Doctor Transit/League of Transit Doctors

Milwaukee county executive race and transit

2008-03-25T06:55:00.001-07:00

See "ON THE ISSUES: County exec race/transit," from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and also check out the Milwaukee Transit Riders Union.

Inspiration, or Why Writing About Transit Experiences Is Important

2008-01-08T11:17:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, everyone! May your trains never break down and your buses always arrive on time... except for when you're running late yourself.

I was prompted (can't remember why) to think about why I love thinking about transit and writing about transit. I had an influence, one that doesn't even know the effect she had on me.

I am speaking of one Kate Lopresti.

I'm not surprised that you've never heard her name. Most people haven't. She's a Portland, Oregon gal whose claim to fame, at least in my book, is that she wrote a series of zines called The Constant Rider.

Yes, Ms. Lopresti is a transit geek like me, like us. Also like me, she prefers to write about her experiences on transit rather than do academic analysis. She writes of her journey across Canada on the train, of passing out on the light rail train The MAX, and of her experiences on her beloved TriMET bus, the 47 Hawthorne. She's a consummate observer of humanity, writing with an eye for that which we call the human drama. From people who won't pay to keep riding at the end of the Fareless Square to passengers with unfortunate food choices (sardines on a cramped train? I don't think so!) to gulping down one's produce before customs, no detail of existence misses Kate's eye.

And it's experiences like this that show the importance of transit. I'm guessing that when the experts sit down to lay out new transit, or to change routes, or to mess with the budget, they deal with numbers and cold hard facts. They don't think of the experiences they'll be removing or changing. The leisurely Metro ride turned cramped and crowded. The late night bus trip back from one's lover now impossible because the bus doesn't run that late. The missed connections with passengers, the lost conversations with drivers. Of course, new experiences will replace the old, but what do we lose?

Transit isn't just a way to get around. It's an experience, it's a part of our lives. Kate's work makes this abundantly clear.

I've owned The Constant Rider Omnibus for years now. My copy is battered and beaten, bent from making its way to the bottom of my bag, stained from spilled liquids. In other words, well loved. After I read it, I'm always inspired to write about my own experiences on transit, wishing that I had more exciting ones to share and write about. (Edit: After reading the website, I'm realizing that I have the 1st edition, which only has zines 1-3 in it. The 2nd edition has additional zines 4-7. Perhaps it's time to replace my old worn out copy with the new one with more content.)

But perhaps that's the point. It doesn't always have to be exciting. Sometimes it's just the grateful look a mother with a little one gives you when you give up your seat so that her and her child may sit. Sometimes it's a bus driver who's unusually pleasant after a long day or who lets you on the bus, despite the fact you're 10 cents short on fare.

Thank you, Kate, for reminding us of the important things in life. Thank you, Kate, for sharing your slice of the world of transit. And thank you, Ms. Kate Lopresti, for inspiring me to write about my transit experiences.

Amtrak sees ridership rise

2007-12-22T04:24:00.000-08:00

There is a nice piece on Amtrak in the AP story, "Riding high? Amtrak sees ridership rise," which starts with a focus on railroad travel in the midwest.

How's This For Transit Oriented Development?

2007-10-19T06:29:00.001-07:00

Here is a video of a marketplace at the railroad:

glumbert - Train Market

From Salon and
The Overhead Wire.

More information in this article
from Salon.

Car Free Day #2

2007-09-17T12:10:00.001-07:00

In honor of C's post about Car Free Day tomorrow, here is a reprint of a blog entry from Councilmember Tommy Wells:

Car Free DC: Cool Free Things

Written by Neha Bhatt

Stepping up to the plate. That’s exactly what these groups have done to help commemorate Car Free Day. In case anyone missed it, the city is doing it’s first one on Tuesday the 18th. What else is there to do other than take the personal car free pledge? Plenty! Take advantage of the following events sponsored by great organizations who make our City a better, nicer, hipper place to live. Snap a picture of your favorite Car Free Day moment and upload it on Flickr (be sure to tag the photo with "DC Car Free Day") or send them to Neha Bhatt at nbhatt@dccouncil.us. Best image wins a commemorative T-shirt signed by the Mayor and Councilmembers.

Walk This Way
Cultural Tourism DC, City By Foot Tour Company, and Washington Walks welcome everyone to enjoy the landscape and architecture of the City through special Car Free Day walking tours. Tours are free and open to the public. Happy Car Free Day!

More than Monuments: 6:00 pm – 7:15 pm and 8:00 pm – 9:15 pm
Meet at the base of the Washington Monument on the east side (facing the Capitol and 15th Street). End at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Through little-known anecdotes and quirky facts, this tour brings to life the events and people who inspired the monuments. Part performers and part professors, the licensed guides are recent college graduates who are passionate about American history. Their sometimes irreverent and always interesting romp holds the attention of even the squirmiest toddler. The perfect solution for anyone who slept through eighth grade history class! Led by professional guide Ben Hindman and presented by City By Foot Tour Company.

