A purple line extension into VA would be amazing. I assume it would be from Bethesda to the Tyson's Corner area someone correct me if I am wrong here.

I tend to avoid traveling that direction because traffic over the american legion bridge is pretty bad, this would provide a good alternative.

by Matt R on Jan 12, 2011 8:56 am  

Rep Connolly spells his name "Gerry".

Bike scheme: Can we call it a "plan" like every other person in this country?

Purple line to VA would be awesome.

by mch on Jan 12, 2011 9:06 am  

Oops, fixed. I put in the first names. And I did know that, but I was doing it quickly while fixing a few other typos.

by David Alpert on Jan 12, 2011 9:09 am  

@mch - these programs started on a large scale in Europe, where among English speaking folks the word "scheme" doesn't have the negative connotation it has in the States. Yes, "plan" would be a better term for the U.S. press & bike geeks to use, but the linked article is from The Economist's British Print edition.

by ontarioroader on Jan 12, 2011 9:13 am  

I've changed the language anyway. We should be paraphrasing, not copying their terminology.

by David Alpert on Jan 12, 2011 9:15 am  

Something Dr. Gridlock didn't quite catch in his WMATA post was the initial reaction from the Alexandria Transportation Commission last week (which I really should put a blog post up on). The general feeling from the commission is that what Alexandria city staff are proposing...a 17 member board...is unrealistic. At the same time, they definitely understand concerns about the city losing representation (such as it is with an alternate board member). There was also a question brought up as to who nominates/places the Virginia board members...IIRC, it's NVTC.

by Froggie on Jan 12, 2011 9:18 am  

Why not extend Metro to downtown Gaithersburg and perhaps the Kentlands and then take the CCT from there North?

Or extend it up Georgia Ave on the east side?

by Redline SOS on Jan 12, 2011 9:25 am  

Glad you found the Economist article outside a firewall. Their point was more subtle: bike-share shouldn't be about "last-mile" connections -- getting train commuters to their destinations.

If you look back at the Lyon map posted a few weeks ago, you can see usage there was very much on a few corridors. That is a successful bike-share scheme.

by charlie on Jan 12, 2011 9:26 am  

About bikesharing:

@ Charlie on the contrary the Economist notes that it would

be impossible to accomodate all the commuters getting out of overcrowded trains at london terminals. And they are right it's mayhem during the rush hour in London. You thought you had it bad here in DC well think again :-)

Giving the availability of alternatives, the fact that London is easily walkable, the weather ( You don't get 300 days over blue sky there believe me), the fact that the scheme is rather new, figures quoted don't surprise me.

Let's give it one or 2 years at least...

by Vincent Flament on Jan 12, 2011 9:41 am  

Isn't the point now not to keep extending the Metro further and further, but to help develop around what we already have? And if anything - build a connector between the Orange and Blue Lines rather than have them extend West and South, respectively. I hear that trains on the Orange line are already full by the time they get to Falls Church; extending it further would only compound the problem. Same with extending the Red Line any further North or into Gaithersburg. Thoughts?

by Shipsa01 on Jan 12, 2011 9:49 am  

That Metro bill has some token language about the need to expand capacity within the core, but it's not enough.

It's simple math - build the new blue line through DC and you can double the level of service on the existing Orange line.

by Alex B. on Jan 12, 2011 9:55 am  

Regarding HR 55, the bill refers to the "Metrorail Purple Line," even though the Purple Line is currently administered by the MTA. Would that prevent a Potomac crossing from being studied? (not that the bill will clear the house of course)

by EJ on Jan 12, 2011 9:56 am  

The core expansion language in the bill is better than nothing, which is how much attention it's gotten in past discussions about extensions.

One wonders why the Virginia reps don't join with Maryland's and DC's on a bill to study overall expansion.

by Gavin on Jan 12, 2011 9:59 am  

Shipsa: there's also the matter of logical termini and redevelopment with potential Metrorail extensions. For example, the Route 1 corridor between Ft. Belvoir and Huntington has many similarities to the Ballston-Rosslyn corridor of 30 years ago. This is also an older developed section of Fairfax County (much of Huntington was built in the '40s), has the highest transit usage in the county, and there is *A LOT* of redevelopment/infill potential along the route. There's a strong destination anchor at Fort Belvoir that could also be used for a Blue Line extension. Nevermind that a Blue and/or Yellow Line extension would serve an area that's seeing a lot of BRAC growth and provide a one-seat trip between Ft. Belvoir and the Pentagon. So there's additional arguments in favor of the Feds kicking in funding.

