USDOT - Greater Greater Washington

Streetcars alight in DC

Thu, 02 May 2013 08:58:00 EDT

DC's streetcars arrived in Anacostia at the new test track. DDOT plans to start testing them on H/Benning by October and carry passengers once the Federal Transit Administration approves. (Post)

Comment

Start seeing streetcars soon (Dec 13, 2012)
Streetcars now on the front burner (Aug 7, 2009)
Streetcars aren't toys, buses aren't about respect (Nov 20, 2010)
H Street-Benning Road could get streetcars by 2012 (Apr 14, 2010)
H Street streetcar is still on target for 2013, says DDOT (Jan 30, 2013)

Forethought for Foxx

Wed, 01 May 2013 08:56:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Former transportation secretaries give Anthony Foxx some advice, like listening to good people in the bureaucracy. ... Is there any way President Obama can make a difference on transportation? (Streetsblog)

Comment

Foxx has the makings of a great Transportation Secretary

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:20:00 EDT

by Dan Malouff

President Obama yesterday nominated Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx as the next Secretary of Transportation. If Foxx's experience in Charlotte is any indication, he'll make a strong choice.

Charlotte streetcar construction. Photo by Reconnecting America.

During his nomination press conference, Foxx said "cities have had no better friend" than the US Department of Transportation under outgoing Secretary Ray LaHood, and that if confirmed he would hope to "uphold the standards" LaHood set. That's great news.

The fact that Foxx comes from a major central city is also a huge benefit. It means he understands urban needs, which aren't just highways.

Charlotte may not be New York, but it's made great strides in the right direction. The city's first rail line opened a few years ago, and a streetcar line is under construction now. Charlotte also gained bronze-level status as a bike friendly community in 2008, and launched bike sharing in 2012.

Foxx has been a strong advocate for urban rail, especially streetcars. He knows transportation and land use are tied at the hip, and has fought repeated attacks on Charlotte's streetcar by former Mayor and current North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory.

He's also worked as an attorney for bus manufacturer DesignLine.

Foxx also knows that state Departments of Transportation can sometimes be part of the problem. At the federal level, it's common for USDOT to delegate responsibilities and funding to state DOTs, under the assumption the states have a better understanding of local needs. But state DOTs aren't any more local than any huge centralized government. And since they usually focus on highways, the result is that federal dollars mostly go to highways as well.

Since Foxx fought with the state over Charlotte's streetcar, he knows that funneling everything through state DOTs means states hold the cards. He knows that can hurt cities.

Finally, Foxx hired Arlington, VA's former county manager, Ron Carlee, to run Charlotte's city government. Foxx would have heard about Arlington's reputation for progressive transportation planning during the hiring process, and presumably counted it in Carlee's favor.

Of course, no one can really predict what kind of Secretary Foxx will be. When progressive champion Ray LaHood was first tapped for the job, the blogosphere worried his history as a Republican from rural Illinois meant he'd be a status quo highway builder.

But we do know that Foxx has made a priority of building transit in his home city, and has had to fight to make it happen.

Cross-posted at BeyondDC.

14 comments

Foxx for DOT

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:28:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

President Obama will nominate Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx as the new Secretary of Transportation. In Charlotte, Foxx pushed for increased density and a streetcar line and supported bicycle programs. (BikePortland)

Comment

LaHood talks tough on bike safety

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 08:33:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood called for "zero tolerance for people who don't respect cyclists," and will give more support for bike lanes on a national level. (Streetsblog)

Comment

A new standard

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 08:21:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

The US Department of Transportation is going to create its own bike and ~~predestination~~ pedestrian safety standards, instead of just relying on the often-outdated AASHTO ones. (Streetsblog)

Comment

For bicyclists, there is safety in numbers (May 6, 2010)
Around the network: Using the hive mind to make biking safer (Jun 2, 2009)

Telephone line for safety

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 08:05:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

USDOT is looking to set up an anonymous tip line for Metro employees to report close calls and other safety issues. Officials expect to get 400 calls a year, based on experience with other rail networks. (Examiner)

Comment

Tri-State Oversight finds safety lapses on track right-of-way (Jan 7, 2010)
Metro workers afraid to report hazards, Board unfazed (Oct 12, 2010)
Lessons not learned: WMATA misinterprets FTA safety program and blames workers (Jan 5, 2011)
Should the FTA regulate urban transit agencies? (Oct 29, 2010)
Latest Metro crash not such a surprise (Dec 2, 2009)

LaHood leaving

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 08:21:00 EDT

by David Alpert

US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is stepping down. LaHood defied early fears to be a strong advocate for high-speed rail, curbing distracted driving, and more. (Streetsblog)

Comment

LaHood? (Dec 18, 2008)
LaHood, Biden meet with governors on high-speed rail (Jun 3, 2009)
Looking under LaHood (Dec 20, 2008)
LaHood asks for 18-month extension of four-year-old transportation law (Jun 17, 2009)
LaHood vows to avert federal transportation bankruptcy (Jun 4, 2009)

Make cars louder?

