Transit on Thursday: Dark Harbor Edition

Alexandria Harbors Transit Hope
Of the many projects proposed and under construction in and around D.C., the National Harbor is among the most fascinating. The $2-billion development, planned for south of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, is slated to include condos, shopping, office space, restaurants and entertainment options, and six hotels, including the 2,000-room Gaylord Hotel, complete with a massive convention center.

We've wondered aloud before whether this complex is terribly well suited to the city, especially looking at the transportation situation. Though Metro has identified National Harbor as a possible end station for a streetcar or rapid bus line running from Mount Vernon Square, so far little progress has been made on any of the city's planned streetcars, outside of Anacostia (which also might lead to National Harbor). With transportation planners predicting that as many as 10,000 cars will traffic through the area each day when it is complete, local officials and neighbors are already sweating. Though over $500 million in road improvements are planned for the area, the fact remains that National Harbor will add a significant amount of traffic to a road network that is already pushed to the breaking point.

Across the river, however, Alexandria might be seeing the light on the transit issue. The city, which will have a prime view of the Harbor development from its location along the Potomac, has been wringing its own municipal hands over the prospect of thousands of cars crossing the river for a bit of Old Town charm. Some view the National Harbor as a huge opportunity, and want to bring tourists and conventioneers over in droves to shop and eat at A-Town's many local establishments. Others are worried that the project will draw away from the crowds that currently fuel much of Old Town's economy. What everyone agrees on is that there is the potential for a traffic nightmare.

To push back against this possibility, along with plans for a water taxi, the city budgeted $200,000 next year to run shuttles to National Harbor and between the Alexandria waterfront and King Street Metro station, with stops in between. Originally, the plan was to beef up service on the city’s current free weekend shuttle, DASH About, running along King Street every 10-12 minutes. However, the city is now considering trolleys instead, due to their maneuverability on the town's narrow streets. The drawback to the shorter trolleys is that they fewer people, depriving the city of transit capacity that it might not be able to spare.

Many transportation experts say that people are more likely to take transit if it stands out from standard bus service, preferring the novelty and upscale-ness of streetcars or trolleys to buses. If the city is serious about dealing with the traffic it currently has, and the traffic it is likely to see, along with reducing local global warming pollution, perhaps planners should consider the merits of a light rail or a true streetcar service, with dedicated lanes and signal priority. And if the region at large is serious about mitigating the extra congestion that National Harbor will create, they'd do well to follow the same advice, and start planning some serious transit service upgrades.

You Can Go Your Own Way, D.C.
Driving to work alone could qualify as the unofficial pastime of most U.S. cities. And according to recent nationwide Census data, more people are taking up this unlikely hobby. Despite rising gas prices, about 77 percent of American commuters choose to go solo to work rather than carpool or take transit, up slightly from 2000.

Our humble metro region, however, has refused to follow the crowd over the last five years, with slightly more people driving together or commuting on transit. The D.C.-metro area has always been among the top five transit-happy regions in the country, sharing the honors with places like the New York, San Francisco, and Chicago areas. This most recent round of numbers keeps D.C. in third place nationwide with 13.2 percent of the population taking transit to work. We fall behind New York-New Jersey, with 29.8 percent transit usage, and San Francisco-Oakland, with 13.7 percent. Other metropolitan regions that made a running are Chicago metro, at 10.8 percent, Boston-Cambridge, at 10.7, Philadelphia-South Jersey-Wilmington, 8.8, and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, at 6.9 percent.

Anyone think it's coincidental that the top transit riding cities also have the best transit systems set up? If you build it...

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Weekend Service Disruptions on Orange, Blue, Yellow and Green Lines
Track maintenance and rail car testing on the Orange, Blue, Yellow and Green lines this weekend will cause delays as trains share one track.

Orange Line Track Maintenance
Riders traveling on the Orange Line between the Cheverly and New Carrollton should add up to 20 minutes of travel time for trips because of track maintenance. Inbound and outbound trains between these locations will share one track from 7 a.m., to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. To help expedite rail service into downtown D.C., every other Orange Line train will terminate at Cheverly and return to Vienna.

Blue and Yellow Line Track Maintenance
Riders traveling on the Blue and Yellow Lines between National Airport and Braddock Road stations should add up to 20 minutes of travel time for trips because of track maintenance. Inbound and outbound trains between these locations will share one track from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., on Saturday.

Green Line Rail Car Testing
Riders traveling on the Green Line should add up to 10 to15 minutes of travel time for their trips because of railcar testing. Inbound and outbound trains operating between Greenbelt and College Park will share one track while new trains are tested from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Saturday.