April 20, 2006
Transit on Earth Day: Every Line is the Green Line
Over the next several decades, the D.C. metro area is expected to grow by 2 million new residents and add 1.6 million new jobs. How we decide to develop our transportation network to accommodate this growth will have a major impact on the region, shaping the urban landscape and quality of life. But transportation can also lead to some of the biggest environmental problems in and around the District. Air and water pollution, suburban sprawl, and global warming are all directly linked to transportation. For this week’s Transit on Thursday, DCist spoke with some of the area’s best and greenest to figure out how the District can move forward with efficient, cost-effective, and green solutions.
With one of the most extensive and well used transit systems in the country, transportation trends in the District are relatively green compared to many other cities. According to the 2000 census, 33 percent of District residents take transit to work, 30 percent carpool, 12 percent walk and 2 percent bike. Only 38 percent drove alone. This does not account for Virginia and Maryland commuters, but almost 10 percent of residents in the greater Baltimore-Washington area take transit to work – fourth among major metro areas. It isn’t just about commuters though. The District should strive to make car-free mobility an option for everyone. The District itself is making progress on greening its transportation system, but much more must still be done in the city and especially in the region.
A few serious issues loom above the rest, such as finding a dedicated source of funding for Metro and settling on some version of the Purple Line. But these critical projects are contentious and require major negotiations between the District, Virginia, and Maryland. Here we focus on projects that can increase car-free mobility in the region a year from now rather than a decade from now. This is not a complete list, but it is intended to show what is possible. Without further ado, and in no particular order:
H St. Streetcars – While several Ward 8 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions have expressed opposition a proposed streetcar line in Anacostia, their neighbors in Wards 6 and 7 would love to put them on their street instead. The ANCs along Benning Road and H Street NE unanimously petitioned for a street car line last year, and the wheels are turning to make it happen. The cars would have priority at traffic lights and are less expensive and faster to build than light rail. With a new arts center and other redevelopment in the neighborhood, population is expected to grow. This line will help reduce auto traffic while connecting Ward 7 with Downtown.
Bring Rapid Bus Transit to Georgia Avenue – From Silver Spring to Downtown, Georgia Avenue is one of the busiest corridors is D.C. It is underserved by reliable Metrobuses, which induces traffic and lots of drive time air pollution. However, a proposal on the table suggests upgrading several routes to bus rapid transit. The routes would have limited, centralized stops, traffic signal priority, and real time schedule information. While current proposal would end at Archives, some have suggested extending it as far south as Minnesota Avenue.
Do Tysons Rail “Right” – As the rail link to Dulles gains momentum, bringing transit to Tysons Corner must remain a priority. Current development plans for Tysons Corner include the creation of a high-density community that is pedestrian-friendly and integrated with Metrorail. However, this could all be scuttled if certain key features are eliminated to trim costs. For instance, the elimination of a pedestrian bridge would force commuters to walk across 16 lanes of Beltway traffic, making the option much less appealing.
Improve Walkability – It is no secret that walking in D.C. can be a pretty harrowing experience. Making sure people feel safe while walking is an important first step to getting them out of their cars. To make this happen, the District hired a full time pedestrian coordinator last May. On his watch, the city has installed more countdown signals, stepped up enforcement of jaywalking and speeding, and a kicked off a pedestrian and driver education campaign. But many District roads still resemble wide speedways, encouraging fast and aggressive driving. Roads and intersections with high pedestrian traffic should be re-engineered to calm traffic and reduce speeds.
Complete the Metro Branch Trail – The Metropolitan Branch Trail is an 8-mile bike and walking trail proposed to run from Silver Spring to Union Station. The mostly-finished route provides direct access to seven Red Line stations as well as connect the D.C.’s trail network to the Capital Crescent Trail. But a section of the trail near New York Avenue has sat unfinished for years. With bike commuting levels at an all-time high, completing this trail would allow even more commuters to safely bike into the city.
Take Metro Over the Wilson Bridge – The two inner lanes of the new Wilson Bridge are designed for some sort of transit, but it has not yet been decided which kind. Under the deal that funded the bridge, options could include Metro, light rail or dedicated bus lanes (HOV lanes have also been proposed, but we don’t consider them transit). Some have suggested that connecting a Yellow Line stop with the District after running through the new Harbor Development and Oxon Hill would be a perfect first link in the Purple Line. But as we noted the other day, the certain options seem to fall short of this task. And if the final choice turns out to be inadequate, it will be hard to go back and fix.
