It hasn't exactly been hot for the last few days, but the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission wants to remind you that the dog days of summer will soon be upon us, and with them, a number of Code Red air quality days that will prompt the agency to provide free rides on Northern Virginia bus routes. So on Wednesday, April 30, all bus routes in Northern Virginia, including Metrobus, Arlington Transit, Fairfax Connector, Loudoun County......

We're always interested in new ideas and policies playing out in other major cities around the world, and this morning The New York Times reports on a fascinating experiment in public transit planning going on in Mexico City. Buses and trains in that other Distrito Federal are apparently awash in frotteurs, and complaints by women of incessant random groping and rubbing on the city's public transit system have led to the establishment of women-only buses.......

The Post is reporting that in an 8-2 vote, Metro's finance committee has approved a series of fare hikes at their full meeting today. The plan they approved was the one recently offered by Maryland members of the board, which is less expensive for suburban customers who park and ride. The vote basically guarantees that the full board will approve the fare hikes later today. Here's how the new fares will break down: >> The......

Last week's comment section was full of goodness (and a technical glitch, sorry). From schools to traffic to illegal second timeouts, there was plenty to go around. The comment of the week comes from G Lover Park (who also narrowly missed the coveted best username of the week award). G Lover had a brilliant theory: Yet more evidence of vast Supermarket Industrial Complex, more casually referred to as the Perishable Triangle. The major brands get......

If you're heading out of the office to hop on the Green line at this very moment, may we suggest a bus? An unidentified man was struck by a train at 4:40 p.m. at the Fort Totten station and Metro put out the word to expect major delays. From WMATA: (Green line) trains are single-tracking through the area, taking turns headed in both directions between West Hyattsville and Georgia Ave-Petworth Metrorail stations. Shuttle buses have......

On Sunday the Post ran a big story on the future of SmarTrip cards containing some good news for DCist commenters who have long complained that the problem with SmarTrip is that you can't use them and take advantage of any of Metro's special discount passes. WMATA has announced that by the end of 2008, SmarTrip technology will allow customers to realize the benefits of its special passes like the 7-Day Fast Pass, Montgomery County's......

I actually saw this photo last night on Intangible Arts' blog, as he described walking home after his bus became stuck in traffic due to the shooting we mentioned earlier at 13th Street and Columbia Road last night. The short series of images he accumulated as he strolled through the neighborhood after a short rain, wondering about the police activity but noting the continuing, leftover holiday silence, is a classic entry in the book......

The guitarist for the pop-punk band Hawthorne Heights passed away before the group's show at the 9:30 Club over the weekend. Casey Calvert, 25, was found dead on the band's tour bus at around 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, parked outside the venue in Northwest D.C. A cause of death has yet to be determined, but Calvert's bandmates have been quick to defend against speculation that drugs were involved. They posted the following message to their......

We missed this when it happened a couple of weeks ago, but is it really ever too late to point and laugh at New Yorkers? We didn't think so. So, people are probably aware that Five Guys franchises are proliferating across the Eastern U.S. like nuclear weapons in central Asia. The greasy, peanut-laden fingers of our locally born burger stand have spread as far as Delafield, Wisconsin; Nashville, Tennessee; and Miami, Florida. They've even broken......

Thanks to the holiday, What's That You Say?, our roundup of the best comments, is a day late. But keep your comments coming, and don't forget to register if you haven't. You may already be a winner of the not-really-prestigious weekly avatar and username contests! Comment of the Week: jen209 on D.C. being named only the 8th gayest city in the country: So maybe we ARE the gayest, it's just that all of our gays......

Fox5 reported on Sunday that a member of their staff, Gwen Tolbart, was injured in a collision between her car and a Metrobus on Saturday night on her way home. Tolbart was thankfully not seriously hurt, but the bus driver, Harvey Carey of Lanham, has now been charged with failing to stay in the proper lane, which resulted in the accident. Fishbowl DC has posted an email from Tolbart in which she describes the experience,......

WMATA has put out a release to remind everyone that the first in a series of six planned public hearings on the proposed Metro fare hike is tonight. All six hearings start at 7 p.m., with open-houses beginning at 6:30 p.m. before each one. Tonight's hearing is in Reston, at the Bechtel Conference Center, which is at 1801 Alexander Bell Drive. To get there, take the Orange line to the West Falls Church station, and......

WMATA has announced that the Huntington and Eisenhower Avenue Metrorail stations will closed this weekend due to major track work, so there will be no Metrorail service between those two stations and the King Street station. Beginning Friday at 9 p.m. and going through the Veteran's Day holiday to midnight on Monday, Yellow line trains will be running to Franconia-Springfield via King Street. Shuttle bus service will operate between Huntington and King Street, with a......

Mark your calendars: WMATA put out a release earlier today announcing the dates of a series of six public meetings at which you can voice your opinions about the proposed Metro fare hikes, which would go into effect in January. The full set of proposed increases is here, but the basics include raising the base fare of Metrorail from $1.35 to $1.65, keep bus fares the same as long as you use SmarTrip cards (add......

WTOP's Adam Tuss is the first to the gate with news of Metro's Board of Directors having agreed today to a fare hike proposal to put forward to the public. Here's the details: >> Peak Metrorail base fares would increase 30 cents, from $1.35 to $1.65 >> Off-peak rail service would remain at $1.35 >> The maximum rail fare would jump 80 cents, to $4.70 >> If you use SmarTrip, bus fares will remain......