Walk Logan Circle: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Meet outside the McPherson Square Metro station (14th Street exit).
Few Washington neighborhoods have witnessed such a breathtaking renaissance as Logan Circle, the city’s only unaltered Victorian residential district. It evolved from rural obscurity to an enclave of architectural splendor, home first to affluent whites and later to African American residents. A growing number of restaurants and shops make it one of Washington’s most fashionable addresses. Led by professional tour guide Carolyn Crouch and presented by Washington Walks.

Take Your iPod for a Walk through History!
Download a free MP3 audio tour to your iPod or MP3 player and surround yourself with sound as you walk the Civil War to Civil Rights: Downtown Heritage Trail through historic Penn Quarter. Walk in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr., Walt Whitman, and other great Americans whose lives were intertwined with the history of the nation and its capital city. The trail focuses on Washington's experiences during the Civil War as well as the continuing challenge to realize the American dream of equal rights for all its citizens. Relive dramatic events, including:

- The night President Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theater
- The hustle and bustle of the old Center Market
- A riot following the attempted escape of 77 enslaved people
- Clara Barton's search for thousands of missing Union soldiers
- Thurgood Marshall's fight to desegregate American Institutions

Roll Around the City
Washington Area Roadskaters invite Washingtonians to a free one-hour training session in basic inline skating technique from 6:00-7:00pm on Tuesday, September 18. The session will take place in front of the White House on the north (Pennsylvania Ave) side. It will be taught by certified instructors from the DC chapter of the National Skate Patrol, which offers a free skate clinic at Rock Creek Park every Saturday at noon April through October. The training session will be followed by a scenic cityskate through downtown Washington, a fun way to end the day for all levels of skaters.

Rent Wheels
Need a bike for Car Free day? Bike the Sites is offering special discounted bike rentals during September 16-22. Day rentals will be $15 in honor of Car Free Day. C’mon, how can you beat that?

Get There Without A Car Days!

2007-09-17T07:09:00.000-07:00

So a number of car free days are coming up.

Car Free DC day is tomorrow, September 18th. Check out their website which encourages transit use, biking and walking to your destinations. http://www.carfreedc.info/

And Tommy Wells, representative for Ward 6 on the DC Council, challenges people to go car free not just on Car Free DC day, but also on World Car Free Day (more about that next), the whole Car Free Week of Sept 16-22nd, and, for a true challenge, an entire month! Check out his Car Free Challenge on his blog.

World Car Free Day is Saturday, September 22nd. http://www.worldcarfree.net/wcfd/

Wednesday, October 3rd is International Walk to School Day. If you have kids or if you attend school, consider walking or biking or taking transit if it's too far to do either of those. http://www.walktoschool.org/ has information and information on Safe Routes for kids to take to school alone can be found here: http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/.

Seniors and Complete Streets

2007-09-12T06:55:00.001-07:00

As you may or may not know, as we get older driving becomes more difficult and dangerous. There comes a point where we can't, or shouldn't get behind the wheel of an automobile.

The AARP recently had an article in their bulletin called Street Smart about complete streets. Complete streets are designed to accommodate many modes of transportation: walking, biking, wheelchairs, transit, and oh yes automobiles in a way that is safe for all. This opens transportation options to the young, the old, the disabled, and those who just don't want to deal with single occupancy motorized transportation.

The article uses Kirkland, Washington as an example, and discusses what some other places have done to implement complete streets. It also includes a nice illustration of a complete street and 2 videos by Bob Chauncey, director for policy analysis for the National Center for Bicycling & Walking. One video shows a complete street, the other an incomplete street.

Transit Oriented Politics

2007-08-13T12:05:00.000-07:00

From the Overhead Wire comes word that Democratic presidential candidate and Senator Hillary Clinton (D. NY) has pledged to raise Federal funding for local and intercity rail. She also is calling for linking federal public transit funds to land use policy. Sounds like Transit Oriented Development.

And the Washcycle makes note of a Des Moines (Iowa) Register story about Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards getting on a bicycle to ride a portion of the RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) route champion cyclist Lance Armstrong.

Who's next?

I Love Driving

2007-08-12T05:53:00.000-07:00

From the Funny Times. For your amusement and pleasure:

Escalumps

2007-08-12T05:21:00.000-07:00

Tired of tourists and others who stand on the left side of the METRO escalators? Well according to this story in the Washington Post METRO now has a message for these Escalumps.

For the first time in its history, Metro has started telling them:

"Hi. Welcome to Metro. We have a lot of escalators in our system. You'll notice that most people stand on the right side. And while you're riding, hold the handrail for your safety. Enjoy your trip, and thank you for riding Metro."

The announcement is one of a series that the agency has recently recorded to ever-so-gently remind riders of the system's rules, customs and quirks, including escalator etiquette and train-door operation.

Maybe it will do some good, if people can even hear the messages over the acoustically challenged PA system METRO is burdened with, and get these folks to move over if they just want to ride the escalator, instead of walking, running up or down.

Personally, I prefer an old Chicago saying "One side or a leg off!"

How's Your Walk Score?