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 08:52:00 EDT

by Thaddeus Bell

Regulators are proposing rules to force electric and hybrid vehicles to make some noise at 18 mph or less, so pedestrians can hear them. NHTSA estimates this will save 2,800 injuries per year. (The Fast Lane)

Comment

Pedestrian safety ads feature damage to cars, not people (Mar 25, 2011)
MoCo road code, AAA oppose tree-lined medians (Oct 1, 2008)
Assuring sidewalks vs. assuring good sidewalks (Oct 30, 2008)
Lincoln Park CaBi station canceled after complaints (Sep 30, 2010)
Don't start dancing yet, Georgetown: Barnes Dance not always the answer (May 12, 2010)

Tide turning on national VMT study?

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 08:24:00 EDT

by Thaddeus Bell

Congressman Earl Blumenauer introduced a bill to mandate that Treasury study a VMT tax. The sponsor of a previous bill banning the USDOT from studying VMT tax lost reelection. (Streetsblog)

Comment

House bill delayed, but transit, walking, biking aren't safe yet (Feb 23, 2012)
Oberstar to release transportation outline on Wednesday (Jun 15, 2009)
House GOP moves to decimate transit funding (Feb 2, 2012)
House GOP would wipe out local control over bike/ped funds (Jun 8, 2012)
STAA tuned: Transportation bill leaves funding question hanging (Jun 23, 2009)

Obama on transportation

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 08:29:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

President Obama's achievements in transportation policy include Ray LaHood as DOT Secretary, the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, TIGER grants, and taking steps toward high-speed rail. (Streetsblog)

Comment

Obama supports congestion pricing (Mar 28, 2008)
Transportation in Congress roundup: Leaders agree on extension, GOP would kill Amtrak, & Obama proposal (Sep 12, 2011)
Flashback: Obama once led push for "Complete Streets" (May 28, 2009)

Testing new smart cars

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 08:15:00 EDT

by Thaddeus Bell

The federal Department of Transportation is using 3000 Michigan drivers to test a vehicle communication technology which alerts the drivers when two cars become too close to one another. (WTOP)

Comment

Press reports avoid human agency for cars but not motorcycles (May 27, 2009)
Our car/bike/ped fights will get fiercer with driverless cars (Mar 5, 2012)
The next black swan for transportation: self-driving cars (Dec 6, 2011)
15 cents a mile for no traffic? (May 19, 2009)
Weekend video: Texting while driving is impossible (May 5, 2012)

A lot rides on how USDOT defines "congestion"

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 10:37:00 EDT

by Tanya Snyder

Congress has done its job, such as it is, and passed a transportation bill. Now it's handed off the policymaking to USDOT, which must issue a raft of rules, definitions, and guidance to accompany the new law, known as MAP-21. According to sources with intimate knowledge of this process, much depends on how DOT decides to measure congestion.

Photo by Joe Shlabotnik on Flickr.

New performance measures for the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement program (CMAQ)—and quite possibly for the entire national highway system (depending how they define "roadway performance")—require a working definition of congestion.

If the agency follows the prevailing orthodoxy, states could be rewarded for wasteful highway spending. If it adopts better measurements, smarter investments and less wasteful spending will follow.

The CMAQ measures will also require a definition of "cost-effectiveness," a related but somewhat separate can of worms.

Graphic from CEOs for Cities.

The above graphic shows the wrong way to measure travel performance. The "Travel Time Index" awards a better score to Charlotte than Chicago, even though commutes in Chicago are shorter, because drivers in Charlotte spend a higher percentage of their time in free-flowing traffic.

USDOT should include distance driven in any measure of congestion

Performance measures in the MAP-21 law have been criticized for being toothless, since many of them don't have consequences attached. However, there is still the possibility that state performance rankings could be made public. And a spotlight on state failures could be an effective way to encourage good decisions.

