Results tagged “commuting”

This Friday, May 15 is the annual national Bike to Work Day (not to be confused with D.C.'s local Car Free DC Day, which happens in September). The Washington Area Bicyclist Association is once again taking the lead in organizing this year's event locally, and they're asking those of you who plan to participate to pre-register before showing up at the relevant "pit stop" on Friday morning. Registration is free, and allows the organizers to make sure each "pit stop" has enough supplies on hand to handle the crowds. Each "pit stop" will offer free breakfast and entertainment, plus the chance to win bicycles and other prizes. Registration also makes you eligible to receive a free T-shirt (the first 7,000 registrants who show up to their pit stops will get the shirts).

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.

The Examiner reports on a new bill before the D.C. Council that would levy a $25 per month tax on all private employee parking spaces. The legislation is the brainchild of Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham and At-large member Phil Mendelson, and is designed to discourage employees from driving in to work even though they have access to a parking space at their office.