Posts about Valerie Ervin

MoCo politicos resents gerrymandering: Council Pres. Valerie Ervin accuses fellow Maryland Democrats of gerrymandering Congressional districts. The proposal, she says, marginalizes black voters, who "were taken for granted once again." (Examiner) (Comment)

Transit

Montgomery councilmembers: Get moving on bus priority

by David Alpert • April 22, 2011 1:19 pm

Four members of the Montgomery County Council asked county officials to stop dragging their feet on bus priority, and implement or at least evaluate some fixes as soon as possible.

Photo by icantcu on Flickr.

In a recent letter, they praise the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT)'s work on Ride On, but criticize its unwillingness to pursue bus priority in the short term.

They ask MCDOT to work with state officials and WMATA to find high priority intersections ripe for signal priority or queue jumper lanes that would help buses avoid delays in traffic.

WMATA has been promoting ideas around bus priority for a number of years now. Quite simply, buses spend a fair amount of time in traffic, and that time costs a lot of money. Some of the growth in operating costs comes from more time in traffic. If buses can move more efficiently, it saves on costs and also improves the bus ride for everyone.

Traditional traffic engineering measures intersections and roads based on numbers of vehicles. If changing a signal timing would let more vehicles traverse the intersection, classic traffic engineering says make the change. But we really should be counting people. If one bus has 50 people and a change would help it move faster than 20 cars, giving the bus priority is the right move.

Montgomery County's DOT, notoriously one of the least progressive in the region, has been resistant to this thinking. When activists suggested a few intersections for signal timing, signal priority, or queue jumper lanes, MCDOT pooh-poohed them all but didn't suggest any alternatives of their own.

At a recent county council hearing on transit, MCDOT officials said that any of these fixes would "have to wait" until the county implements a comprehensive Bus Rapid Transit system, like the one being pushed by Councilmember Marc Elrich.

The council disagrees. In a letter to MCDOT and WMATA officials, councilmembers Hans Riemer and Nancy Floreen (at-large), council president Valerie Ervin (district 5, Silver Spring/Takoma Park), and Transportation, Energy, Infrastructure & Environment committee chair Roger Berliner (district 1, Bethesda/Potomac/Chevy Chase) asked MCDOT in effect to get off its butt and start doing something.

They ask MCDOT, Maryland State Highway Administration, and WMATA to generate a list of the highest priority intersections for bus priority fixes, to evaluate the possibility of changes, release that information publicly in a way that residents can review, and to generate a policy to guide such changes.

Kudos to the council for stepping up on this issue. Montgomery County is often one of the most progressive counties on many policies, but its transportation officials need some prodding to pursue solutions beyond just focusing on moving cars. They should take this letter to heart and get their staff, and the buses, moving.

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Tags: bus priority, buses, Hans Riemer, Maryland, Montgomery, Nancy Floreen, Roger Berliner, Valerie Ervin, WMATA

Ervin supports the bag fee: Montgomery Council President Valerie Ervin has taken a stand on the 5¢ bag fee proposal for the county: she's for it. (Post) (Comment)

Ervin flip-flops on bridge: Montgomery Councilmember Valerie Ervin has reversed her position and now supports a million-dollar bridge to connect a parking garage to the new, over-budget Silver Spring library. Residents rightly worry the bridge will decrease street activity. (TBD) (Comment)

Bicycling

Breakfast links: Montgomery County extravaganza

by David Alpert • October 8, 2008 9:15 am

Photo by M.V. Jantzen on Flickr.

SmartBike in MoCo? Councilmember Valerie Ervin (Silver Spring) is suggesting a SmartBike system for Montgomery County, with stations "in the downtowns of high-density area such as Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Wheaton and Bethesda." How about making it compatible with DC's, so someone could one day pick up a bike in Bethesda, ride to Friendship Heights or Tenleytown to do some shopping, and bike home? (Gazette)

21st Century solutions, amen: Montgomery County shouldn't be transforming intersections into huge flyovers, Anne Ambler of Wheaton (and a board member of the Montgomery County Sierra Club) argues in a letter in the Gazette. Instead, Maryland should spend its scarce resources to "reduce the traffic going through by providing alternatives that, incidentally, would help to reduce greenhouse gases as well."

Road diet Catch-22: Rockville officials want to give Darnestown Road a "road diet", reports the Gazette. DOT officials won't ban trucks because it's an arterial, and have to designate it an arterial because of truck traffic. "'I read that book, it's called "Catch-22,"' Mayor Susan R. Hoffmann joked during Monday's meeting." Planners are considering a broader "complete streets" policy for Rockville.

Disappointment and a little hope: Burtonsville's downtown revitalization plan is very modest, with few pedestrian improvements; the NOAA building planned for College Park appears entirely auto-centric; without the Army, Springfield's best hope is transforming its mall.

Meanwhile, in DC: DC will now recycle more stuff, including plastic bags, mike and juice cartons, and almost anything plastic; teens are overrunning Gallery Place; and the former Post executive editor admits that Washington isn't so bad (the good stuff about the actual city is on page 2).

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