Streetsblog asked Joe Cortright for his advice to DOT officials struggling to define congestion. Cortright is an economist and senior policy advisor for CEOs for Cities. In 2010, the organization commissioned him to write Driven Apart, a critique of prevailing methods of measuring congestion. His words of wisdom for USDOT: "Don't make the mistake the Texas Transportation Institute makes."

TTI's Urban Mobility Report, released every year, invariably gives top honors to places that have overbuilt road capacity. The institute measures congestion only by looking at the degree to which traffic slows down people's commutes. The problem with that, Cortright says, is that "you end up rewarding places that encourage people to drive longer and longer distances, and then you look at those long distances that they're traveling, and say because they're moving at a relatively higher speed much of the time that they're driving, that the system is somehow performing better."

Over the past few years, USDOT has been very deliberately working hand-in-glove with HUD and the EPA to treat transportation and land use as one cohesive system. It only makes sense that the agency use the same ethic in measuring roadway performance and congestion. By doing so, DOT would have to acknowledge that a long commute along miles and miles of free-flowing highways is no bargain compared to a short commute in dense traffic, not to mention an even shorter commute on transit.

Clark Williams-Derry, research director for the sustainability-focused Sightline Institute, suggests that congestion may simply be the wrong thing to measure. "Focusing on congestion is like, in a basketball game, focusing only on the number of assists you get," Williams-Derry said. "It's an interesting fact, but it doesn't tell you the final score."

But people treat this one piece of the picture as if it's "the whole story," he says. Why not measure how long it takes to get from place to place? Or how much it costs? After all, a major argument against congestion—and the reason that congestion reduction is elevated to a national priority—is that time spent stuck in traffic is lost productivity, which adds up at a national level. But the TTI method actually masks how projects affect total travel time, and wouldn't help measure productivity gains or losses.

The upshot is that following the same methods as TTI's Urban Mobility Report to set performance goals under MAP-21 would be a huge mistake. "It would focus resources on projects that are sprawl-oriented, that encourage decentralized development," Cortright said. "You can raise your performance on that measure most by having people drive more, as long as they're driving faster."

Cortright recommends that DOT put more emphasis on vehicle miles traveled than travel speed, and notes that this is especially important when it comes to measuring the cost-effectiveness of projects that are supposed to mitigate congestion and improve air quality. That's another tricky definition DOT is going to have to figure out.

It's not cost-effective for USDOT to encourage projects that induce driving

When DOT decides how to judge the cost-effectiveness of a CMAQ project, they can either focus on the CM (Congestion Mitigation) or the AQ (Air Quality), but those aren't the same thing. "It's unambiguous that if people drive fewer miles there's going to be less pollution," Cortright said. "A lot of the quote-unquote 'congestion reduction' projects essentially encourage more VMT."

Widening roads induces more people to drive, which makes it a poor method to address congestion. Image from Todd Litman at the Victoria Transport Policy Institute.

"There's this pervasive mythology that our pollution problems are chiefly caused by people having to idle in traffic," he continued. "There's no evidence for that, and the evidence there is suggests that if you reduce congestion, people actually drive further, and that more than offsets the benefits of less idling."

In addition, Williams-Derry pointed out that not all congestion is stop-and-go traffic. Congestion that consists merely of slower but smoothly flowing traffic actually improves air quality, since cars work more efficiently at slower speeds. That's what makes CMAQ a tricky program to judge, since its two goals are sometimes at odds with each other.

If DOT is going to measure cost-effectiveness, Cortright and William-Derry say, it needs to think like a business. Starbucks would never build a second caf� next door so that it could move the line faster at 9:00 a.m. and then have it sit empty the rest of the day. Building more roadway capacity to handle peak-of-the-peak traffic makes just as little sense.

Cost-effectiveness also can't be measured without examining what are known as "externalities"—the costs of driving that are passed on to the public. "The existing gasoline tax doesn't even cover the maintenance on the highway system that we have now," Cortright said. "It doesn't reflect the economic losses to crashes, it doesn't reflect the economic externalities associated with the environmental effects of burning all this gasoline and putting carbon in the atmosphere, and it doesn't reflect the foreign policy and military costs of being so dependent on foreign oil."

"If I were USDOT, I'd try to add in, in figuring cost-effectiveness, the cost of all those other subsidies to automobiles," he added.