One could also make destination anchor and redevelopment arguments for extending the Orange Line to Fair Oaks and the Red Line to either Gaithersburg or Germantown. Neither would involve a significant distance. Not sure if I'd extend the Orange Line past Fair Oaks, and definitely would not extend the Red Line past Germantown.

by Froggie on Jan 12, 2011 10:04 am  

@Shipsa01 and Alex B

Yes, we'll need a separate blue line (the M St subway) soon enough. (And then a separate yellow up north Georgia to White Oak, and then...)

My totally unqualified feelings on the matter are that extending Metro gets more people riding on Metro. This exacerbates our limited core capacity, but thus adds the pressure to increase core capacity. And the political support, with more people using the system.

by EJ on Jan 12, 2011 10:05 am  

A lot of those extensions were envisioned back before the system even opened.

We need more core capacity before Virginia extends the Orange Line any further. They're free to play around with long-term planning and the Purple line, but the downtown Blue Line needs to get built before Blue, Orange, or Silver are extended.

Building the Red Line out to Gaithersburg seems like the only sensible extension on the table, and is a moot point itself because there's no money around to build the system any further.

by andrew on Jan 12, 2011 10:12 am  

@ Shipsa01

I couldn't agree more. Especially with Arlington forcing more and more condos into the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, the Orange Crush will only get worse. My opinion is forget the extensions and work on extra tracks for express trains. But that will never happen. It also would be more meaningful to have connections between the Orange and Yellow/Blue lines in NOVA, possibly connecting them with Columbia Pike. Sending the Blue line up through Arlington Cemetery was such waste, especially considering the stop is closed half the night.

by OX4 on Jan 12, 2011 10:13 am  

@EJ

That's fine in the abstract, I don't disagree necessarily.

When you start looking at specific projects, however, things get tricky. As Froggie notes, Metro is a subway and is a high cost solution - thus it needs to bring a high value to justify the expense. A further extension of the Blue Line to Ft. Belvoir (paralleling I-95 and the existing VRE line) doesn't make much sense, as there are other transit options there (beef up VRE service massively) and little redevelopment opportunity. Extending the Yellow line along Route 1 is different, you'd have the opportunity for massive redevelopment of all those strip malls and other low density developments.

Regarding Froggie's idea for extending the Red Line to Germantown - the original plan for the Red Line was only to go to Rockville. The only reason they went to Shady Grove is that they needed room for an end of the line yard, and there wasn't any at Rockville. Once they extended it that far, they might as well add a station.

by Alex B. on Jan 12, 2011 10:15 am  

I saw recently on Metro's blog that they're studying a separated yellow line up either 10th Street, NW or 2nd Street, SE. How likely is that to happen?

Also - would there be any chance of running a new line from Fort Belvoir to King Street, then to National Harbor, then to Boiling AFB, then to DHS headquarters and up to Union Station (hitting the Green and Orange/Blue/Silver lines on the way)? You could label it the camouflage line, which (since it would have the remotest connection to the military) may get Republican support.

by Shipsa01 on Jan 12, 2011 10:42 am  

I realize it's quite a while from becoming a reality, but I'd personally like to see the R.I. Ave streetcar extended into the "streetcar suburbs" in MD (Mt. Rainier, Hyattsville and up to College Park). Mt. Rainier just approved a Mixed-Use Town Center plan that includes ROW for a streetcar line. Hyattsville is still building the Arts District townhomes and shops. College Park has thousands of students that would love an easy, quick way to get into DC. Obviously, DC wouldn't be funding this. I also keep wondering why they decided not to take that line all the way down RIA to Dupont..what's the point of having 3 lines serving the same 5-6 blocks. Someone in an earlier article alluded to this as well.

by thump on Jan 12, 2011 10:56 am  

They need to: (instead of Metro to Centreville/Haymarket)

- expand VRE service on the Manassas Line. (15 minute peak/ 1 hour non-peak)
- Build two dedicated passenger rail lines between Union Station and Alexandria(Major issue is new Long Bridge over Potomac)

There is only a small amount of freight traffic between Manassas and Alexandria. Norfolk Southern would shut down one track if the VRE was not there.

by mcs on Jan 12, 2011 10:57 am  

@ Metrorail extension:

1) We need Congressional action to study extensions? WTF?

