Transit on Tuesday

A Free Market Solution to Area Traffic
The big news in transit this week is yesterday's Post article concerning the construction and expansion of express toll lanes on congested area highways. Under the scheme, private firms would own and operate the lanes, whose tolls would fluctuate based on demand. More traffic, higher toll; a traffic solution for those willing to pay for it, or so goes the logic. Both Maryland and Virginia are planning on implementing the idea, and so far they have eyed I-270, I-95, I-395, and I-495 for the new lanes.

So is this a novel approach to handling the region's notorious traffic, or a shameless sellout to private firms that believe that there is nothing the free market can't solve? Are Maryland and Virginia simply abandoning their responsibilities to build and maintain public goods, or are they allowing someone else to step in and try to do it better? Is this the future of the country's highways? How will area commuters receive the idea?

Leave us your thoughts in the comments section.

The Awkward Feeling That You're About to be Fired
We've all had that feeling of foreboding at one point or another -- that sense that you've screwed up one too many times at work, the dread that the higher-ups are just bound to call you in to their offices and feed you a line about how you just don't seem to want to be "part of the team." The big difference between when it happens to us normal folk and when it happens to, say, WMATA chief Richard White is that our impending dismissal isn't page one material for an important local newspaper.

It was just last Friday that the Post published news that members of WMATA's Board of Directors were none-too-happy with White's troubled nine-year tenure, and were exploring the option of pink-slipping him altogether. As written by the Post:

A majority of Metro board members have become disillusioned with the performance of the agency's top executive, Richard A. White, and have begun closed-door discussions about how to remove him from the job, according to several sources familiar with the talks. The sources spoke on the condition that they not be identified because the conversations took place in a closed session. It is unclear when the board will vote on the matter, but the sources said there was widespread agreement that White should leave. The remaining issues concerned severance pay and other logistics, they said.

Beyond the substance of the whether or not White should be fired, DCist wonders this -- how awkward must it be to come to work after the area's newspaper of record all but spelled out that you're not going to be around much longer?

More on Metro's Trash Cans
By now, WMATA has placed the majority of the 300 new bomb-proof trash cans in Metrorail stations throughout the area. These hulking masses of garbage disposal don't just contain deadly explosions; they look damn imposing too. But how do they work?

According to an article published in the Express yesterday, the majority of the trash cans are lined with BlastWrap, described as a "blast-dampening material [made] out of volcanic glass, sealed in food-packaging plastic." Produced by Florida-based BlastGard International (who diplomatically call themselves "blast mitigation specialists"), trash cans lined with the material can withstand the force from a 12-pound explosive, eight times what normal bomb-resistant cans can handle. As noted by the article:

The effect is dramatic, as seen on slow-motion videos provided by BlastGard. A trash can with a large charge and no BlastWrap is engulfed in a gigantic fireball that lasts a fifth of a second. If the can is lined with BlastWrap, the fireball is much smaller, and lasts just 4 milliseconds, fifty times shorter than the undampened blast.

Smaller, shorter fireballs are always a good thing for DCist. Now if only Metro can address concerns that bomb-proof trash cans have a tendency to direct the force of an explosion upwards, thus threatening the structural integrity of stations, we might be able to commute with ease once again.

An Update on the RAC
It's been awhile since we mentioned the Riders Advisory Council, WMATA's new 21-person comment and critique club. Last we checked, applications for the council (which will have 18 members divided between the District, Maryland, and Virginia; two at-large members; and one member to represent the disabled) had been gathered and were being considered by a Metro Council of Elders (not their official title, but it does have a certain ring to it). Fast forward to now, and we've been hearing that the council's members have been selected, contacted, and will be voted on by WMATA's Board of Directors this week. Once we get their names, addresses, places of employment, and relevant gossip and unfounded rumors, we'll present them to you.

Picture snapped by birdcage.