Photo by Chris Rief
Good morning, Washington. Remember yesterday’s taxi strike that no one noticed? We barely do, too! The Post has a story explaining what it was all about: apparently drivers are protesting a scheme proposed by Jim Graham to require medallions or a similar certification system — a measure explicitly designed to contain the number of cabs operating in the city. As with the switch to meters, we predict that our city’s questionably professional, arguably overpriced and definitely numerous taxi drivers will have a hard time mobilizing much public support.
NTSB Issues Recommendations to Metro: The National Transit Safety Board isn’t done with its investigation of the June 22 Metro crash, but they’ve gone ahead and issued a series of recommendations to WMATA, saying that the situation is sufficiently urgent to merit immediate action, according to NBC4. The specific recommendations involve various technical aspects of the automated system that Metro used prior to the crash (“parasitic oscillations” are the most lyrical of the bunch) and apply to systems across the country, not just Washington’s. Metro is working with vendors to implement the changes, and continuing to run trains manually in the meantime. Relatedly, Metro has also just announced that it’ll be working to repair the doors on 1000-series railcars after a few incidents in which they opened on the wrong side of the station.
BRAC Move Delayed: WJLA reports that a rule change may provide a reprieve from the loss of military jobs that Northern Virginia was set to experience as part of the base realignment process. DoD departments will be allowed to lease their current office spaces for an additional three years, delaying the departure of an estimated 20,000 local jobs to 2014.
Briefly Noted: Arlington full of smarty pants… Pedestrian fatally struck near Iwo Jima Memorial… Skateboarding: still a crime… Howard County considers banning tanning for teens… Shots fired, NY Ave. shut down last night after man tried to run over MPD officer…
This Day In DCist: One year ago we headed to Wheaton for some great Thai food while a trucker protest of gasoline prices failed to impress.
