Breakfast Links: Before and after

by Matt Johnson • August 17, 2010 9:14 am

Tom Coburn (left). Photo by talkradionews on Flickr.

Bye-bye GEORGE: Falls Church recently voted to end its GEORGE bus service, effective September 24. The city was unable to come up with the money to keep the service going. (Washington Post, Gavin)

Free State out of free space for roads: Governor Martin O'Malley says that Maryland is out of space for road expansion. He touted transit as a better way of getting from place to place in an interview on ~~NPR~~ WAMU's Kojo Show. (Washington Examiner)

If you build it...: Maryland SHA and Montgomery County DOT are considering pedestrian/bicycle improvements to Maryland Route 117 in Boyds. This would make it easier for bikes and peds to access transit and community facilities. (Gazette)

...Get private industry to pay for it: Brookings fellow Chris Leinberger, author of The Option of Urbanism, talks about using private companies to capture economic gains from transit towards building more transit like before World War 2. He cites the New York Avenue Metro stop as an example &mdash property owners paid 25% of the cost. (The Atlantic, Cavan)

Maybe if Oklahoma had a rail system...: Virtually everyone supports the FTA being able to regulate transit safety, except for Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK). But in the United States Senate, Coburn's opposition is enough to stop nearly anything. (Post, David A.)

...Coburn would still block safety: Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), explains why he's placed a hold on the FTA safety oversight bill. His main arguments seem to be that a) it costs money and b) it tramples states' rights. (Washington Post, Matt')

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17 comments

Tags: links

Matt Johnson has lived in the Washington region since mid-2007. He has a Master's degree in Community Planning from the University of Maryland and a BS in Public Policy from Georgia Tech. He has worked in the planning field since 2006 and lives in Greenbelt, where he serves on the city's Advisory Planning Board.

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Where are the links? Also, down with Coburn!

by JessMan on Aug 17, 2010 9:06 am • link • report

@JessMan:
Thanks for letting me know. I fixed the error. There should be links now.

by Matt Johnson on Aug 17, 2010 9:15 am • link • report

Just imagine the trouble Coburn will cause if the Republicans take over the Senate.

by RJ on Aug 17, 2010 9:16 am • link • report

*ahem* I believe that O'Malley interview was on WAMU, not NPR. There is a difference, albeit a subtle one.

by David Schultz on Aug 17, 2010 9:23 am • link • report

@David Shultz:
You may be correct. The Examiner (from whence this link came) reported it as "NPR". Thanks for the alert. I'll look into it.

by Matt Johnson on Aug 17, 2010 9:34 am • link • report

Given how much bashing GGW writers have given to FTA on "overbuilt" transit safety standards (and on the need to avoid accidents, rather than survive them) I'd expect a bit more sympathy for Coburn.

I found the Leinberger article interesting. Given the streetcar debates, I'm not sure if the basic premise is correct. Also, could PRIVATE companies somehow make transit more affordable? I suspect any NEW company (public or private) would do well if it could avoid the pension/benefit problem. AFter all, that is how First Transit makes money off the Circulator contract, no?

by charlie on Aug 17, 2010 9:35 am • link • report

Maryland isn't out of space for road expansion. There's plenty of space. What they're out of is MONEY for road expansion.

by Froggie on Aug 17, 2010 10:02 am • link • report

Can we talk about the lede on the O'Malley piece?

"Gov. Martin O'Malley is asking Marylanders to brace for the delays, crowding and derailings that come with mass transit, because the state has "no more room" for roads."

Are you kidding? What an absurd way to frame your story. What about the delays, congestion, pollution, and crashes that come with auto dependence?

by Dan on Aug 17, 2010 10:07 am • link • report

I agree with Coburn. First, pay for it. Second, switching local bureacrats for federal ones will make transit systems no safer. Third, transit systems nationally are vastly different and will be difficult to squeeze under a one size fits all umbrella. Fourth, the only thing that will come out of an FTA oversight bill will be unfunded Federal mandates that will cost local taxpayers more money and strain the budgets of transit agencies that are already on or over the brink.

by Kaleel on Aug 17, 2010 10:56 am • link • report

This is one of the few times I -- gulp -- actually agree with Tom Coburn. First, he's right that the Constitution makes no provision for such federal oversight. And, as we constantly complain about on these pages, the feds are bossy enough with local transit systems across the country.

