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The amount of miles logged by Maryland, Virginia, and District drivers fell sharply in May, contributing to a national drop of more than 9.6 billion miles, the third largest slide in the country's history. The decrease saw local drivers notching between 1.7 and 4.2 percent fewer turns of the odometer. So, you might ask, what's this got to do with Metro?
Well, lots. The conclusions that we can draw from this drop are many - first, the painfully obvious: the increasing cost of gasoline is causing drivers to eliminate some usage of their automobiles from their daily lives. This, taken in itself, is not a terrible thing. It's obvious, too, that the drop in mileage is likely helping to raise ridership on public transportation. Again, it seems all well and good. But if we go a bit further, we can draw more meaningful conclusions - and just like a hole in the ground, the further you dig, the messier it gets.
Photo by Bullneck.
First, the issue of highway and transportation funding. It's quite a volatile time for funding debates, what with Virginia's legislature seemingly in an unending stalemate and that wily Tom Coburn running around derailing every piece of funding legislation in sight. The news that people are driving less means that there's fewer funds coming in through gasoline taxes - consequently, the primary source for funding everything transportation is drying up. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters notes that the 2009 Federal Highway Trust Fund is currently running at a $3.1 billion deficit, even though highways get inordinately more funds than transit ever has. As this trend continues, funding for light rail, streetcars, and bus transit might become even more strained than normal, as governments struggle to find alternate funding sources for suddenly cash-poor highway system.
Additionally, it's notable that many of the trips that people are cutting out of their lives now are not commutes to and from work, but short trips. Let's use Virginia as an example. Virginians aren't using their gas allocations for trips to the movies, the grocery store, and the beach. Instead, a majority of Virginians are using their gas to commute in and out of work every day. (Consider that currently, only 415 Federal employees take advantage of telecommuting options provided to them). Conceivably, Metro could get some (if not most) of those people to work, enabling them to use gas for everyday errands. Instead, what happens is that at the same time that funding goes down, rush hour congestion stays at the same. The balance is shifting in a awkward direction, leaving transit technically "underused," and roads experiencing high volumes with little resources to maintain them properly.
So, what are the options? Of course, one solution is responsible personal gas usage - but what about publicizing auto-independent communities? Perhaps individual jurisdictions should take a cue from Loudoun County and attempt to find localized funding for transportation projects.
What do you think could be done to solve this oncoming problem? Let's hear it in the comments.
Metro To Get Even Greener: One of mass transit's greatest selling points is that it's far more environmentally sound than driving to work - hence, Metro's endorsement of National Dump The Pump Day back in June. So it follows suit that Metro's board would approve a resolution last Thursday to ensure that all new and rehabilitated facilities will be LEED certified. There's no word on what level of certification that agency is aiming for, but it's a good start none the less. Metro's got a pretty good track record for being environmentally-friendly, but it's nice to see that they want to continue that trend into future infrastructure development.
Engines and Cabooses: New Variable Speed Limit program starts tonight on a portion of the Beltway - the Post explains how it works... The bridge that connects the Clara Barton Highway Parkway to the Beltway will be closing for construction next Monday - it won't reopen until the fall... The escalators at Foggy Bottom on Monday were quite the mess... Metro contracted as part of FTA program to develop an emergency transit management system... Bus fare increases proposed in Prince William County.
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As gas prices have exceeded $4 a gallon, Tolson is among a growing number of government and private-sector employees turning to telework centers, usually government-funded spaces that offer the perks of an office, including copy machines and water coolers, much closer to home.
That 415 figure involves users of telework centers. I'd wager the numbers of Feds who telework parttime from home are MUCH higher.
I like the implied zippiness of the picture. It would be more accurate to show people stacked like cordwood, sweating like whores in church, waiting while the door opens and closes for the fifth time.
Raise the damn gas tax! Highways are underfunded by about 50% (the tax only pays for about half of highway capital improvements and maintenance), and it gets worse every year because the tax isn't indexed to inflation.
Oh people, just get on a bike and ride already! They are doing it in Europe and we can do it here too. Instead of being fat, lazy lard butts sitting behind SUVs as we are now, we could be sleek, thin, and environmentally efficient. I have friends who live in Europe and they think nothing of doing a 40-mile round trip to see friends in another city/town.