There are still people inside and outside DOT—including some of the authors of MAP-21 inside the halls of Congress—for whom the only cost-effective transportation solution is to expand roads so cars can move faster. Not only would this do nothing to solve the problem of congestion, it would actually exacerbate the air pollution that the CMAQ program is designed to address.

By being thoughtful about how to define success in the CMAQ program specifically, and roadway performance generally, USDOT can have a tremendous and lasting impact on whether our transportation system is sustainable and sensible—or whether it drives us off a cliff.

4 comments

Traffic on and around WAMU (Nov 28, 2009)
Golden Gate congestion pricing out, performance parking in (Aug 20, 2008)
GAO: Trucking the least efficient mode of freight shipping (Mar 1, 2011)
Congestion pricing, pro and incoherent (Nov 22, 2005)
New Partners: Congestion pricing and transportation finance (Feb 8, 2008)

Region wins grants

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 09:10:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

The DC region won $18 million in small grants from the US Department of Transportation. They include several bike and pedestrian projects, value pricing for downtown DC parking, and money for a Disabled Veterans Memorial. (BeyondDC)

Comment

It's TIGER time again (Nov 3, 2011)
Our transportation priorities (Jun 17, 2008)
Three projects to watch (Feb 4, 2008)
A better 14th Street coming soon (Feb 25, 2008)
TIGER III to come this summer (Apr 21, 2011)

More Silver oversight

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 09:21:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

An a Department of Transportation inspector general report calls for more FTA oversight of Silver Line construction on cost and safety issues. (Post)

Comment

Can oversight help transit safety without hurting transit? (Nov 16, 2009)
Rogoff: Federal oversight mustn't push riders onto highways (Apr 21, 2010)
Why didn't the Board find out about Metro's denial to Tri-State Oversight? (Nov 19, 2009)
Tri-State Oversight finds safety lapses on track right-of-way (Jan 7, 2010)
Should the FTA regulate urban transit agencies? (Oct 29, 2010)

Bye dangerous buses

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 08:33:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

USDOT has shut down 26 intercity bus companies including 2 "Chinatown" buses in DC as part of a safety crackdown in the wake of fatal crashes. (Bloomberg, Examiner, charlie)

Comment

Banishing buses to L'Enfant (Jun 18, 2008)
DC2NY says DDOT rules will kill their business (Jun 23, 2008)
Proof and Examiner monger fear of youth in Chinatown (Aug 11, 2011)
Should Chinatown be Times Square? (Mar 10, 2010)
Struck in DC this week: 5 pedestrians, 1 cyclist (Oct 3, 2010)

Roads by Anacostia Metro among worst in DC for pedestrians

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:05:00 EDT

by John Muller

Narrow sidewalks, a 5-way intersection, and missing median strips and crosswalks are just some of the problems around the Anacostia Metro. A project funded by several federal agencies aims to find solutions to what EPA officials called the city's most dangerous intersections for pedestrians.

Street in front of Anacostia Metro. Photo by Old Anacostia on Flickr.

The Anacostia Metro opened in December 1991 as the southernmost Green Line Station, bunched between I-295 and Suitland Parkway. Designers expected it to be a park-and-ride commuter station. But subsequent stations in Prince George's County quickly undercut the demand for parking at Anacostia.

Meanwhile, nearly 70% of Ward 8 households don't own a car, making the design incompatible with surrounding communities.

The original design made pedestrian access an afterthought. In the two decades since, few improvements have been made to increase pedestrian safety around the station. Coming and going is perilous for the large swaths of schoolchildren and seniors in the area.

Anacostia was selected as one of 5 capital city communities across the country to participate in Greening America's Capitals, a project between the Environmental Protection Agency, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and US Department of Transportation.

The program will "produce schematic designs and exciting illustrations intended to catalyze or complement a larger planning process for the pilot neighborhood."

The station is "badly in need of attention," according to Harriet Tregoning, Director of the DC Office of Planning, who reiterated that improvements would "complement other [ongoing] projects" in the neighborhood. The station lacks a distinctive character and, although, within short walking distance of the Anacostia River, there are no direct access paths to the waterfront.

Top: Current dangerous condition of Firth Sterling Avenue SE and ~~Howard Road~~ Suitland Parkway SE. Bottom: Rendering of a possible safer configuration with a refuge median. Photos by the author showing slides presented at the meeting.

To improve pedestrian safety, residents suggested footbridges, wayfinding signage, refuge medians, speed humps, and better street lighting. A slide presentation contrasted the present condition of Howard Road, Firth Sterling Avenue, and the 5-point intersection of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, Howard Road, and Sheridan Road with renderings that envisioned what the future could look like.

