Breakfast links: Better pedestrian environments

by Erik Weber • November 10, 2010 9:20 am

Photo by Mad African!: (Broken Sword) on Flickr.

New crosswalks in Lincoln Park: DDOT recently installed raised crosswalks with bright signs and pavement markings to ease pedestrian access to Lincoln Park. This will undoubtedly ease the walk to the controversial CaBi station just off the northeast corner of the park. (TBD, Eric Fidler)

Arlington police step up enforcement: On Monday, Arlington County Police were out ticketing drivers and pedestrians, as part of MWCOG's Street Smart program. Yesterday the police cited 33 drivers for infractions from failing to yield to pedestrians to blocking the intersection. (TBD)

A green street in PG: Edmonston, a small city in Prince George's County, unveiled its rebuilt main drag yesterday. Decatur Street has been narrowed, had bike lanes added, and includes new trees, rain gardens to filter runoff, permeable sidewalks, and wind-powered lights. (Post, Geoff H.)

Arlington's streetcar old and new: In late 19th century Arlington, a canal was replaced by a streetcar. This later became a bus, but could soon be replaced again by a modern streetcar. (ARLnow, Madison)

Credit card payment at more Metro lots: WMATA will soon expand credit-card payment to more of its parking lots. Currently, at most lots drivers must pay for parking with SmarTrip cards. (WMATA, Gavin)

New LEED to incorporate transportation: The proposed new LEED standards will consider a building's transit service frequency as well as its limit on parking. This will make the "greenwashing" of sprawl more difficult. (Ped Shed, Eric Fidler)

Free parking in Eugene not working as hoped: Five weeks after Eugene, Oregon removed the meters from its downtown area, businesses are saying that it's not helping business, and the $500,000 in lost meter revenue probably should have gone to marketing their already free parking garage. (KEZI, Michael Perkins)

Robocars by 2026 or not?: Tim Lee and Ryan Avent debate whether self-driving cars will become a reality by 2026. Lee says the technical challenges, while surmountable, will take a long time, and liability and regulation will create even bigger obstacles; Avent thinks the economic value will push progress and whatever legal changes are necessary.

Regions and neighborhoods more important than cities?: One DC environmental writer dismisses the differences among separate jurisdictions in the same metropolitan area. Though environmental issues are regional, tax rates and the quality of schools depend on jurisdictional lines. (Sustainable Cities Collective, Eric Fidler)

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Erik Weber has been living car-free in the District since 2009. Hailing from the home of the nation's first Urban Growth Boundary, Erik has been interested in transit since spending summers in Germany as a kid where he rode as many buses, trains and streetcars as he could find. Views expressed here are Erik's alone.

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Go Edmonston! Bladensburg is one of the towns that will now receive a green street. Project will focus in on the downtown strip of 450 and 201.

by Doug Davies on Nov 10, 2010 9:40 am • link • report

Let's be clear:

Eugene took on meters on a few blocks.

They kept a two hour limit.

The complaint, as stated in the article, is people are parking for two hours to work out -- at their gyms? -- rather than shop.

Is that really so bad?

If you want high turnover, perhaps the answer is turn them into 1 hour or 15 minute parking.

by charlie on Nov 10, 2010 9:40 am • link • report

RE: LEED incorporation transportation - taking classes at the new UMUC "Green" building in Largo, I notice the dozen-or-so LEV/Hybrid parking spots in the massive parking lot. However, if they really wanted to be "green", they could have placed their facility closer than a 30-minute walk from the Metro station. The website states "convenient access to public transportation", which is BS. You pretty much have to drive there.

by engrish_major on Nov 10, 2010 9:45 am • link • report

Re: Arlington enforcement

They also gave 50 warnings to pedestrians and cyclists: http://www.arlnow.com/2010/11/09/metrobus-among-the-vehicles-ticketed-by-police-in-rosslyn-today/

by Teyo on Nov 10, 2010 9:56 am • link • report

Edmonston, a small city in Prince George's County, unveiled it's rebuilt main drag yesterday.
-----------
It's = it is.

Its = Possessive form of it.

Love, your 4th grade teacher.

by Dan on Nov 10, 2010 9:56 am • link • report

Eugene has always struggled to bring people downtown. Problem is the University is really the cityÂ’s center. With the new Matt Arena, the life of Eugene is moved even further west. Better connectivity between UO and downtown is needed, and a better reason to go or live.

by RJ on Nov 10, 2010 10:01 am • link • report

Correction, moved east.

by RJ on Nov 10, 2010 10:01 am • link • report

Robocars by 2026 or not?

We were promised jetpacks.

by oboe on Nov 10, 2010 10:10 am • link • report

@charlie: If you want high turnover, perhaps the answer is turn them into 1 hour or 15 minute parking.

As I've said before, short time limits are notoriously hard to enforce (shorter than an hour and you basically have to have someone dedicated to that area, continuously driving around with a license plate reader device), and people don't like them.

One of the comments in the article was a business owner complaining that the two hour time limit gets enforced to the letter.

If anything, the trend is to lighten up and use pricing and longer time limits.

by Michael Perkins on Nov 10, 2010 10:36 am • link • report

@Dan:
Thanks for noticing. The grammatical error has been fixed.

by Matt Johnson on Nov 10, 2010 10:42 am • link • report

Downtown Eugene OR, home of my in-laws, is an urban planning mess on so many levels. I would not take any one example of a failure to be applicable elsewhere.

by SJE on Nov 10, 2010 10:51 am • link • report

In late 19th century Arlington, a canal was replaced by a streetcar. This later became a bus, but could soon be replaced again by a modern streetcar.

Okay ... how long before we get the canal back? There's something REALLY nostalgic about being on a flat bottom boat on a canal!

;)

by Lance on Nov 10, 2010 10:53 am • link • report

You actually can ride a canal boat from one end of Georgetown to the other. Frequency of service kinda sucks, though.

London still has regular canal-boat service, along with lots of private boats, on their much wider and more extensive surviving canal network.

by davidj on Nov 10, 2010 11:56 am • link • report

I was a bit confused how the canal got down to Crystal city -- was it on what is now 110?

@Mperkins; actually, yes, I agree. Enforcement can kill off those benefits. However, an optimal mix might be free 2 hour parking and a few meters per block.

And again, should cities really care WHO is using the street parking. Retail and a few restaurants are not the sole stakeholders. What is the optimal mix?

I'd say in some ways Shoupism is a moral crusade. People who drive to work, park in the same building underground garage, are less likely to go out and interact with the urban environment.

by charlie on Nov 10, 2010 12:13 pm • link • report

The bike lane on Decatur street in Edmonston is unfortunately less than three feet wide (AASHTO standard is 5 feet). It is probably safer than most DC bike lanes, but sharrows would be more appropriate.

by Jim Titus on Nov 10, 2010 12:16 pm • link • report