And federalizing transit-safety oversight may make the feds feel better about themselves, but it's a dubious proposition to think that it will vastly improve the safety of what is already among the safest modes of transportation in this country.

That said, as a regular rider of public transit in D.C. and around the nation, I'm all for increased safety. But improving Metro's "culture of safety" will best come from the bottom up rather than the top down. In short, we, Metro's customers, need to demand improved safety.

And the best way to do that may very well be in the voting booth this fall. It is not a stretch to say that Metro's safety and customer service are very much dependent upon Metro's funding. Perhaps if Metro's leadership weren't scrambling each year to figure out how to close ever-larger budget gaps they could actually focus every once in a while on making customers' experience on the system safer and more enjoyable. Time to demand a dedicated funding stream from each of Metro's jurisdictions.

by Dustin on Aug 17, 2010 12:16 pm • link • report

Regarding the death of the Falls Church George Bus:

Councilwoman Robin Gardner offered that the bus was Â“a wonderful idea but one not utilized as we thought it would be or as effective as we hoped it would be.Â” She suggested that once the CityÂ’s economic development was Â“in motionÂ” that it could establish a trolley similar to AlexandriaÂ’s.

I tend to agree. George seemed a bit too long of a ride to be truly effective. I like the idea of a trolley from EFC Metro to WFC Metro and back (or to that effect) with a catchier name and better colors. It would be a more efficient method of moving commuters and shoppers/diners. But I'd have much preferred a scale back to a trolley now rather than an indefinite promise of one in the future.

by Charlie on Aug 17, 2010 12:38 pm • link • report

Instead of running through the Examiner as a middleman, here's a link to the Kojo Nmandi show w/ O'Malley (among others):

http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2010-08-13/politics-hour

Click on "Listen" at the top-left to open up the show.

by Bossi on Aug 17, 2010 1:07 pm • link • report

Alexandria's "trolley" is not a trolley but rather a bus dressed up to look like an old-time trolley. In my more optimistic moods I think that it may have been put in place to gather data for putting a real trolley in along King Street.

Alexandria has a long way to go to become more transit-minded but, to its credit, it has come a long way over the past few years. Changing people's perceptions and patterns of life (from car oriented suburb to transit oriented town/city) does not come quickly or easily.

by EZ on Aug 17, 2010 2:47 pm • link • report

Maybe a start would be for Coburn to offer an amendment to limit FTA authority to inter-state transit systems. That would include WMATA ("Metro"), which is the immediate safety issue, and that amendment puts the scope of the legislation clearly meets Coburn's stated concern about constitutionality of FTA regulation of intra-state transit services.

by Anonymous Loser on Aug 17, 2010 2:57 pm • link • report

Coburn is a self-fulfilling cycle of hypocrisy. He always rails against incompetent government not accomplishing anything, yet he blocks anything he has a say on, but refuses to fire himself.

by Jasper on Aug 18, 2010 9:40 am • link • report

Democrats obstructed everything they could when Republicans had majorities. Now they complain when Republicans are playing blocker. Hypocrisy cuts both ways.

by Kaleel on Aug 18, 2010 10:54 am • link • report

@ K: You are not reading my comment properly. I will rephrase. Coburn complains that the government never gets anything done. The reason is that he votes against everything. That's a chicken-egg issue. Coburn can stop that cycle by not voting against everything, or by removing himself. He does not do either. He is a hypocrite. It has nothing to do with being democrat or republican.

by Jasper on Aug 18, 2010 11:53 am • link • report