2007-07-31T10:04:00.000-07:00

Check out this great site: Walk Score. It takes an address, tallies how close it is to things you'd like/need in your life like a grocery store, restaurants, bars, schools, etc. and then gives you a score based on how walkable you are.

I did my own house and I got a 75 out of 100. Not bad.

It's not perfect. It counts the dollar discount grocery store about 2 blocks away that only has a few items as a full fledged "supermarket", but it's good to get a feel. My friend looked up his parents house in suburban Illinois and it got almost a 50 (which was too high, because their house is very much not walkable) but it was because of all the Starbucks nearby. So it's not perfect, but it's still pretty cool.

http://www.walkscore.com/

The commuter drives alone

2007-06-29T05:02:00.001-07:00

on the ANC6a e-list we've been discussing how this week, on Constitution Avenue NE, the one way traffic system during the morning commute westward into the city from 7 am to 9:30 am has been rescinded, and now the road is two-way 24/7.

I have been meaning to write about this change for awhile, but I never got around to it. It's another of those pro-community changes initiated by the DC Department of Transportation that in its way is as groundbreaking as the streetscape improvements coming to various neighborhoods and already present on 8th Street SE (it's coming to 12th Street NE in Brookland and H Street NE and presumably other places that I don't know about yet) and the recovery of Thomas Circle from a road scarred circle to something that can become a nice place.

On Monday, the Christian Science Monitor had a nice story about national trends in commuting behavior, "More US commuters drive solo: Global-warming warnings have not dissuaded Americans from driving to work alone. In fact, their numbers have been rising."

Christian Science Monitor. Sources: Figures from 1980 to 2000 are from the Census Bureau. The 2005 figures are based on a survey conducted by the Census Bureau called the American Community Survey / Rich Clabaugh – staff

So while we are doing good things in DC, the trends don't favor the nation.

Bicycle boulevards in Berkeley, California

2007-06-29T05:01:00.000-07:00

DC1974 writes:

Particularly nice is the signage and wayfinding system. The boulevards function as feeder streets for bicycles. They've moved into the second phase of actually making the street lights change and additional benefits for bicycle traffic flow. The first ones were just going in when I lived in Berkeley in the summer of 2001.

Click here for the website.

I agree, the signage is great.

The TDM Professional blog

2007-06-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

(Transportation Demand Management) is a resource I've just come across. Produced in part by our friends in Arlington County's transportation programs office, the blog is for:

sharing insight between TDM professionals in the Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT) Chesapeake Chapter (Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia)

but open to the rest of us for reading and reflection.

A Bit More Transit Fun

2007-06-28T08:19:00.000-07:00

This one will require a bit of back story.

A synthpop Electroclash group named Freezepop put out a song a while ago called T DJ. Apparenly inspired by a real person, the T DJ is a person who's a cult hero on the Green line of the Boston T subway system. He's known for visibly mixing music inside his head while on the train... and sometimes he actually brings his music mixing supplies on the train late at night and mixes beats for the passengers on the train, turning the car he's in into a small party.

The song is quite good and if you're interested in hearing it, Freezepop shares it legally under the Music section of their website. (Or you can click this link and it will play in your browser. Or, right click [or command-click, if you're a Mac user] on it and select Save Link[or Target] As... to save it to your computer: Freezepop - T DJ on WMBR.mp3)

That's the first part of this. Here's the second part.

DMLaenker is an offline friend of mine. He's going to school for urban studies and planning to be a city designer. Because of this, transit is one of his interests. (He's got a really cool belt from Urban Outfitters with portions of the London Underground tube system map.)

Anyway, he was inspired by both the T DJ song and the announcements that Metro makes about "if you see something, say something" to make this whimsical fake Metro announcement on his blog about stale old music remixes on the Metro.

“Metro Transit Police would like to remind you that if you see someone drop a mix on Metrobus or Metrorail - be it a dance mix, a party mix, any mix - kindly ask them, 'Is that your mix?' If it's not theirs, or if they have no idea what you're talking about, kindly kill the DJ and contact Metro transit authorities immediately. Keeping Metro fresh is a responsibility for all of us. Thank you very much, and have a good transit.”

He posted this on his LiveJournal as a VoicePost, so if you want to hear his announcement as it would be announced on Metro, go to the entry on his LJ. http://dmlaenker.livejournal.com/437583.html

Do It Yourself Bike Lanes

2007-06-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

From the Toronto Star, via Planetizen:

A group of Toronto, Canada bicycle activists, the
Other Urban Repair Squad, have been painting bicycle lanes on Toronto streets because the city is moving too slowly to expand its bike lane program.

The Other Urban Repair Squad plans the actions carefully, and has stencils for the official city bike lane symbol, a bicycle inside a diamond.

Unfortunately, the city removes these guerrilla bike lanes when they are discovered, silly them.

The complete story is here.

Annapolis Regional Transportation Plan....coming soon to a dustbuster near you...

