Man Stops Traffic at 17th and K to Demand $200 Million
Morning Roundup: Goodbye, Abe Edition
Judge Throws Out WTU Suit Over Teacher Layoffs
Vegetate to Close at the End of the Month
Morning Roundup: Rain Won't Go Away Edition
The Examiner yesterday brought us the unfortunate news that Ward 1 D.C. Council member Jim Graham is putting a temporary kibosh on the long-planned first phase of DDOT's streetcar plans. The first stage of the plan - noted as "Anacostia Phase 1" on the map to your right - would link Bolling Air Force Base to Anacostia Metro station. The line's a vital part of the District's long-term plans to connect the majority of Southeast to the rest of the city.
But Graham, whose concerns about the streetcar line "run pretty much the gamut from A to Z,” is calling for the Council to put off approving $11 million for the construction of the line, which would come out of funds already appropriated for the 11th Street Bridge project. As local development blog BeyondDC asks, "why now?":
It’s hard to tell whether Graham is stalling because he doesn’t understand the benefits of streetcars in general or only has questions about the Anacostia line specifically. It’s possible he has no objections and just wants to look democratic by holding a public meeting. We don’t know, but in any event, getting streetcars up and running is the single most important issue in District transportation planning...DDOT spokesperson Karyn Le Blanc noted that DDOT had been "anticipating beginning work in the fall" on the Anacostia line, and that the construction was projected to take about 18 months to complete - but for now, that's on hold pending the outcome of Graham's planned July 14 public hearing.
This isn't the first time the project's experienced delays - back in December 2006, it was thought that a plan involving the old CSX rail would be operational by the fall of 2007; obviously, that didn't happen.
Map taken from National Capital Planning Commission's approval of the first Anacostia streetcar segment. PDF.
Add It to Your List of Must See Tickers: When you're in a pinch, it can really help you out - checking the rail alerts at the top of the Metro home page is the least you can do to keep informed before heading out the door. But why just limit it to Metrorail? Why, indeed - Metro announced on Monday that they would begin to list major Metrobus delays in a similar fashion. In a scrolling ticker at the top of the page, bus delays caused by "police activity, emergency road closures, excessive vehicular traffic, inclement weather, public demonstrations or Metrorail station closures" would be detailed. Until NextBus gets off the ground again, it might be the next best thing.
Our Long Lost Wish to Go to Prom an a Metrobus, Barely Alive: Remember back a couple of months ago, when we told you how Metro was going to lose the ability to shuttle people to and from big venues like FedEx Field and Wolf Trap, due to a change in federal rules? The Examiner follows up with more on the complications arising from the change. The revised regulations will increase the number of private carriers seeking to access already crowded Metro bus bay facilities, which will increase Metro's costs by forcing them to provide bus supervisors to direct traffic around buses and purchase liability insurance. Those extra costs are leading Metro's Board of Directors to decide Thursday whether or not to double the rate that it charges for its charter services, in the few cases when it may still be able to provide them, to cover the difference -- a move that would only increase the likelihood that cheaper private charter companies will proliferate, thus putting more strain on Metro, and so on.
Engines and Cabooses: 14th Street and H Street Bridges to face temporary lane closures during evenings this week... We always like these little Forbes lists that WTOP features - this week, Forbes claims that D.C. is the number one city in the nation that "could dramatically reduce their gas usage"... Public hearing on hiking/biking trail running parallel to the ICC scheduled for July 10... High-tech Shirlington bus transfer station now open.
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BeyondDC has already answered your question on Jim Graham....
Wow, WMATA is really pulling out all the stops on this private carrier regulation, although I am sure that most of it consists of "talking points" from whatever association lobbies for public bus services.
Metro does not need to provide "bus bays" to charter bus companies who will provide service to FedEx field, etc. In fact, using existing bus bays which are designed to handle normal Metro-to-bus transfers make no sense when dealing with large crowds all arriving at once (like before a Redskins game). Instead, Metro can require the private operators to set up temporary loading areas (which will be more efficient) in the parking lots or somewhere else.