James Magruder, a native of Ward 8 who works with Washington Parks and People, agreed that the intersection of Howard Road and Firth Sterling was in dire need of attention. "Over the years that corner has been the site of many accidents that have been fatal" to pedestrians, said Magruder.

Another way to improve safety in the area is to develop some of the many vacant properties around the station. WMATA owns one large vacant field on the other side of Howard Road, and both the Williams and Fenty administrations pushed to relocate WMATA's headquarters here, though without success.

Brenda Richardson, who works for Councilmember Marion Barry, claimed that WMATA has been unresponsive to their inquiries about the station area. In response, an official from WMATA who had been sitting in the back of the room said Metro is conducting an "initial evaluation to determine what the issues are" around safety.

Some east of the river denizens were skeptical that the studies would lead to change. "We're studied out," said one resident who attends similar meetings weekly. "Everyone's studying us to get money. Then the plans get sat on for 20 years."

"The worse case scenario is this doesn't happen," an EPA official admitted. "This only happens if all parties agree."

11 comments

Naylor Road Metro can be safer for pedestrians (Apr 19, 2011)
Better access to RI Ave Metro would help communities (Dec 22, 2011)
Homeless shelter with no retail will hinder Anacostia (Aug 2, 2011)
What's your experience walking on Connecticut Avenue? (Mar 30, 2010)
Proposed Circulator will connect Ward 7 to the rest of DC (Nov 22, 2010)

And...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:45:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

Competition may encourage embassies to go green. (City Paper) ... Walter Reed won't be the new home for the FBI. (City Paper) ... It's time for TIGER IV. (Streetsblog) ... The Bethesda Metro tunnel will get some art. (Patch)

Comment

What should DC do with Walter Reed? (Jun 4, 2010)
Bus garage at Walter Reed good for residents, DC budget (Jul 29, 2010)
Montgomery removing one useless underpass while planning another (Jul 15, 2009)
Walter Reed closure could hurt Silver Spring (Sep 27, 2010)

Transit funding rules change

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:48:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

USDOT wants to change regulations to scrap the ridiculous rules that force transit in highway medians and other "cost-saving" measures that create worse projects. Access to affordable housing and other community factors will also play a role. (Slate, BusinessWeek)

Comment

Oberstar tweaks transit's federal funding formula (May 20, 2008)
Stimulus draft released; $30B for highways vs. $10B for transit (Jan 15, 2009)
NCPC not why DC lost streetcar grant, politics may be (Jul 8, 2010)
Blogs and social media change the conversation on transit (Oct 26, 2011)
Change? (Dec 10, 2008)

No bill this year

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:19:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

Secretary LaHood doubts a transportation funding bill will pass this year. He blames partisan politics and an election-shortened legislative session. (Post)

Comment

DOT fixes disaster damage, spares HSR

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:08:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

The US DOT was able to fund nearly $1.6 billion in disaster repairs without raiding high-speed rail funds, much to the chagrin of some House Republicans. (Streetsblog)

Comment

Stimulus compromise won't cut transit (Feb 7, 2009)
High-speed rail, here we come (Feb 12, 2009)
LaHood, Biden meet with governors on high-speed rail (Jun 3, 2009)
Debt deal could mean more painful cuts for transportation (Aug 1, 2011)
GOP transportation bill's new direction is the same old one (Jul 11, 2011)

USDOT wants HOT lanes

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 08:50:00 EDT

by David Edmondson

Virginia will receive $20 million in TIGER money for its controversial HOT lanes on I-95, while a MWCOG request for bike and pedestrian fixes around Metro stations didn't win. (Examiner)

Comment

TIGER III to come this summer (Apr 21, 2011)
TIGER funds bus corridors, not K Street or bike sharing (Feb 17, 2010)
It's TIGER time again (Nov 3, 2011)
DC rejected for Urban Circulator streetcar grant (Jul 8, 2010)
DC strikes out on TIGER II (Oct 20, 2010)

Breakfast tweets: Less is more

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 08:54:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Today, we're trying an experimental format for the links: Twitter style.

Photo by xtopalopaquetl on Flickr.