2007-06-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

CP testified before City Council on the finally, yes it has been released, Annapolis Regional Transportation Vision and Master Plan….known as ARTVAMP. Yes. ARTVAMP. Two years late. $600,000 later, but who is in charge? Who take ownership? Who will adopt it? Who will adhere to it? It is a state-county-city creation, but since the day it was signed at a ceremony at the Courthouse on Church Circle some four? Five? Years ago, it seems that each of the three governments, some of which changed hands, lost interest. CP told the City Council to do something, take action, follow a plan any plan, just do something!!! It seems that no local elected official is willing to be the champion for real transportation planning. Alderman Sam Shropshire, the man now working to ban plastic bags in supermarkets, took the mike and well, he did a little bit of grandstanding promising to hold a super regional summit Annapolis. Sam also wants a third Bay Bridge crossing but had nothing to say about the city’s plan to stop its bus service over that bridge. Yeah-Sam, what we need is another meeting!. Here is what CP wrote to him the next morning: SAM: I think you were grandstanding last night. There have been more than enough transit summits. There were two major regional transportation conferences in April. Oddly enough, they were two days apart--even those organizers did not know what they were each doing. I informed you and others about them. I was the only Annapolitan at either of them--nobody from city gov't, no local folks, no ARTMA (for whatever that is worth...) [note to readers…ARTMA or the Annapolis Regional Transportation Management Ass’n is a local know nothing, do nothing, but is a local group deeply, deeply concerned about creating an image that they are doing something…about traffic] We do not fit into the larger regional transit picture. We are a bare blip on the radar and will likely always be that. What we don’t need is another meeting. We have been the tail wagging the county dog long enough. We cannot wag a state and regional dog. We are the end of the line (if there ever will be one) and this ARTVAMP thing does not even mention rail. It is not up to our city to push for a bay bridge. It is up to us to have real bike lanes, a real bus system, real links to DC and Baltimore via bus, real bike and walking programs, real incentives to get people out of cars, out of driving to downtown, but you keep focusing on a third bridge and rail. What we need is to take the reins of our ailing transit system, replace the director, join up with the county and work on real funding and reinstating bus service to Baltimore, not dumping the Kent Island shuttle and quit talking about a third bay bridge span ( as is your favorite) and get real local and regional transit. Why is it so hard for you to understand what we as a city can do NOW...on our own??? We don't need a regional transit summit. We need a real city bus system and we need real commitments for walking, biking, vanpooling etc etc and the mayor has steadfastly refused any attempt to get city employees out of their cars!!!!! Instead, she and others rolled over while the state built a new garage in town!!!!

Colored LEDs in Metro Stations

2007-06-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

So I'm sure you've seen the red lights on the station platforms by now. Or perhaps you've spotted the orange ones. Here's my take on it.

The first time I saw it was at Gallery Place/Chinatown on the Red Line. I didn't know why they were doing it, because, as Metro is wont to do, they didn't inform their riders as to what's going on ahead of time. I honestly thought they made it red because it was the Red Line. However, I thought "Gee, I hope they don't keep this change. It's adding a red glow to everything and the blinking red lights are disturbing." It was making me feel uneasy and uncomfortable, which is a bad vibe to be giving off in an area that is prone to crowding at times. (A stampede would be too easy to trigger.)

And then I saw orange lights at a platform with orange & blue line trains. Or perhaps it was yellow lights at a platform with yellow and green line trains. Either way, I found myself wondering if the color would change depending on what train was coming.

And then I found out that, no, the color is the same and they're putting in red lights regardless of the line.

Which I think is stupid. Thank god for the improved signage, because even *I* would get confused as to how to get to what platform for what train. And the improved signage is IMPROVED, not optimal. It's STILL confusing.

So, yeah, if I saw red lights and I was a tourist, I would assume that I was on the red line. Red line, red lights, makes sense, right?

I think either Metro needs to drop the whole colored lights thing (it's not Christmas, you know) and go with clear LEDs (if in fact they are LEDs that they changed to for more efficient lights) or they need to put the color of the line that you're currently on. For platforms that serve more than one color line, put in LEDs of both and have it blink the color of the train that's arriving.

That's what *I'd* do if I was in charge.

Your thoughts?

SUBDIVIDED.....this is the film many of us have been waiting for...

2007-06-14T09:43:00.001-07:00

CP just came across these video clips from a film called "Subdivided" about the destruction of our communities into suburban deserts. If you are concerned about what is happening to so many of our communities, please see these video clips and then visit the other pages at this site. WARNING--the clip about road rage is......troubling....http://subdivided.net/blog/category/video-clips/

Does below ground = heavy rail?

2007-06-07T04:19:00.000-07:00

----
Reprinted from Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space
----

Trail plus light rail in Barcelona. Photo by John Norquist.

There are a couple reasons why current transit proposals in the region are for the most part not heavy rail, and above-ground. (1) Heavy rail costs 10 times more to construct than light rail. (2) Tunneling is exorbitant -- $400 million per mile. (3) The Federal Government is promoting bus rapid transit over heavy rail because of (1) and (2)--and because Republican administrations tend to hate heavy rail transit and public transit generally.