2) Did the VA reps at least check with their MD colleagues and Holmes-Norton to see if they need any studies?

3) Did they run it by Eric Cantor (VA-7)? I know he's not from NoVa, but he's close enough to be able to help them get the law anywhere. At least he knows I-95 sucks from Richmond to DC. Having the ear of the Majority whip might help get the law get anywhere.

@ Mark Center buses: Why run buses only from King St? Why not also from the Pentagon (easier for people from DC) and from Ballston, or East Falls Church (easier for people from west of town)? What about from the VRE Braddock Rd Station?

@ andrew: We need more core capacity before Virginia extends the Orange Line any further.

If "we" is DC folks, then you're narrow-minded. Everyone needs more metro capacity, not just people on one side of a random river. I personally think there will never be any expansion within DC until the system is even more overloaded than it is now. That extra overload can only be created by extending the lines further. Not ideal, but seeing the current situation, pretty much the only solution to getting that M St Blue line.

And while we're on the subject: please allow me to bore you again with my vision on extension in NoVa.

Purple Line: Accross the WW Bridge, via King St under Rt-7 to Bailey's Crossroads, Seven Corners (already has high rises), Falls Church and the Orange and Silver Lines.

Yellow Line: Along US-1 via Ft Belvoir, Lorton, Woodbrdige to the Prince William Parkway and then to Manassas, hopefully meeting the Orange Line there. The part from Huntington to Lorton can be redeveloped like the R-B corridors, Pentagon City and Tysons.

Blue Line: Further west in the median of VA-7900/7100 along Burke, and then along VA-123 to GMU, Fairfax City and then to some point of the Orange and/or Silver Lines. Presumably, the line could also go to Oakton and Herndon, but I don't know that area well enough. There is no point extending the Blue Line further south. There's VRE (and the Yellow Line) for that.

Orange Line: Along I-66 to Centreville and Manassas, with transfer points to the extended Blue and Yellow Lines.

Yes, I know that metrolines in medians are silly, but this is the only realistic way I see to get the lines extended. I am not worried about the low density out there. Build the metro and higher rises will appear. Buses should feed people from the burbs to the stations.

And while I'm on it, I propose an elevated (Pink?) line on top of the HOV lanes of I-395 from the Pentagon to Franconia-Springfield.

by Jasper on Jan 12, 2011 10:58 am  

I don't know if it's fair to say Capital Bikeshare was "plagued" with parochial fights. There were a few heated debates over the location of a few of the stations, but the vast majority of the stations were rolled out without controversy. And if you stop and think about how much controversy there could've been, it's actually remarkable how smoothly it went.

by TM on Jan 12, 2011 11:03 am  

Regarding Alexandria transportation, do they ever plan on starting a bus tracker system???

by Aaron on Jan 12, 2011 11:16 am  

Jasper, there is no VRE station at Braddock, hence the decision to go from King, where there is a VRE station. I agree though that connections from Pentagon make sense. Probably also some additional transfer connectivity from VRE points south. Springfield bus vis HOV?

by spookiness on Jan 12, 2011 11:33 am  

I suspect the headline about "all" taxis disappearing was written to tweak the commentariat. I'll bite. The article says there are 20% fewer taxis in Manhattan during that hour. A far cry from "all."

by Josh S on Jan 12, 2011 11:40 am  

Shout out to Finding #12: "It is critical that extensions of transit service are coordinated with local land use planning, including the use of smart growth principles and transit-oriented development."

by Scotty McP on Jan 12, 2011 12:32 pm  

Jasper/spookiness: as I understand it from the BRAC-133 meetings and Alexandria Transportation Commission meetings, what's been agreed on right now is running shuttles from the Pentagon and from King Street Metro. The city would like DOD to also run shuttles from Franconia-Springfield and Van Dorn Street, but I'm not sure on the status of that.

by Froggie on Jan 12, 2011 12:43 pm  

@ spookines: no VRE station at Braddock

Sorry. I meant Backlick.

by Jasper on Jan 12, 2011 12:44 pm  

Like any mode CaBi serves multiple purposes.  Those short trips about town for which it excels can also divert riders away from Metro's congested core and from bus routes where ridership exceeds capacity.  In my case it does this while providing a shorter transit time than any combination of subway, bus and walking - and likely at a lower cost than expanding subway, bus or surface street capacity. 

