Breakfast links: Feds pay up
Feds speed up Silver Line funding
The Federal Transit Administration announced early funding for Dulles Metrorail of nearly $20 million yesterday. With accelerated funding, the agency hopes to reduce costs, speed construction and provide regional investment. (Dr. Gridlock)
Congress orders feds to pay stormwater fees
Last week at the end of the lame-duck session, Congress passed a bill requiring federal agencies to pay local impervious surface area charges. DC Water was battling the EPA, arguing it couldn’t meet requirements for stormwater quality without federal agency fees. (Switchboard, from NRDC)
Transit can never be fully secured
Policymakers and security experts acknowledge that mass transit will never be fully secured environment in the way air travel is. Some riders wouldn’t mind more screening though, according to USA Today, which asked one man from Pennsylvania who took 24 trips on subway, Amtrak, and other trains last year, and who is afraid “a terrorist” could “demolish New York’s Penn Station.”
Glenmont getting garage
Metro will break ground on a new 1200-space parking garage at the Glenmont station. The current garage fills early forcing riders to drive to other stations to park and likely deterring some from riding at all. (Dr. Gridlock)
Silver Spring still debating library ped bridge
Advocates say the skywalk between the new Silver Spring library and its parking garage across Wayne Avenue is necessary to facilitate access for people with disabilities to the Disability Resource Center to be housed in the building. (TBD)
Car passenger pulls gun on pedestrians
When a mother had words for a driver who nearly hit her and her son in the parking lot of Potomac Mills Mall, the passenger of the car pulled a gun on the pair. (TBD)
Are film incentives worth it?
The new film How Do You Know, which received $1.4 million in DC tax dollars, was panned by critics and bombed in theaters. Should DC be spending money on film incentives, particularly given that states like Pennsylvania and New York can offer even the worst movies multimillion-dollar incentive packages? (TBD)
Buy America makes HSR costly
Buy America regulations essentially double the cost of acquiring high-speed trainsets, or any other rail rolling stock. (Systemic Failure) … Stephen Smith is disappointed we cheer on HSR projects despite this. (Market Urbanism)
And…
$1.8 million in HUD grants will fund housing counseling programs to help the homeless and those facing foreclosure. (WAMU) … The Federal Highway Administration has begun studying temporarily converting shoulders into traffic lanes. (WTOP) … An appeals court ruled that Arlington did not violate the establishment clause by awarding affordable housing funds to an apartment building whose board is partially appointed by the adjacent church. (WTOP)