US DOT: Lowest traffic fatalities in 60 years (Transportation Nation, @marctomik)
"We don't want to come off as NIMBYs." But Arlington residents don't want a homeless shelter in their backyard (Post, @_jpscott)
The London Tube's central Zone 1 is very pricey, so a map shows how to get off outside and take bike share (Ollie O'Brien)
What are public/private partnerships PPPs? Where are they in the US and internationally? (Brookings, @bogrosemary)
What to get for the cargobike lover who has everything (& kids)? (Bike Noun Verb, @KidicalMassDC, @IMGoph)
On Friday, @beyonddc exposed the folly of highway "Level of Service." Now @e_jaffe takes on local street LOS (Atlantic Cities, @vebah)
An experiemental system can disable drivers' phones in the car without affecting passengers' phones (Daily Mail, Steve S.)
Lance's feelings about bike lanes in cartoon form (The Onion, @JoelLawsonDC)

Our current Breakfast Link editors are looking to move on from curating the links each day. Meanwhile, many of our contributors now use Twitter, and can submit or curate items through that service.

We decided to try creating a links post collaboratively, by building the post from tweets contributors and readers sent in to a new Twitter account, @GGWashTips, plus some from our regular tip queue. This is the result.

Have a tip for the tweets? Tweet it to @GGWashTips.

Want to edit the Breakfast Links in either the old style or this one? Email us at info@ggwash.org.

36 comments

Submit tips here (Mar 17, 2009)
Breakfast non-links: Have a great weekend (Sep 4, 2009)
Metro tweets welcome, could be even more useful (Jul 15, 2010)
Arlington County installs new bike signal on Custis Trail (May 21, 2011)
On the calendar: Biking west, retail/zoning north, buses east (Mar 2, 2011)

Congress wants bike-ped shrunk in TIGER

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:13:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Congress has ordered USDOT to give less money to bike and ped projects in the next TIGER grants. Those only got a tiny slice of previous grants, though many road projects included sidewalks. (Trans. Issues Daily.)

Comment

It's TIGER time again (Nov 3, 2011)
DC strikes out on TIGER II (Oct 20, 2010)
Mobility, and livability, is about more than roads and cars (Jul 7, 2011)
TIGER funds bus corridors, not K Street or bike sharing (Feb 17, 2010)
Will bike sharing get a boost from TIGER II? (Aug 24, 2010)

And...

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:57:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Ray LaHood's #2, Roy Kienitz, will leave USDOT (Streetsblog) ... Prince George's has ths 5th highest gang membership in the country. (Examiner) ... It takes more than a supermarket transform a food desert into a healthy community. (WAMU)

Comment

Prince George's TOD is big business opportunity (Feb 14, 2011)
On the calendar: Happy hours, festivals, and a bike race/scavenger hunt (Aug 16, 2010)
LaHood? (Dec 18, 2008)
Will tax incentives make food deserts bloom? (Dec 4, 2009)
LaHood asks for 18-month extension of four-year-old transportation law (Jun 17, 2009)

Deal makes Silver Line to Dulles likely

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:57:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Both Virginia and USDOT have agreed to chip in for the Silver Line's phase 2 to Dulles and Loudoun. Tolls will rise to about $4 on the Toll Road, but not as much as feared. (Post, Examiner)

Comment

Dulles rail decision from a backroom deal? (Jan 30, 2008)
Rail to Dulles, Loudoun has a silver lining (Sep 23, 2010)
Which of these things is not like the others? (Jun 16, 2008)
Dulles needs an express rail line (Oct 9, 2009)
Finally: an express bus from Leesburg to Tysons (Jun 3, 2010)

It's TIGER time again

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:33:00 EDT

by Dan Malouff

Each of the past three years the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to local governments, as part of a program called TIGER. Each year the Metropolitan Washington Transportation Planning Board (TPB) puts together an application on behalf of the DC region.

Photo by Paul Li on Flickr.

This year, TPB is submitting an application for $24 million that would go towards improving bicycle and pedestrian access to rail stations.

TIGER grants are extremely competitive nationally. The money can be used for almost anything related to transportation, so thousands of applications are submitted every year. USDOT funds the projects it deems most worthy, based on an extensive set of evaluation criteria.