It is interesting to speculate what would happen if a significant fraction of MARC's and VRE's inbound passenger stream were to switch their last-mile travel to bikeshare - with five lines converging on Union Station and two on L'Enfant Plaza that's a good sized spike for any mode to handle.  The usage map doesn't seem to show much rail-to-bikeshare transfer at VRE's Crystal City station (nor at L'Enfant Plaza) but a snowy winter morning is probably not a good representative sample. 

by intermodal commuter on Jan 12, 2011 1:05 pm  

For Virginia, I think extending the Orange Line to Fair Lakes/Fairfax Corner is very sensible as would a Purple Line extension to Tysons and a Yellow Line extension down Rt. 1. I think beefing up VRE and creating an environment more accommodating to BRT should be big transit priorities. I'm not as familiar with Maryland but I think extending the Red Line to Gaithersburg makes a lot of sense as well.

by Vik on Jan 12, 2011 1:22 pm  

Seems like shuttle service from King St Metro to the Mark Center is a only a partial solution. Hopefully Arlington recognizes that offering a similar option from Ballston could be enormously popular. I suspect riders that get on metro at Vienna are not thrilled about going all the way to King St only to get on a shuttle.

by OddNumber on Jan 12, 2011 2:30 pm  

What is the point of extending lines which are actually already close to capacity in the morning? That would only make things worse for those people that have smartly chosen to live closer to the city and that already have to stand during their commute in the morning.

Now the smart thing would be to buy the rail right of way between Frederick and Union station and between Manassas/fredericksburg and run a proper commuter system linking fredericksburg/Manassas to Baltimore/Frederick.

Now we all know that is not going to happen as the rail line through DC is an essential rail link for CSX. So the only option would be to build a dedicated freight line avoiding DC (lots of $$$$$$$$$$), and upgrade CSX's infrastructure to bring it to metro like standards (lots of $$$$$$ again)

by Vincent Flament on Jan 12, 2011 2:40 pm  

So in the "And..." section, is the editorial statement that Capitol Hill is somehow much more specific than saying SE? Because I don't find Capitol Hill to be that specific. It seems to describe an area roughly bounded by North Cap, SE Freeway, Florida/Benning, and the river. It's probably the largest geographic neighborhood in DC.

I'd also say that news organizations (particularly TV) often just give the quadrant where something happens. It's probably worse when they just say NW, as NW is relatively huge.

by Steven Yates on Jan 12, 2011 3:31 pm  

I do like that they have the Springfield Mixing Bowl in the language of the bill: "Despite recent road improvements, including the Springfield Mixing Bowl, Interstate Route 495 continues to experience congestion at both Potomac River crossings during normal rush hours". Not the I-95 & I-395 intersection. If we can make the Mixing Bowl an official name, may I suggest VDOT could use an image of an egg beater as the icon for the intersection. Would provide out of towners some warning of what they are about to encounter. Just a thought.

by Alan F on Jan 12, 2011 4:51 pm  

The Economist article isnt very good. They talk about usage not being high enough....but it's exactly what Paris got in year one (rides per bike). The goal is what Paris gets now...after 3 years.

Theyd have a better argument with Capital Bikeshare usage which IS low compared to european systems....but even for that, I would wait for a year to pass before using any data. Especially because they STILL havent placed all the initial stations.

by JJJJJ on Jan 12, 2011 4:57 pm  

My 2 bits on the possible extensions:

Purple line extension into No VA - a good idea, but the Purple line has not even started construction yet. Still extending it someday to Tysons Corner to meet up with 1 or 2 Silver Line stations should be looked at. But how and where would the Purple Line run from Bethesda and get across the Potomac into VA? Go west to the Beltway and to Tysons from there? Or south from Bethesda through some expensive neighborhoods across the Potomac and follow Rt 123 by Langley (the CIA stop!), through McLean and then Tysons? Or to West Falls Church? What has been the general thinking on this, if there has been any?

