There have been a lot of interesting, local ideas about the future of public transportation in the D.C. metro area floating around the internet this week, so Transit on Thursday has gathered them all up for your perusal.
As a starting point, Dr. Gridlock (Robert Thomson) of the Washington Post posted a very detailed map that outlines the next big forays in D.C. area transit – streetcars and bus rapid transit, or BRT. Of course, you really have to project for these ideas, as the implementation of these routes and services probably wouldn’t be set until the year 2030, according to DDOT. Instant gratification aside, his map neatly shows off how the area could enhance its cross-city routes (you know, like that L’Enfant dude wanted). Personally, not having to change lines or wait for an unreliable bus to go from Woodley Park to Shaw to Eastern Market and back again would be pretty nice. How about being able to sweep north on 16th Street during rush hour – that would be pretty useful. Of course, the really exciting part is that experimentation with these transit options are not far off – there have already been BRT studies commissioned in Prince William County, and new streetcars will begin construction in Anacostia this summer.
But there are plenty of other ideas not being supplied by DDOT. For instance, BeyondDC, one of our favorite sources for developmental features, put up it’s own vision of the future of D.C. area mass transit, following a long line of other potential plans put forth at Greater Greater Washington, amongst other web sites. Touted as a “transit vision,” there’s a significant discourse on the reasoning behind the plan – notably that “Like pre-industrial medicine focusing on bloodletting, highway engineering is junk science.” The vision really picked up steam when a dialog about them broke out in the comments over at former DCist editor Ryan Avent’s blog – if you like to keep current on the state of local transit, the back-and-forth is kind of required reading.
The area has the brains to help build a better system of public transportation – now, hopefully, the powers that be will take the best of what these ideas provide into consideration.
After the jump: more local love, plus Dulles Rail’s last precious gasps of air.
Photo by m hoek.