Dump Dirty Diesel Buses – Metrobus ridership is at record levels, but most of these buses are still spewing that black diesel smoke. While the District has committed to cleaning up its bus fleet, last April the Metro Board stopped purchasing natural gas buses in favor of regular diesel buses and hybrid diesel buses. There is still debate about the benefits of natural gas vs. hybrid buses, but if the District wants to seriously address its air quality problems, the conventional diesels should be retired.
Plan for the Future – Honestly, after being quite practical for seven items, we are a little sick of it. How about some vision? There are a few things the District could do to help usher in a new era of technology. What if the District installed metered electrical outlets curbside for plug-in hybrid cars? How about running Metro on 100% clean, renewable energy? Maybe we could even try London-style congestion pricing… New York is considering it, and we don’t want to let them out do us, do we?
Special thanks to the following groups for their assistance:
Coalition for Smarter Growth
DC Environmental Network
Sierra Club DC Chapter
Washington Area Bike Association
Washington Regional Network
District Dept. of Transportation
WMATA
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Do the other -ist blogs obssess so endlessly and dully on transportation and gentrification? I mean I know dcist and its readers are constantly trying to prove their uber-smartiness and uber-name-any-cred-ness, but jezz kids......zzzzzzzzz
I actually think this shows a lot of vision. Considering today's earlier post about yesterday being the fourth highest day in Metro ridership, we'd better start a LOT of attention to system improvements. Personally, I don't want to be leaving comments a year from now about how uncomfortable and obsolete Metro is, and what a terrible pain in the ass it is to use the system (I suffer through them too much already). The orig post shows a lot of solid and practical forethought that we can actually use.
DC plan for the future? Not likely, unless you're talking about planning for the next election. I fear for the small number of good ideas generated in the last years of the Williams administration that will go down the pipes as soon as a new administration takes control.
Also, while part of Benning Road is in Ward 7, I don't think H St. goes that far east.
Well, the green-line just got greener too! The Yellow line just got approval to be extended to Fort Totten...that means you will be able to catch the yello line at U Street, Columbia Heights, and Petworth!!!
Wait, 16 lanes? Is that right? What road is sixteen lanes wide? Or do you mean they have to cross two 8 lane roads?
Also, that "100% clean and renewable" Metro idea is a little misleading. The NY plan is only for the electricity used by the station itself, not the trains, which I would guess uses way more energy than the stations. which makes the "100%" number not very accurate.
I also think we shouldn't get mixed up between what's good for transit and what's good for the environment. They may both end up in the same spot, but I'd rather use better transit options to reduce pollution, rather than take current transit options and make them less polluting. For instance, I'd rather see one new metro stop than make five current metro stops solar powered.
Jesse - thanks for pointing out the boundary of Ward 7. The streetcar line will run west of the ward boundary. Reid - your last point is a good one. There is a limited pool of money to pay for these projects. Those that provide the largest benefit (including enviro, traffic, convenience, etc.) should get priority. All about balance.
2 questions....
1. the road people would have to walk across out at tysons...that isn't the beltway, i know that (you can't walk across an interstate highway). is it route 7 or 123?
2. isn't the H street streetcar plan light rail? correct me if i'm wrong, but don't you mean it's cheaper than heavy rail (which current metro lines are)?
It's 123. And everyone is so right that if they dropped the bridge, it wouldn't even be close to worth it.
> Do the other -ist blogs obssess so endlessly and dully on transportation and gentrification? Some of us find these topics interesting. If you don't, skip these posts. If you're reading things you consider dull that is your problem, not DCist's.
> isn't the H street streetcar plan light rail? Streetcars are like lighter light rail. Sometimes the terms are used interchangeably and sometimes they’re not. “Light rail” came into usage when some cities started running express streetcars in dedicated rights-of-way as a form of cheaper rapid transit. But if you build your light rail on the street with less extensive stations, then it becomes a streetcar again (and becomes much less expensive).
I'm a huge proponent of streetcars, but there's one thing I'm not entirely sure of: putting aside the capital costs of setting up a line, which costs more to operate, a bus line or a street car line?
