Transit on Thursday Friday: Sharing and Caring Edition

This Town Ain't Big Enough For the Both of Us. Is It?
Where ever you come down on the issue of giving public parking to Zipcar and Flexcar, it is clear that D.C. loves it some carsharing! Our city has one of the highest rates of carsharing usage in the country, and we are one of only two cities that support more than one carsharing company. Both have large expansions and investment planned.

Zipcar announced a $25 million investment that will allow it to possibly double the 350 vehicles it already puts on area streets. In June, Zipcar's rival, District-based Flexcar, announced a major investment by a company started by AOL co-founder Steve Case.

As the Post points out, this makes Washington a kind of urban laboratory to see exactly how effective carsharing really is at cutting down on traffic and pollution, and whether there is any truth to claims that each shared car is the equivalent of 18 to 22 private cars on the road. The question is, is this town big enough for two growing carsharing companies?

UnFairfax Use
It wasn't so long ago that Fairfax County employees were caught traipsing around the metro area to run up the mileage on their government -issue cars to justify their use to the powers-that-be. Now it turns out that these same employees have also been stealing gasoline and diesel fuel - lots of it. The Post reports that auditors have found evidence that hundreds if not thousands of gallons have been stolen by employees using a generic access code at county fuel pumps to fill up their personal cars and lawnmowers, and even heat their homes.

It's unclear exactly how much might have been stolen, but since the county made is harder to use the generic code, fuel use has dropped considerably. However, if we know those wily Fairfaxians, we are sure they'll find some other way to embezzle taxpayer money before very long.

Who Listens to Big Brother Anyway?
Is it law enforcement, or is it fund raising? Hated as photo enforcement of traffic laws may be, D.C. continues to rely on cameras to both punish speeders and line its municipal pockets. The Examiner reports that more than $2 million in fines was collected in October alone. Since the photo radar program was launched in July 2001, 2.1 million tickets have been given and 1.6 million paid, generating $121.4 million in collected fines.

That's a pretty healthy revenue stream for the city, but one that continues to infuriate auto groups such as AAA, which claim there is no evidence that cameras cut down on speeding. Numbers seems to contradict that; according to the MPD, speeding has declined substantially since 2001, when the cameras were put in place. While we know that really only means speeding in front of cameras has declined, at this point, anyone caught by the city's 10 well known cameras kinda deserves the ticket. And after all, they are speeding, which remains illegal whether or not its photographed.

Suburban Transitland
Both Virginia and Maryland forged ahead with transit plans this week. Maryland dedicated a new $75 million transit center in Silver Spring, which will be a one-stop shop for Metrorail, Metrobus, Ride-On, and MARC when it is completed in 2010. Many in the Maryland suburbs also see the transit center a step down the road towards the Purple Line, a planned but controversial transit link between Bethesda and New Carrollton.

In Virginia, Governor Tim Kaine regrouped after his transportation proposals went down in flames in the General Assembly last year. On an all-day tour of the state's roads, buses, and rails, Kaine pledged to continue his campaign for more transit funding in the future. We're glad to see the Governor's support for smart transportation continues, however, we're not sure money to pay for his wish list is going to be any more forthcoming this time around. Maybe he's planning on using that extra $1.2 million from Virginia's new tollbooth cameras?