I smell bike fight! I wager 200 quatloos on ward4resident.
monkeyrotica: It was a Blue Line train -- hence the lack of cordwood-stacked folks. That type of lovely ride is reserved for Orange Line schlubs like me :(
we need more biking infrastructure, ward4resident, for that to be viable here. i don't disagree with you, though. more biking=better thing.
Federal employees technically have telework options available but individual agencies or offices may not allow it. An agency I used to work for had a telework policy but no one was actually allowed to telecommute.
You want better biking infrastructure? Ban parking on streets named after States, letters, or numbers.
Problem solved.
um, how exactly would i bike from DC to Reston? i think IMGoph just answered my question.
GhettoBurbs: Raising the gas tax isn't the simple solution. By doing so, you're further increasing the cost of fuel per gallon. With people driving less and less these days because of the higher cost of fuel, simply raising the tax could further reduce the number of cars on the road.
They should've raised the gas tax when the average cost per gallon was around $1.00 at the end of the 1990's.
If the government wants to increase the number of cars on the road (again), in this consumer atmosphere, they need to work on strengthening the dollar. If the dollar was stronger, the cost per barrel will drop, and that will trickle down to the cost of gas, which will increase the number of people willing to pay for gas.
and i'm not just talking about bike lanes or paths, when i talk about infrastructure. i'm talking about the things you need to actually make the whole trip work from beginning to end. showers at your destiination, bike parking, etc.
McGillicuddy - Didn't you read ward4resident's post? Europeans think nothing of going on 40-mile bike rides. That's why they smell like B.O., wide-open ass, and Drakkar Noir.
McGillicuddy: Take the Custis Trail out to the W&OD, which runs by Reston.
maybe they should turn the right lane on 66 into a bike only lane.
I'd love to see an article about the extraordinary profits that gas companies are reeling in, while consumers are paying the taxes to maintain roads, and extraordinarily high gas prices. BP just announced their profits for this quarter at $9.558 billion (up from $7 and change a year ago).
Seems bizarre that BP can reel in an extra 2B a quarter, but we can't afford to increase bus and train access and use.
And this is why I bike.
yeah right. i really want to quadruple my commuting time and then have to take a shower in an athlete's foot ridden public shower. i'll stick to driving, but thanks!
McGillicuddy: From DC to Reston by bicycle you'd take the W&OD trail. I used to work with a guy who did that, but we had showers in our building. Actually, I knew people who did that at two different jobs in Reston. Ahhh, tech jobs.
Stanton Park:
Thanks, it should be correct now.
Oh people, just get on a bike and ride already! They are doing it in Europe and we can do it here too. Instead of being fat, lazy lard butts sitting behind SUVs as we are now, we could be sleek, thin, and environmentally efficient. I have friends who live in Europe and they think nothing of doing a 40-mile round trip to see friends in another city/town.
Do they really have two and a half hours to burn each way doing a visit to a friend's house? Or do you mean 20 kilometers? Because that's much less knee-busting.
'course, boomhauer, if it's on the weekend, maybe you have that time to burn
OK, militant bikers, I have a question. I read d.'s lengthy Design Concept Plan for the Metropolitan Branch Trail, which would connect Union Station with Silver Spring. I am trying to remember when I have seen such an extensive, expensive brochure on any other 11-mile transportation project. Here is an actual excerpt from the Design Concept Plan:
It then goes on to list 11 more signs that may be commonly used along the Metropolitan Branch Trail. (I think less detail went into 103 miles of MetroRail.)So my question is: Why do we need public art, a design sketchbook, a logo and crap like that? Why can't d. take that money and use it pour concrete or lay blacktop to actually build the trail? I mean, we know the route. How come we're looking at shiny, colorful planning books instead of shiny, colorful viaduct carrying the trail over Rhode Island Avenue?
@ McGillicutty: Biking from DC to Reston and back is probably the ONLY easy exurb commute in the area, the W&OD trail is pretty scenic and smooth all the way. I used to bike that all the time. You can stop for a drink in Falls Church and pedal on. Every place except Reston is the hard part, for example all those morons living in Bristol Va. = screwed.