(Note that while people talk about how places like Curitiba, Bogota, and Santiago have great ridership numbers with bus rapid transit systems--ridership numbers that compete with heavy rail numbers, the reality is that the riders tolerate much higher bus utilization densities that are tolerated in the U.S. Twice as many riders ride a 60 foot long articulated bus in Santiago or Bogota, as many as 160 people, compared to a similar bus in the U.S. Plus, people who are poorer need the transit. In the U.S., people with mobility choices are less likely to tolerate such conditions. Note that I don't know why bus fares can be so much cheaper in South America.)

60 foot long articulated bus on H Street NE. Photo by Elise Bernard. Actually this route is the #4 bus line in the city in terms of ridership, with a ridership 40% greater than any Metrobus in Maryland or Virginia.

Plus the local jurisdictions, other than the Dulles Corridor project, don't necessarily have the money to move heavy rail forward.

That's why DC totally chickened out over the proposed separated blue line proposal, even though the reality is that DC's continued economic competitiveness and competitive advantage is based upon strengthening mobility in the core of the city.

Proposed separated blue line subway in DC, 2001. Washington Post graphic.

Washcycle calls our attention to an article from WTOP on this issue, "Will Purple Line be Above or Below Ground?" Two good quotes, from Royce Hanson of the Montgomery County Planning Board, and Governor O'Malley. From the article:

As studies ramp up on the proposed Purple Line, which would connect Bethesda to New Carrollton, transportation officials seem to be looking much more toward the below ground option.

Royce Hanson, chairman of the Montgomery County Planning Board, talked to the Maryland Transportation Authority about it.

"Right now they are doing an alignment study, looking at where the line should go exactly and determining how much of it should be a tunnel or on the surface. And, they are placing a lot more emphasis on tunneling than they had in the past," he says.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley would seem to agree with that assessment. He recently gave a speech to transportation officials asking, "Could you imagine if people 30 or 40 years ago had said, 'We want to build a Metro system, but it all has to be above ground and it can only be fast bus.' What kind of region would we have?"

Metro Center subway station. AFP photo by Karen Bleier.

Washcycle's blog entry on ill-considered writing-thinking against the Purple Line is pretty good too. See "Purple Line: Too Close for Comfort?"

It's a tough issue. I don't know the area that the proposed Purple Line would travel well enough to figure out light rail vs. heavy rail. I don't think the potential ridership is there for the expense of heavy rail. OTOH, heavy rail, because it's much faster would have higher ridership. However, the long term value comes from intensification of land use along the rail corridor. And it makes sense to have one heavy rail system rather than a plethora of heavy and light rail systems.

For a Maryland example, compare the use of land and heavy intensification around the Prince George's Plaza Metro station versus the intersection of New Hampshire Avenue and University Boulevard. Note that the PG Plaza area was intensely developed in comparison decades before the Metro was on the scene, which was written up in the current special supplement "On Site" to the Washington Business Journal.

Trans-Milenio photo from Flickr photographer adimcm. This is also a 60' bus. The photo page has an interesting write-up including a link to a conference about BRT.

Bike-to-Work Day

2007-05-22T13:32:00.001-07:00

I missed writing about Bike-to-Work Day. Oh, I had a post all planned out. I was going to write about how I used to bike part of my commute to work, from my house to the Silver Spring Metro station when I used to take the J busses to Bethesda for work, and about all the different events that were going on for B-t-W Day, and I was going to encourage you to try biking. I was even going to say that even if biking the whole way isn't your cup of tea (or feasible depending on how long your commute is... or how in shape you are!), then to see how you can bike part of your route, and use transit for the rest. (Biking to Metro stations is optimal.) It's more feasible, it takes cars off the road, and it's good for you!

But the thing that makes me the happiest about Bike-to-Work Day is that it's always held the week of my birthday. :-) So the area gives me lots of people biking to work as my birthday present. And that's a lovely present indeed.

However... I missed it. It came and went, and so did my birthday. (I'm a full quarter of a century now.) Turns out I didn't even end up going to work on Bike-to-Work Day.

But perhaps YOU biked to work? Or maybe part of the way? Tell me about it!

Montgomery County has bike trail maps available for free. Bethesda even gives out pamphlets with locations of bike racks all around the city. And Metro always has plenty of bike parking, whether it's the (admittedly crappy) bike racks or just railings to lock your bike against. (Check out Commuter Connections for more commuting by bike information. And I'll bet that WABA has info on it, too.)

Try biking to the Metro instead of driving. It's fun, good for you, and it might even be faster than driving, depending on traffic. And also find out if there's a bus route that goes by your house. Because if it's the end of the day and you're tired (or a little too tipsy from Happy Hour; drinking and biking do not mix. I know this the hard way.), you can always take your bike on the bus home.

(BTW, Metro has SO much really great, awesome information on their website that's so far hidden in the bowels of their website that you'd never find it. But that's a blog post for another day.)

Transit Meme

2007-05-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

(I know what you're thinking... two posts in one day! How did we get to be so lucky!)

I don't know about you, but I'm a... oh, how shall I put it... meme whore? Yes, that's apt. If someone posts a quiz on their LiveJournal, I have to take it.