If TPB's submission is funded, the money would go to completing the following projects:

Project	Description
Fort Totten street improvements	Rebuild 1st Place NE and Galloway Road NE in DC to make them more pedestrian friendly.
Forest Glen over/underpass and bikesharing	Construct a grade-separated pedestrian/bicyclist crossing of Georgia Avenue, and establish 10 Capital Bikeshare stations in the Forest Glen neighborhood.
New Carrollton street improvements	Sidewalk and crossing improvements at multiple locations around New Carrollton station, in anticipation of future TOD.
Twinbrook street improvements	Sidewalk and crossing improvements at multiple locations around Twinbrook station, in anticipation of future TOD.
West Hyattsville sidewalks and bike station	Improve sidewalks around West Hyattsville station, and construct a full-service bicycle station similar to the one at Union Station.
Pentagon City cycle track and bikesharing	Reconstruct Army Navy Drive to be a complete street, including a two-way cycle track, and add 10 Capital Bikeshare stations to Columbia Pike.
VRE bike parking	Add 35 secure bike lockers with capacity for 70 bikes at a total of 8 VRE stations located outside the Beltway.

Two years ago, during the initial round of TIGER allocations, TPB successfully won a grant for about $60 million worth of bus priority improvements. Last year they requested money for a massive expansion of Capital Bikeshare, but unfortunately did not receive funding. Hopefully the region will be successful again this year.

Cross-posted at BeyondDC.

9 comments

TIGER III to come this summer (Apr 21, 2011)
Will bike sharing get a boost from TIGER II? (Aug 24, 2010)
TIGER funds bus corridors, not K Street or bike sharing (Feb 17, 2010)
DC strikes out on TIGER II (Oct 20, 2010)
Regional plan recommends regional bike sharing but disjointed bus improvements (Jul 13, 2009)

Congressman wants to ease streetcar rules

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 08:12:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), streetcars' biggest friend in Congress, recognizes that federal rules are especially burdensome to streetcar projects. Could he be thinking of the 11th Street bridge? (City Paper)

Comment

Streetcar tracks deleted from 11th Street Bridge (for now) (Oct 6, 2011)
Gorge yourself on streetcars (May 5, 2010)
Blumenauer strikes back (Feb 10, 2009)
Then and Now: Streetcar turnaround to neighborhood park (Apr 12, 2010)
Did the FTA have leeway on the 11th Street bridge? (Oct 11, 2011)

Did the FTA have leeway on the 11th Street bridge?

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:45:00 EDT

by David Alpert

FTA administrator Peter Rogoff and his PR team are disputing Thursday's story on streetcar tracks on the 11th Street bridge. In that article, I wrote, "The question here is whether FTA had to make the decision they did, or had leeway." It's become even more clear that that indeed is the fundamental question.

Photo by DDOTDC on Flickr.

In an op-ed on the Washington Post's All Opinions are Local, Rogoff makes two main points. First, he says that by federal law, FTA had to stop the tracks once they learned about the issue. And second, echoing the statement his communications team put out on Friday, he says FTA gave DDOT several options for including tracks by redoing or modifying environmental reviews.

The second point is mostly irrelevant; DDOT was too far along in the bridge project to reopen the environmental reviews by the time that happened in July of this year. But the first point is indeed the key question. Rogoff says FTA had no leeway. So far, all of the transportation professionals I have spoken with argue that they did.

The options FTA gave DDOT

Let's start with the 2nd claim, that FTA gave DDOT plenty of options in July. The 3 options, according to Brian Farber, Associate Administrator from the Office of Communications and Congressional Affairs, were:

To reopen the FHWA EIS document and evaluate streetcar for the bridge.
To conduct an expedited FTA EA and evaluate streetcar on the bridge.
To extend the northern terminus of the current Historic Anacostia FTA EA to include the 11th Street bridge, and evaluate streetcar from the Anacostia Metro station to the western terminus of the bridge.

In this July 28 letter, DDOT Director Terry Bellamy tells FTA that they've decided to take the tracks off the project, as a result of a meeting a month earlier where USDOT officials "stated that because streetcar infrastructure was not included in the record of decision for [the EIS], it could not be included as part of the bridge construction."

However, this is all happening while the bridge has long been under construction. Work began in December 2009. According to several people familiar with the bridge project, DDOT at this point faced two unpleasant choices: pull the tracks off the bridge, or start an environmental process that could take years.

Besides the extensive public participation process that would have been required, the bridge EIS had drawn a lawsuit for the way it added cross-river vehicular capacity while claiming it didn't. Personally, I agreed with the opponents and think DDOT made a mistake doing the bridge this way. Adding the "missing link" may well draw vehicle trips through the region off the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and into DC.