I don't want to get hit by a garbage truck.
stanton park: come to the next met branch trail meeting (once we're out of the summertime, they'll be held at big bear cafe, i'll post about it here when i find out about the next one). if only it were as easy as throwing down pavement...
McGillicuddy: You probably won't lose much time. It's about an hour by bike from Reston in. I can't imagine that, to drive the morning rush hour, a car would be much faster.
I was commuting six miles within the district at one point -- 7:30 depart meant more than an hour of driving, an 8:00 depart was late for work time.
That six miles is about 40 minutes biking. Much faster, cheaper, and I don't need to go to the gym after.
If you're driving as a status symbol or other identity-mark, admit it. No need to pretend that it's faster or more efficient, especially for rush hour commuting. It's not.
Yes, sometimes I get to work sweaty. I suppose I'm lucky I can shower there. But a ten minute shower's a ten minute shower at home or at work.
Stanton:
You didn't factor in those awesome, totally persuasive "reasons to bike" signs, either. Because buying them instead of building more, safer bike lanes is clearly the best use of our cash.
my (reverse) commute by car is 35 minutes, 45 on a bad day. i enjoy hugging the curves of 66 and the toll road and being amused at how many bad drivers there are out there. i can race people if i'm feeling a little feisty, listen to the radio, drink my coffee, make phone calls...it's a heavenly experience really.
give it up, sweaty hippies. i'll reserve my bike for recreational use only.
Reston is at mile marker 18 and that’s from the starting point in Shirlington. An hour ride estimate is really pushing it.
"So my question is: Why do we need public art..."
Required by law. Any federally funded project has to use 0.5% (iirc) on art.
There are a lot of other silly requirements.. and actually, streamlining transportation project approval really should be a priority of the next administration. It takes 10+ years and millions of dollars just to get to design phase these days. I'm not saying don't do EIS and public involvement.. but there's got to be another way of doing it without the amount of effort that's currently expended.
"Reston is at mile marker 18 and that’s from the starting point in Shirlington. An hour ride estimate is really pushing it."
Indeed it is. I'm all for bike commuting, but I don't think I'd be biking in from Reston.
Luckily I don't live in Reston.
STANTON PARK- I'm with ya! It's just a bike trail!
tomaloisi: yep, it's just a bike trail—that they're trying to build on land that's owned by the feds, the district, wmata, pepco, and private land holders. you get all of them at the table at once, get them to come to a mutually agreeable plan to make it all work, and then show us what you come up with.
if you can pull that off, you can be mayor. i promise.
I love how a post, completely devoid of the word biking, turns into a biking thread in the comments.
Hey, it's Transit on Tuesday. Bikes are a form of transit. They go together like "Chinese deliverymen" and "postmenopausal women."
Malapropist:
Sorry. My bad.
For serious, how to solve the congestion problem:
Continuously variable tolling. The charge for driving a mile of road fluctuates constantly based on congestion at the time. Thus you pay more for driving at peak periods, less for driving at 3 a.m. Many people who thought they "couldn't" take advantage of flex-time will suddenly find themselves able to. It's also going to encourage people to run errands off-peak. Something like 30% of all trips during rush hour are NOT trips to work - they're side trips to the grocery store, the dry cleaners, etc.
"But think of the poor!" the cry goes up. Fact is, most low-income people either don't drive, or drive at off-peak hours. Jobs like cleaning offices, retail, and restaurants are not 9-5. The people on the roads at rush hour are disproportionately middle-income and above.
CVT thus solves the congestion problem equitably AND funds transit. But people don't like tolls or the gobmint putting GPS on their cars, so it won't happen in the near term...
I'm sure more than half the bitching about tolls is the time it takes rather than the money. It's more inconvenient time-wise. Not everyone has a SmarTag, just like everyone on Metro doesn't have a SmarTrip card.
As for the 495 corridor, that speed limit program is highly suspect and no one will ever really go 30 mph on the Beltway...WTF?!!?! Although they state Troopers will help make everyone go the speed limit and they will have signs flashing alternat routes. Which means during a posted 30 mph zone we will be stuck in traffic for the fuckheads who have to stop and look at Mr. Piggy issuing a ticket and can't read the message boards and drive at the same time. They could have payed me $100k to tell them this isn't going to work and they would have $2.9M left over to spend on something else.