As for the idea that Metro employees are going to direct traffic at stations, that is purely laughable.
Finally, in earlier articles on this issue, Metro admitted that it doesn't make any money on charter services, so the loss of revenue isn't going to affect any other of Metro's core services.
check this, it looks like nextbus will be coming back (at least somewhat) by june 2009, according to wmata press folk. we'll see...
Grahamzilla strikes again. I wonder which of his pet lobbies influenced him on this one.
MetroBus delays? Will the D6 be permanently listed?
Oh wait...I guess they won't be listing those buses delayed "for no apparent reason."
I think trolleys and street cars cause more traffic. Ever been to San Fran? They are useful to tourist only, and take a long time to get you from point A to point B. I'm glad Graham is asking these questions. If anything we need a new brown line that goes from south capital to north capital, and a purple line that links them all.
Buses work better and are cheaper than trolleys.
...but I don't want SE connected to the rest of the city...
Actually commuters do use the trolley cars ...
Buses work better and are cheaper than trolleys.
Wrong. Busses break down more often. Streetcars are more reliable. And streetcars, because of their greater reliability and more consistent schedule, have 30-50% more ridership.
Yeah, they cost money. But factor that in over the life of the streetcar (decades versus years), and you end up spending less money in the long run on streetcars. Busses are flexible, but streetcars work best on highly traffiked main corridors.
@MeNino.. actually, despite being more expensive initially, they are actually cheaper to operate per passenger mile... so they are actually cheaper.
Plus they run in traffic just like a bus, so they do not cause more traffic, if anything, they take traffic off the road.
A lot of commuters take them.. just like they take the bus and the train. If done properly with light timing and dedicated lanes, these can be pretty efficient (not as much as heavy rail, but much better than buses).. which will in turn cause more people to take them, which will get more single occupancy vehicles off the road, which will make traffic all that much better (even with the potential loss of a lane)
not to mention building rail signals some permanent investment in a neighborhood. Building a bus stop does not. Permanent investment raises property values.. which increases the tax base, etc. etc. Look at just about any research and you'll see that there is crazy amount of return on investment on streetcars.
Shame on Ward 1 residents if they don't kick Graham out of office come election time.
How exactly does Jim Graham continue to get re-elected?
MeNino I think you're confusing cable cars with trolleys (aka streetcars).
Philadelphia has refurbished 1940's street cars along Girard Avenue, and it's worked quite well to revitalize Fairmont area and connect one side of the city to the center (not unlike what the 30's use to do)
Plus, they add a much welcome sense of style and created excellent public art opportunities along Girard.
I don't understand what Graham's reluctance is. Has he even ever set foot east of the river? I never see him there.
Hillman - Graham keeps getting re-elected because he never met a problem that more government couldn't "solve." His constiuency whines about noisy clubs or drivers on cellphones or someone, somewhere hurting themselves, and he jumps into action. The guy's got more pander in him that the freaking Beijing zoo.
That, and he's earned his lobbyist kneepads. The hard way.
And by "hard" I mean "hanging in a semi-flaccid arc."
That ticker on the top of WMATA Web site is pretty annoying since you have to wait through the lengthy announcements. Much better to look at the service disruption page. I'm not sure why WMATA likes the ticker so much.
"His constiuency whines about noisy clubs or drivers on cellphones or someone, somewhere hurting themselves, and he jumps into action. "
But surely to Sweet Baby Jesus his entire ward can't be filled with sycophantic losers, can it?
Unless nobody rides it, light rail reduces traffic. Even in petro-centric Houston with its amazing number of light rail crashes, (25 times the national average), it has been successful enough that they are abandoning BRT and expanding light rail.