Good morning, Washington. It looks like California's still on fire, and likely to remain so. Most versions of the aforelinked AP story include the phrase "firefighters all but concede defeat," and the Post is calling the resulting evacuation the largest in modern history. It all sounds pretty grim. Good luck, West Coast. Yet More Stadium Parking Controversy: The Post reports on the latest in a seemingly neverending series of deliberations over parking at the......

Editors Note: We enjoyed the tour diaries J. Tom Hnatow wrote for us as part of These United States' last tour, so we asked him if he wouldn't mind doing it again as the band embark on their first ever intercontinental tour of the UK and Europe. He graciously agreed. Look for his dispatches from the road abroad over the next few weeks. Tuesday, October 16, 2007 We walk (and walk and walk) from Baker......

Many of you have already visited the "Solar Village" since it opened its gates last Friday on the National Mall. Last weekend the long lines literally wrapped around each house entered into the 2007 Solar Decathlon, with people eager to get a tour from the students, alumni and faculty from each university competitor. The ten competitions have been judged all week, from Architecture last week to Engineering today, with individual winners announced for each leg......

Some people love kids. Some people feel differently. Kids provide unconditional love, but they can also make any flight or train ride interminable. They have great imaginations and can be funny and sweet, but they can also ask the same question 80 times, just because they want to. But whether you're a kid person or not, it's hard to argue with their ability to say complete nonsense. Maybe the non sequiturs match up with whatever......

Any D.C. resident with a laptop who regularly makes a trip to New York or Philadelphia on Amtrak has probably longed for wireless internet access on their journeys. On Monday, Amtrak announced it has installed wireless internet, but just in their stations. Sadly it's not awesome, free internet, but regular old T-Mobile Hot Spots, which costs money. The hot spots will be available at Union Station, Baltimore Penn Station, Wilmington Station in Delaware, Philadelphia......

Written by DCist Contributer Josh Kramer The Eagle – American University: >>AU students lamented losing their Hollywood Video this week, which is holding a giant closing sale and selling all of its movies. It's unclear what will become of the space, conveniently located next to the AU shuttle bus stop and the Tenleytown-AU Metro station. >>Sgt. Zachary Tellier, a 1998 AU graduate, was killed by enemy fire while fighting in Afghanistan on the 29th of......

We told you long ago, in 2005 that is, that the District planned to roll out 788 new bus shelters as part of a $150 million deal with Clear Channel Outdoor. The shelters are finally starting to slowly creep across the city. On 8th Street between Capitol Hill proper and H Street NE, at least four shelters have been ripped out and are in the process of being replaced with the fancy new digs.......

Good morning, Washington. We have to admit it — we have a soft spot for cheerleader-related crime. And this is a good one: the AP (via WTOP) reports on the case of Anna Lois Miles, a cheerleading coach who is charged with holding an illegal gambling event to raise money to... wait for it... repay bail money she borrowed from the parents of a girl she coached after being arrested for writing bad checks!......

Sometimes we note that there aren't many portraits in the DCist pool, but today we find ourselves overwhelmed by some fantastic people-centric shots taken over the weekend. The grainy black and white gives even more depth to this image of a tough guy waiting for the Chinatown bus, by Flickr user digital_don (check out his photostream for his other great street portraits). EXIF. Some close runners up included hashing Wonder Woman, block party balloon......

Ahh, rise and shine, Washington! It's another beautiful fall day, so stretch and breathe in deep ... but not too deep, unless you enjoy inhaling some of the worst air in the nation. Scientists are putting numbers on information our lungs already knew: the D.C. area "produces more carbon dioxide than several medium-size European countries," the Post reports. This is due primarily to Maryland's coal-burning power plants and our stand-still traffic, we make more carbon......

>> There's a new webcam available showing the progress of Monument Realty's Half Street project, which includes the expansion of the Navy Yard Metro station. [Near Southeast DC Redevelopment] >> Georgetown student pleads not guilty in hate crime investigation. [WJLA/AP] >> Members of the Metro board representing D.C. are pushing for higher parking fees at suburban stations in order to avoid increasing bus fares. [Examiner] >> A bunch of streets will be closed this......

Compiled by DCist Contributors Josh Kramer and Sarah Stonesifer The Eagle - American: >> AU is fine-tuning their free HIV testing program to accommodate students' schedules. They've also switched from an anonymous testing program to a confidential one. The changes aim to bring the school in line with the District government's HIV testing initiative. >> The American University bus drivers were approved by the Undergraduate Senate to have their own union, a debate that had......

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week. Indie: Into the Wild Annandale native Chris McCandless had just graduated from Emory University in 1990 when he donated his substantial life's savings to charity and set out on the road under the name of "Alexander Supertramp." His highly publicized disappearance ended two years later when his body was found in the Alaskan wilderness, and the......

Good morning, Washington. It's almost October, but in many ways it still seems like summer. For one thing, it'll be ninety degrees today. For another, there's news of Michael Vick's worsening legal situation. Yesterday Virginia indicted him and three others on dogfighting charges. Of course, we all knew that was coming sooner or later — less expected was word that a Canadian bank is suing Vick for defaulting on a $2.3 million loan. Potential......

Bad news today for riders who use the 32 Metro bus routes that take part in the NextBus tracking system. Or, good news for those who are tired of the system giving out bunk information. WMATA plans to suspend the notification service by late October for up to 18 months, saying it's not accurate enough to expand as-is to the other 306 system routes, reports the Post. The program, which uses a GPS system to......