And then I saw this one. It allows you to put down every subway system you've ever been on. And it has almost every subway across the world.

Below are my results, updated now that I went to Boston (actually Cambridge) the other week and got to ride the T. (It was very exciting. I'll have to blog about it.)

Got at b3co.com!

Are you interested in doing this? Here's the URL for the little app.

http://metro.b3co.com/

(Note: it's a little buggy. If you add a badge and then take it out, it doesn't show up in the list to add it back in again. Just close the page and reopen it and it should show up again. And for the results in HTML, after you add all the badges, select the "put it on your site" link in the upper right hand corner.)

Feel free to post your results as a comment!

(And sometimes I feel more like Transit Fangirl than Doctor Transit. But I promise, I'll have real content one of these days... yeah...)

North American Rail Systems by Size

2007-05-22T13:04:00.000-07:00

Thank Collier, a commenter on Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space, for this one.

The same as the link below, only this is for all of the subways/light rail/etc. for North America.

http://www.radicalcartography.net/?subways

However, they're obviously not to scale to the size of North America (for some reason, it took me a little bit to realize that.) OTOH, it's in GLORIOUS TECHNICOLOR! :-)

World Subways, Presented By Scale

2007-05-21T12:16:00.000-07:00

Check it out... it's very cool and lets you get a better feel for city size.

Subway systems of the world, presented on the same scale.

(And on a total aside, sometimes I come across content in the strangest way.

I work at a bookstore. I use LibraryThing, both professionally and personally. So I read their development blog. Well, LibraryThingforLibraries is finally in a library. So I go over to the personal blog of the person who instituted it in the 1st library. And I came across the above gem.)

Even Batman Takes the Bus

2007-05-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

'Cause I felt bad about not posting, I thought I'd share this cool t-shirt design with you.

What's that about the bus being the "Loser Cruiser"? Would Batman take the bus if it wasn't cool? I didn't think so. :-)

You can get this shirt from the folks over at NoiseBot.com. Check it out: http://www.noisebot.com/justice_cant_wait_t-shirt

I don't even know where to begin (DC's lack of an integrated land use and transportation policy)

2007-04-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

I testified a few times last year against approving the Comprehensive Plan revision, not because it was terrible--for the most part it is not--but because transportation and land use policies were not substantively integrated. (Reading the Comp Plan recently, there are more than 100 policies and actions related to transportation and land use, yet there are only three suggested changes to zoning regulations. And they aren't that substantive.)

I argued that urban design should have been defined as the primary element--meaning that land use policies should have favored compact, walkable places, and that transportation demand management, both as a general policy, as well as a package of services, designed to maximize the use of the transportation infrastructure and to minimize the number of single occupancy vehicle trips, should have been the primary organizing principle for the Transportation Element.

I got heat from some people in the Smart Growth arena -- "don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

And at one hearing, I went up to a person who testified in favor of the Comp Plan because it _mentioned_ TDM (at that point the Comp Plan draft didn't even require TDM for planned unit developments, something that changed as a result of my testimony -- I joke that I changed one word in the comp plan, from "suggested" to "required" but only for PUDs, which affect only a small portion of new development). She has 10x more experience in transportation than myself btw. I said how can you testify in favor of the comp plan because it mentions TDM when it is only a mention with no substantive requirements? She didn't have a good response...

One of the points I made in this blog entry "Transit without borders or five omissions "in" the Transportation Element of the DC "Comprehensive" Plan" was about TDM:

-------------------------
Why doesn't the Transportation Element require transportation demand management as a matter of course, for all uses other than that of single-family housing, instead of only suggesting it be required for planned unit developments? (* Note that I would change this now. Parking and curbside management requirements would also impact single family housing.)

This makes no sense. Institutions including schools and churches should be required to develop plans that reduce car trips in a substantive way.

Support for bicyclists and pedestrians should be required. (* Support for bicycling is one of the three zoning changes called for in the Implementation section.)

Parking subsidies should be, for the most part, forbidden, or at the very least matched by comparable subsidies to transit riders. (* Now I would also argue more closely about the need to reduce or eliminate parking requirements for new construction Downtown and in transit corridors and within one half mile of subway stations.)

Multiunit developments should be discouraged from promoting car usage, especially when located to convenient transit.

Incentives should be provided for car sharing. (* And should be required for multiunit housing buildings of a certain size. Plus Downtown, office buildings should have to open up parking at night to the public. Plus they need to participate in TDM planning. I didn't write then either about the creation of "Transportation Management Districts.")

Instead of just focusing on creating "truck routes" through the city, figure out how to time-shift as many commercial deliveries as possible to evening hours because for the most part, roads downtown, and in the northeast and southeast quadrants are underutilized. This would have to be balanced with the desire to not negatively impact neighborhoods. (* Delivery services should also be encouraged as part of BID services and by multi-store shopping facilities and by grocery stores.)

Certain businesses, such as the Au Bon Pain restaurant chain and the Yes! Grocery Stores get the bulk of their deliveries at night, significantly reducing the impact deliveries would otherwise impose on a somewhat stressed road network.