As to your "buses work better than trolleys" statement, it depends on what you mean by "better." If you mean cheaper to build and operate, you're right. If you mean moving more people more rapidly, you're wrong. Providing enough buses to carry the same number of people as light rail will put more traffic on the streets than light rail, as rail cars typically carry more people than buses.
Oh the irony: DC spends the early 1960s tearing up streetcar tracks to make more room for cars and now we're fighting over where to run streetcars.
I think I'm going to the bathroom now so that when I so laugh so hard I pee it will make less of a mess.
I prefer airtrams. Way cooler than buses or streetcars. Plus you can spit on people below. And then hope they don't shoot at you.
Agreeing with Staton Park. The SF cable cars are purely a tourist attraction. But MUNI's buses and street cars, however, do get you places.
let me guess—this july 14th hearing (which is a monday) is going to be in the middle of the day when none of us will be able to get to it and testify.
and by testify, i mean go and scream at grahamzilla and tell him that he's a bow-tie-wearing, beetle-driving schmuck.
"If you mean cheaper to build and operate, you're right."
As many have already pointed out, buses are not cheaper to operate, particularly with the cost of gas now. Plus, besides just breaking down more than streetcars, buses cost more in labor since one bus driver can drive only a fraction of the people that one streetcar driver can drive. And you'd probably be shocked at how high the average salary of bus/train drivers is (plus benefits and retirement, etc.).
And that's not even taking into account the increase in real estate tax revenue that occurs along streetcar corridors. Once they finally get their asses in gear and lay tracks down H St., the tax revenue from that area will start pouring in like cats and dogs.
But surely to Sweet Baby Jesus his entire ward can't be filled with sycophantic losers, can it?
Doesn't have to be. All he needs is enough drooling mental defectives to pull a voting lever. No shortage there. They're lined up at Thaiphoon or Thai Tanic or Thai My Pecker to My Leg or wherethef**kever trendy hiptards loiter about now.
Streetcars aren't "high concept" enough. Where's the ski lift gondolas, moving sidewalks, and Flaming Gaylord Poop Chutes?
Hey, monkeyerotica: busses are kisses. If you weren't riding streetcars, then maybe you'd get to the library on time.
Go to West Philadelphia. Seriously: It's just a $12 bus ride away. Go up there and see what streetcars do to roads, to neighborhoods, to the skyline, to traffic flow, to people's sense of community. If a track is broken, NO STREETCAR CAN RUN. NONE. NONE. If a road is destroyed, there are four, five, six alternate routes buses can take. This is not complicated to see which is a better option for reliable transit.
Build separate lanes for buses. Give buses priority at traffic lights. Re-route buses away from the busiest thoroughfares. Don't ruin entire neighborhoods with quixotic plans for streetcars.
am i the only one who chuckles when they read "brown line"?
That's interesting, fun (do you mind if I call you fun?) - I used to live in West Philly, and I never had any problem with the streetcars. You make it sound like they are single handedly responsible for the decline of western civilization.
Two points:
(1) SEPTA is a disaster, and its streetcar lines are exceptionally poorly maintained. Examples of modern streetcars/light rail (I'm thinking in particular Houston and Portland) show how phenomenally successful the investment can be.
(2) Although I prefer the spelling buses, busses is a perfectly accessible alternate spelling.
And by accessible, I mean acceptable.
@Stanton Park
actually, according to your linked article, Houstonians are 2.5 times more likely to be in a light rail crash, not 25. Kind of a big difference.
People who wouldn't consider taking the buss will take a streetcar. Since it's a fixed route with no possibility of detours, you can't get lost. If you miss your stop, you just stay on the streetcar and it'll take you back.
Also, it's a much smoother ride, which matters a LOT when you're drunk and someone's going down on you.
monkeyrotica—come for the insightful comments, stay for the wink>insightful comments/wink>
Can't we just build monorails...come on if it's good enough for Disney should be good enough for DC. They wouldn't take up an lanes of traffic, would not have to stop at traffic lights etc...