Results tagged “automobiles>”

All our sympathies go to the SWDCBlogger's roommate who was intentionally struck by a driver while riding late last Friday night on 14th Street SW near Constitution Avenue. Witnesses to the incident picked up the driver's tags, so the hope is that justice will catch up with that automomaniac. Anyone else who was hanging around the Mall after 1 a.m. and saw the incident should get in contact with the blog's author.

You may have read Eric Weiss's story in Sunday's Washington Post, which described the District's attempts to improve pedestrian safety and encourage walking and mass transit use as a "war against workers who drive into the city." There's not much more to say about it that David Alpert and Ryan Avent haven't already said. This sums it up nicely (from Avent):

Essentially, Eric Weiss went around the suburbs asking folks to bitch about the District’s efforts to make the District a better place for people who live and pay taxes in the District

What we found especially irritating was how washingtonpost.com packaged the story with two online polls, one asking District residents whether they "agree with the city's plan to discourage people from driving into the District", and the other asking suburban residents the same thing. If you look at the results, you'll see that a majority on both sides think the city is doing the right thing, even though perhaps predictably, suburban respondents were less enthusiastic than city dwellers. A WaPo commenter did our work for us:

I applaud your coverage of the regional transportation issues. Re-examining our choices in light of current resource presures and climate risks is increasingly important. However, as you report, please be careful not to "make the news" by framing issues from one side or the other? For example, the poll associated with this article asks "Do you agree with the city's plan to discourage people from driving into the District?" I suspect the response would be different if it read "Do you agree with the city's plan to improve air quality and pedestrian safety, and provide safe routes to school?"

We've added our own poll below.

Over at the Examiner, Scott McCabe points us to the rage of L'Enfant Cafe co-owner Christopher Lynch, who was reportedly arrested and jailed for several hours last week after being caught riding an unregistered scooter. After hearing similar stories from a friend and a pizza delivery driver who works nearby, McCabe posted a rant on the door to his restaurant, decrying the mixed up priorities of the MPD, who in his view are aggressively targeting scooter riders while more serious violent crimes in the Adams Morgan neigborhood remain unsolved.

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. I got a kick out of New York’s reaction to a report released back in April, showing that carbon emissions in the city had increased by about 8 percent since 1997. The news stories were alarmist and the leaders angry, promising to do whatever it took to reverse the trend and reduce emissions within 25 years. Admirable sentiments, but it made me...

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. I asked in a post last week that developers not go out of their way to accomodate cars and that residents not go out of their way to drive. Reasonable propositions. Still, as a number of commenters noted, you can't suggest something along those lines and then expect Washingtonians to be heroes, throwing knapsacks over their shoulders as they head off on...

Jagshemash! Borat is a hit. It's grossing millions and definitely the most quotable thing we've seen in ages. But Borat himself seems to have missed most of the -ist cities, and we were all wondering how the film would have been different if he'd made his way around the world on the -ist tour. In Shanghai, Borat would be observing Inane Learnings of Penis Photos for Make Benefit Glorious Flat World of Handmade Toy...

If there is one thing that the U.S. can learn from Europe, it's how to best balance urban living, transportation needs, and environmental consciousness. If there is one car that can best make that point, it's the Smart Car.

Yes, it's Friday. And yes, this column is most often featured on Tuesdays or Thursdays. What can we say? It's been a slow week in transit-related news. Our numerous sources scouring the city for scoops on planes, trains, and automobiles were held up in the perfect storm of Red Line delays, heavy traffic, and 15-minute waits at distant metrorail stations. Trust us -- the folks over at WMATA will be hearing about this. The...