I ask this because I foresee (well, wish for, at least) a whole lot more streetcar lines going around the city, replacing some of the heavier used bus lines, and getting to places nowhere near a metro (e.g., I think a streetcar line going out on McCarthur, replacing the D6, would be great and would cut down on traffic coming from DC to DC). But if the city would never recoup the setup costs through lower operating costs, then it makes it a harder case to make.
This joins Reid's comment. I wonder what extra training goes along with adding a street car? I would imagine none right? In San Franisco when a breakdown occurs everyone gets off and the driver waits for the mechanics. This brings me tomy breakdown point. I have a feeling that a bus is a bit more durable than a street care. Am I wrong?
> which costs more to operate, a bus line or a street car line? For low ridership routes buses cost less, but as ridership increases trains become more affordable, eventually tipping the scales and becoming more efficient. Also energy costs should be considered. Gas prices have nowhere to go but up, therefore operating costs for buses will rise accordingly. A catenary-powered train isn’t as vulnerable to such issues. Furthermore, effect on land use should be taken into consideration. Trains spur redevelopment where buses do not, so the city’s tax base is likely to be improved far more with a train. That ought to be factored in.
"Furthermore, effect on land use should be taken into consideration. Trains spur redevelopment where buses do not, so the city’s tax base is likely to be improved far more with a train. That ought to be factored in."
See, and that's why I really think a McArthur Blvd. street car line would be great. That neighborhood has a lot of potential to develop into a lesser-Conn. Ave. Sure it's got ridiculously expensive homes, but also a lot of affordable higher-density options. As of right now, the shopping and restaurants there are not that remarkable, but with easier access via a streetcar, it could shape up to be a trendy up-and-comer. Plus it could be a good option for people looking for a small town feel, while still staying within the District (and thus still contributing to the city's finances).
I don't know, maybe I'm totally wrong. But I always thought that that road had so much potential.
Work on the Met Branch trail has already begun north of New York Avenue:
http://washcycle.typepad.com/home/2006/04/metropolitan_br.html
But the real problems are in Silver Spring
http://home.comcast.net/~phyilla1/sstrails/mbt.html
Macarthur Blvd and any number of other streets inside the beltway that were originally developed along streetcar lines would be great places for trains.
But it comes down to priorities, you know? Anacostia got picked because of politics and the big push to redevelop the river area. H Street is next because they're already tearing up the street anyway, plus is will be the first leg of the line that eventually serves K Street and Georgetown, which is much needed. The Georgia Avenue line would serve the most transit-dependent parts of the city. Then there are places like Wisconsin Avenue that could really become second Connecticuts.
Macarthur is a natural corridor for streetcars, but short of a major multi-line commitment like Denver’s FasTracks (http://www.rtd-denver.com/fastracks/index.html), it’ll have to wait a number of years.
No, I hear you. Wisconsin Ave. would benefit hugely from a streetcar line and should be considered before smaller routes (although I think they are thinking BRT for Wisconsin, unfortunately) Hopefuly the Anacostia and H St. lines will be successes and thus will spur others.
The MacArthur idea was just more of a pipe dream I guess.
BeyondDC, while I think politics played a role, Anacostia was mainly chosen because the Blue Plains rail line was being abandoned (after 9/11) so the District could build a line without having to run it on streets or gather up a bunch of land.
But VC, in the end the city decided to use local streets, not the CSX lines. At least, that's last how I heard:
http://dctransitfuture.com/demos/anacostia/
However, politics probably weren't that important, considering that there's not exactly a public upswell in support of it.
There's frustratingly little information available about the project. So they could have switched by to the CSX lines, but I haven't seen anything about that in the Post.
The Anacostia line has pretty low projected ridership. I believe it was chosen because it would be cheap to construct and as a gesture to the poorer neighborhoods east of the river: Look here, we're building your line FIRST this time instead of last, like with the Metro.
The region should also charge cars tolls on all highways and bridges, and implement market-priced parking. Corridors like 18th St. in Adams Morgan should become car-free at certain times (e.g. Friday & Saturday nights). The $1.25 and $1.35 base transit fares on Metro should be reduced; DC should consider implementing a fareless zone downtown like Seattle and Portland have done.