This practice needs to be more widespread and should be spearheaded through TDM requirements (not guidelines, not suggestions) in the Transportation Element.
-------------------------------------

More recently I have written that District Government agencies should be required to conduct TDM. Partly this was a response to proposals for special street parking privileges for firefighters. See "Council ponders reserved parking for firefighters" and "Signs at the Hine School polling site."

Another example of why there should be TDM planning requirements for building uses as well as "accessibility planning" as part of DC land use regulations (zoning) comes from yesterday's Post, with the announcement that the DC Government is going to move the Police Department headquarters to 225 New Jersey Avenue, a building about 6 blocks from the Capitol South subway station, if you walk under the freeway (and somewhat further away from the Navy Yard Green Line and the Federal Center subway stations), and miles away from any other District Government building. See "Police HQ And 1,100 Workers Going to SE."

Accessibility planning does three things:

1. Sites are rated by their access to transportation infrastructure (roads and transit).
2. Uses are rated by their demand for transportation infrastructure (how many trips are generated).
3. Uses can be placed only where transportation demand and transportation supply are at equilibrium, with a bias towards mode shift from single occupancy vehicle trips.

But the accessibility planning paradigm isn't part of the Comprehensive Plan.

From a Transportation Demand Management perspective, it is a disaster to move the Police Department from a central location served by transit and in close proximity to other government buildings housing functions that are "consumed" by Police Department employees during the course of their work day.

1. The current building is within 200 feet of one red line subway station and pretty close to a green-yellow line subway station.
2. Police Department employees frequently must spend time in Court, located immediately next door
3. And meeting with attorneys from either the Federal or City offices, those offices are located close to the current location of the Police Department as well.
4. Plus the building is located across the street from one of the main DC government buildings, as well as being just a few blocks from City Hall.
5. Not to mention the location of some retail services, places for lunch and coffee.

The advantage of agglomeration--the competitive advantage of a "Central Business District" including both commerce and government functions--is that a variety of services and functions are available in a reasonably compact and central fashion.

From the perspective of transportation, this means that most work day business-to-business trips can be conducted on foot or on transit, not via car.

In the new location, Police Department employees will now drive most everywhere, because most of the business and personal trips they will need to make are not satisfiable on site or in close proximity.

Accessibility planning--linking use to its ability to be satisfied by extant transportation infrastructure--should be one of the primary elements of the Zoning Regulations and Land Use Planning. It should trump matter of right.

Currently, matter of right provisions such as allowing schools or churches or police functions to locate anywhere within allowed zones fail to take into account that some locations are much better positioned than others to accommodate the transportation demand produced by the use.

Most new charter schools generate tremendous numbers of car trips every day. Most churches do not provide alternative transportation options other than driving--and they prefer to tear down houses in favor of parking lots, rather than work with communities to figure out ways to accommodate their large but very short term requirements. E.g., tearing down houses to make parking lots that are used only 3 hours of 168 hours in a week is practically the definition of insanity. And locating the Police Department far away from other government offices, far away from transit, and far away from services means that most workers will not have alternative transportation options other than driving.

Government is supposed to drive best practices forward by implementing and practicing best practices. Government is supposed to be a proponent of what is called "rational planning."

Plans to move the Police Department headquarters, and similar proposals and actions to move other DC Government (and related, such as WMATA) functions out of the Central Business District, are a major step backward in local land use and transportation planning, and in the efficient provision and consumption of government services.

Speaking of transit in Washington

2007-04-25T15:19:00.000-07:00

A colleague sent me a link to this paper from Resources for the Future, "Transit in Washington, D.C. : Current Benefits and Optimal Level of Provision."

Congestion Survey

2007-04-19T07:06:00.001-07:00

(This is a survey by one of my classmates. If you're interested in taking it, send the survey results to Josh Crunkleton.)

Congestion Survey

We’ve all heard the horror stories relating to traffic congestion – people missing once-in-a-lifetime events or an important business meeting to advance their career as a result of a traffic jam. While we all hope to never be involved in any similar scenario, traffic congestion is, without a doubt, a severe problem in many areas.

The following survey aims to acquire public opinion on a variety of traffic-related issues in hopes of addressing traffic congestion woes from a fresh angle – directly from the individuals who experience traffic congestion on a daily basis. The survey should take approximately 10 minutes to complete and asks about your most important daily trip, transit availability and opinions on congestion issues.

Think about a trip you most often take from home, whether it is to work, school, shopping areas or otherwise. With that in mind, please answer the following questions:

What is your most significant recurring destination (i.e. your most important daily trip)?
□ Workplace □ School □ Store/shopping area

□ Other, please describe: _________________________________

What is the approximate distance (in miles) from your household to your most significant recurring destination? ___________
How much would you estimate that a single trip to your most significant recurring destination costs? ___________($/trip)
Please list the 3 most important aspects of this cost estimate:

_________________________________

_________________________________

_________________________________

In general, what is your average time spent (in minutes) traveling on a typical day to or from this destination (whichever is greater)? __________

Estimate the amount of delay (in minutes) that you experience on a typical day due to congestion on this trip: __________

Please continue to think about your most significant daily trip.