Orange Line extension - probably should have run to a end station at the Rt. 50 and I-66 intersection from the start. This would be 2 more stations over ~ 4 miles - Oakton at Rt. 123 and then one at Rt. 50. But this would be pushing it. Extending all the way to Centreville would make for a very long subway line. How about, instead of going west on I-66, the Orange line gets extended to I-66/Rt. 123 and then south into Fairfax city and GMU? Seriously expensive but would serve Fairfax courthouse and GMU, nor middle-outer commuter suburbs of Centreville.

Blue Line - maybe extend it one stop along the rail ROW to a station at Rt. 7100 with a big parking garage. But the Franconia-Springfield station already has that. Better to turn VRE into a 7 day a week commuter train system ala LIRR, NJ Transit, SEPTA that people can take on weekends and evenings to get into and from the city and points in-between.

Yellow Line - agree with the other posts that it does make sense to extend this southward along Rt. 1, probably to Fort Belvior. Should be given priority over any Orange or Purple Line extensions.

Of course, these extensions don't cover the big gap in Northern VA metro / light rail coverage between Tysons, Fall Church and Alexandria. They should also propose a study for a Metro or light rail line running along Rt. 7 from Tysons to West Falls Church station to Falls Church proper to Seven Corners to Bailey's Crossroads to Alexandria.

by Alan F on Jan 12, 2011 5:31 pm  

Vincent: see my earlier comment about the Yellow Line and the Route 1 corridor.

by Froggie on Jan 12, 2011 5:44 pm  

If there are only four BRAC buses, doesn't that imply that they will be able to run a bus every ten minutes? The trip from King St to the BRAC location is minimally 10 minutes in each direction. Adding realistic loading and unloading times is about 40 minutes for a full circuit.

That would allow for a maximum of 24 trips in the four hour rush hour window. covering a maximum of 960 passengers, and strongly implying that over 5,400 employees would likely have to drive, carpool, or slug to work to a location that doesn't (yet?) benefit from the Pentagon's massive parking. Strange choice.

by Craig on Jan 12, 2011 6:08 pm  

@ Alan F

Why do we need to extend any of the current metrorail lines?

Why not reroute the Silver Line after East Falls Church send it into central Arlington County then into Alexandria & back into Fairfax down route 1

by kk on Jan 12, 2011 9:01 pm  

@Craig: that's part of the plan...running shuttles every 10 minutes during rush hour.

IIRC the numbers correctly, DOD's goal is 40% of workers arriving by something other than SOV. There will be enough parking (assuming Moran isn't successful in cutting it off first...he wasn't last year) to accommodate roughly 60% of workers.

@kk: what you suggest cannot be done...the necessary connections do not exist at Rosslyn.

by Froggie on Jan 12, 2011 9:11 pm  

@ Froggie

I never said anything about using Rosslyn I said reroute it which meant scrap all plans after East Falls Church I would have said have the lines cross at West Falls Church but its to late for that.

My idea was after East Falls Church the Silver Line somehow gets to Leesburg Pike

From there take either

1 Columbia Pike + Little River Turnpike and maybe Duke St.
2 King St.
3 Seminary RD + N. Quaker Ln + Duke St.

To either Van Dorn St, Eisenhower Ave, King St or Huntington Stations and make it to Ft Belvoir via the appropriate streets which could be Telegraph Rd, Beulah St, FF Parkway or Route 1.

by kk on Jan 12, 2011 10:23 pm  

Arlington should run shuttle buses from the Pentagon to Mark Center. To Mark Center would be a reverse commute in the morning and the return trip could use the HOV lanes. In the morning, it reverses. King Street to Mark Center takes much more than 10 minutes in rush hour.

The rest of these suggestions are wishing on a rainbow with one exception - Yellow line to Belvoir.

by movement on Jan 12, 2011 10:31 pm  

There has been many commuter during Rush hour coming from even woodbridge & Lorton to reach to franconia-springfield station for metro. Why dont extend this blue line till lorton or woodbridge so more commuter use the metro directly rather than traveling from bus or car.

by Hiren on Feb 8, 2011 12:21 am