, but station owners insist it just hurts them as franchisees, not BP itself (Gary Haber/WBJ) ... The real way to get back at BP is to drive less (Jeremy Holmes/RIDE Solutions via Streetsblog). And President Obama could alleviate our oil dependence by building subways instead of drilling oil wells. (Michael Daly/NY Daily News, Ben Ross)
Stop "careless driving" in New York: The New York legislature has passed a bill adding a "careless driving" offense so police can prosecute people like the driver who left an idling van unattended and killed two preschoolers. (Noah Kazis/Streetsblog)
Bus driver hits rider: A Route 71 Metrobus driver assaulted a passenger after an issue over a bus fare. Many people's initial reaction: will he just get reinstated like the driver who hit McGruff the Crime Dog? (ABC 7)
First class bus to NY: There's now another bus option to NY: Vamoose's first class "Gold Bus," which will leave from Bethesda and cost $50 one way. Sounds similar to the Boston-NYC LimoLiner. It's half the (last minute) price for Amtrak, but Lydia DePillis points out it lacks Amtrak's biggest advantage: the ability to usually not get stuck in traffic. (Housing Complex)
Md. agency moving to Metro station: Maryland's Department of Housing and Community Development is moving from Crownsville, MD (in Anne Arundel County) to Prince George's County, and will be near a Metro station, following Governor O'Malley's Transit-Oriented Development initiatives. (Sarah Krouse/WBJ)
Somewhat urbanism-related quote of the day: "There are two novels that can transform a bookish 14-year-kid's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish daydream that can lead to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood in which large chunks of the day are spent inventing ways to make real life more like a fantasy novel. The other is a book about orcs." (Raj Patel via Tudor Bosman, Friendfeed)
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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.   |
Comments
Cyclists are special and do have their own rules
- Cyclists are special and do have their own rules
- M Street cycle track keeps improving, draws church anger
- Judge denies injunction against closing schools
- O'Malley announces first projects using new gas tax money
- ICC losing bus service in classic bait and switch
- Can Loudoun grow while protecting its rural areas?
- Silver Spring mall could get massive facelift, new name
Tue May 21
Sun May 26
11:00 am Roosevelt Ride in Greenbelt
Sat Jun 1
10:00 am CSG walking tour of Wheaton
@ David, Please provide some explanation for including the unrelated, but playful insult on this urban blog
by Madison on Jun 19, 2010 3:37 pm • link • report
The Fairfax Cue buses that are Hybrids are also incredibly quiet, is an electric trolley bus even quieter?
by Canaan on Jun 19, 2010 5:00 pm • link • report
the hybrid vs. electric trolleybus debate is interesting in that it does pretty closely resemble the myriad train vs. bus battles that have taken place over the years -- and continue today with the BRT buses vs train debates. and just like the battles of old, the experience of pedestrians and cyclists on the streets is largely ignored -- ever try to hold a conversation on a street that is a non-trolleybus corridor? that fits well with the libertarian philosophy of self-interest over the public interest -- who cares what our streets are like? we can save a few bucks! John Galt! the ride inside a trolleybus is infinitely quieter and more comfortable, too -- not that this matters to decision-makers or most transit 'advocates'.
and the 'drive less' argument is garbage. as Robin Chase said, "Infrastructure is destiny." we do everything we can for drivers while preventing walking and biking, and then the libertarians and transit haters win the debate and put all the poor people onto buses - and hybrid buses at that. the argument needs to be 'allow people to walk and bike' -- simple, meaningful, effective, and -- oh, yeah -- inexpensive, sustainable, etc.
by Peter Smith on Jun 19, 2010 5:23 pm • link • report
By the way, anybody ever noticed the wires on the intersection of Key Bridge & M St? And the wire going down to the boat house there?
by Jasper on Jun 19, 2010 7:38 pm • link • report
Walk and bike? I don't know about you, but I live in a metropolis that stretches at least 50 miles across and 50 miles from north to south ... and on any given day I'm at at least 2 points in that area separated by some 20 - 30 miles or more. I don't see how 'walk and bike' is going to work. Or are you advocating that we return to feudal-like societies where we each live, work, play, and eat only as far as our legs can carry us? Sorry, this is the 21st century, we've conquered that linear space dimension. And we don't need to be going back into the past.
by Lance on Jun 20, 2010 12:15 am • link • report
by Cyrus on Jun 20, 2010 2:06 am • link • report
by Andrew on Jun 20, 2010 7:21 am • link • report
Yes David, this is a blog about urban policy: no need to gratuitously insult folks' childish pseudo-political fantasies. It's just impolite. Next thing you know, the Masters of the Universe will all go Galt, and then who will pay for all of our freeloading?
by oboe on Jun 20, 2010 12:33 pm • link • report
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/sexist/2010/06/21/sexist-comments-of-the-week-aristophanes-cant-touch-rand-edition/
by oboe on Jun 21, 2010 1:56 pm • link • report
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