But that's water under the bridge, as it were, and now that the bridge is half built, it doesn't seem wise of DDOT to reopen all those cans of worms. I'm skeptical it would best "save taxpayer monies in the long run" to delay work while a long EIS occurs, and potentially incur huge penalties from the contractor if the EIS takes very long, as it likely would.

People familiar with the discussions (including additional people beyond those I spoke to for the original story) confirm the basic truth of what I reported. Unfortunately, everyone is very reluctant to be quoted publicly. Transportation professionals will inevitably have to work with federal agencies. They don't want to raise the ire of FTA and imperil other projects.

Did FTA have leeway?

All of the options FTA offered involved not putting the tracks on the bridge until after further environmental review. If FTA really felt they had absolutely no choice, then what they did was best. They stopped DDOT as they had to, but they gave DDOT various (unpalatable) alternatives.

But did they have to? I spoke to several transportation professionals who feel FTA could have let the tracks go forward, or at least let DC finish them with local dollars. Commenter Will P (who is familiar with the situation) agreed, writing:

DC had the ability and planned to pay for the rails on the bridge with local money. What FTA is saying is that if DC chose to put in the rails on the Bridge before their mandated studies, they would then be disqualified from getting federal dollars for segments that would connect to the Bridge.

I've asked FTA's media relations folks to further explain the issue from FTA's standpoint, but they aren't experts on federal law, either, and haven't yet gotten back to me with specifics.

This is an unusual situation because the key decision point is coming not during the early design phases or during bidding, but after the project has long been underway. According to people familiar with the process, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) had signed off on project documents which did include the streetcars. These include early construction documents and also "Plans, Specifications & Estimates" (PS&E) reports.

Here's the core of the timeline, as best as I can understand it from talking to numerous people:

DDOT completed an EIS for the bridge that included "accommodation" of transit but was vague about what transit exactly would be included. The EIS won an award from FHWA for its public process.
DDOT prepared to build the project with mostly local dollars. They decided to include tracks to save money in the future on the streetcar network.
DDOT switched to use mostly federal money on the project. They were working with FHWA. The construction documents and intermediate PS&Es signed off on by FHWA included the tracks.
At some point, when DDOT asked to switch the type of tracks to comply with Buy America, people at FHWA realized they should involve FTA and talked to FTA about the tracks.
FTA judged that the tracks hadn't gone through proper process. FHWA then told DDOT they couldn't do the tracks without more review.
FTA suggested 3 options for DDOT to get approval for the tracks, which would have required longer process that could have delayed the entire project and cost more money.
In July, DDOT decided not to pursue those and finish the project without the tracks.

In step 3, DDOT officials apparently believed that they had the necessary federal approvals to go ahead with tracks, since FHWA had signed off on documents. Maybe DDOT should have realized they should go talk to FTA. Maybe they were hoping nobody would notice so they didn't have to. Or maybe they honestly thought everything was fine.

Clearly, if DDOT had gone through some more process years ago, we would all be better off today. DDOT officials admit they probably screwed up, in hindsight. But federal processes are very complex. A agency can go extremely slowly and make absolutely sure they cross every t and dot every i (and still maybe make mistakes), or they can try to move faster and do the best they can. DDOT, from at least Dan Tangherlini through Gabe Klein, was trying to move fast and get a lot done. Somewhere along the way (though before Gabe Klein took over), this happened.

But in June, whatever happened before, we were faced with this situation: One federal agency had been telling DDOT they could go ahead; now another stepped in and said no. Maybe federal law is so unambiguous that the tracks can't possibly go forward, even if FHWA had approved them for months, even with local money, that FTA officials had absolutely no choice. But was it?

Could they have said, "That's too bad, this one got by. Hey, FHWA, please try to keep an eye out for stuff like this in the future, and DDOT, we're going to ask you to be a little more careful next time. Okay? Let's just do the tracks anyway and we'll all try to do better."

Or, could they have said, "We're sorry, we really don't think that it's legal to use federal money for the tracks, but if you want to use some local money, we'll let this be a 'nonparticipating' part of the project."

That's the question. Rogoff's letter suggests these two options were not available to FTA. Other transportation professionals say they were. This question defines the issue of whether FTA "put up a roadblock" in July, or just acted as they must.

Update: In the Post piece, Rogoff also adds another option, placing removable blocks on the bridge that can be changed to tracks in the future. Rogoff's piece says DDOT declined to pursue any options, including the removable blocks, but DDOT spokesperson John Lisle says the removable blocks are indeed what DDOT is doing as part of making the bridge "streetcar ready."

21 comments

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