If dense traffic congestion were to cause a 30-minute delay on your route, how much would you have to be paid (by transportation agencies, etc.) in order to accept the delay? __________($)

If you could consistently decrease the travel time of your most important daily trip by 25%, how much would you be willing to pay, per trip? __________($)

Leaders in Maryland and Virginia seem to be satisfied with the idea of utilizing congestion pricing (i.e. high-occupancy toll, or HOT, lanes) on newly constructed driving lanes. Conversely, how do you feel about the possibility of accepting tolls in pre-existing lanes, if it potentially means that you could avoid certain congestion levels? Other lanes on the same roadway would remain un-tolled, while the option exists to utilize the congestion-free toll lanes.
□ No interest □ Low interest □ Medium interest □ High interest

The following questions relate to the availability and utilization of public transit services:

Please rate the availability (located within a 10-minute walk or drive from your household) of accessing public transit services to work, school, retail establishments, recreational activities, etc. to and from your area:
□ Not available

□ Available; able to accommodate most/all daily trips with current operating schedule

□ Available; not able to accommodate most daily trips with current operating schedule

How often do you utilize public transit opportunities?
□ Always □ Often □ Rarely □ Never

For the following questions, choose the response that corresponds to your opinion after reading the statement:

I shouldn’t have to pay to drive on public roads.
□ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Neutral □ Disagree □ Strongly disagree

I already contribute to transportation costs through taxes on gasoline and vehicles.
□ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Neutral □ Disagree □ Strongly disagree

The government should try innovative strategies to relieve traffic congestion.
□ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Neutral □ Disagree □ Strongly disagree

Gasoline prices are too high.
□ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Neutral □ Disagree □ Strongly disagree

I change travel routes or modes (forms of travel) to avoid paying tolls.
□ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Neutral □ Disagree □ Strongly disagree

Congestion is a major problem in my area.
□ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Neutral □ Disagree □ Strongly disagree

Age:
□ 18 or under □ 18-25 □ 26-35 □ 36-50 □ 50 and above

Location or zip code (for statistical purposes only): _______________

Occupation: _______________________________________
Household income level:
□ Under 50K □ 50-100K □ Over 100K

Number of people in your household: ______ Number over the age of 16: ______
Number of cars in your household: ______
Additional comments???

THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT!!

Paul Foer-Annapolis-based Transit Guy and Blogger

2007-04-13T05:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Dr Transit Friends:

Transit is cool. Transit impacts and involves everything. Transit can lead, follow or get out of the way, but when it work right, it is terrific! I am pleased to be affiliated with this blog and Mr. Layman. I was born in DC, and am the son of a second-generation Washingtonian. I grew up in the Maryland burbs, occasionally taking the old DC Transit "L" buses up and down Connecticut Avenue and riding my old Schwinn Stingray everywhere, including up Rockville Pike, on the C and O, downtown--and without a helmet! My Dad owned a store which was razed to become Metro Center and he attended the groundbreaking ceremony in 1970 and gathered the first shovel-fulls of earth. They were made into goblets and models of the early Metro. I went to the White House one rainy morning to present them to President Ford, but that's another story.

I have a professional background in both land and marine transportation. From 1998 through 2005, I served as the transportation marketing specialist for the City of Annapolis and oversaw major changes and improvements in customer outreach, signage and communications during which time ridership more than doubled.

I applied for and received grants and awards and was a presenter at three National CTAA (Community Transportation Association of America)Expos. After being selected as a National Transit Institute Fellow, I developed and taught a highly acclaimed class on creating transit marketing plans to small systems all over the country. Through this and other private work, I have been a speaker or trainer at transportation meetings in 15 states and Washington, DC. I've published in Community Transportation, Bus Ride, and Metro magazines. In 2004 I was one of 13 transit professionals selected to participate in an International Transit Cooperative Research Study Mission to South America.

I mentioned marine transportation as I am a US Merchant Marine Officer and have operated private and commercial vessels for transportation and recreational purposes. I also move private yachts for clients and do other marine work.
Currently I am writing a blog about Annapolis politics called Capital Punishment www.annapoliscapitapunishment.blogspot.com, working to improve transportation options in our region and doing some consulting and writing for the National Transit Institute, through Rutgers University.

I've been fortunate to have traveled widely and used transit in many countries ranging from the tubes, ferries, BritRail and double deckers in England, to the Paris metro, buses, bicycles and the Tran Grand Vitesse in France to Eged buses and even the train in Israel. I have taken long bus trips in Mexico, Belize and Brazil (even the famed bus in Curitiba)and used many train, ferry or bus systems in Chile, Argentina, and Ecuador. In the US I've taken Greyhound, Amtrak, ferries, urban trains and buses in most of our larger cities and have enjoyed some of the newest and most acclaimed lightrail in Minneapolis, Salt Lake and St. Louis--even the heritage streetcars in San Francisco, New Orleans and the people mover in Miami! Transit is cool.

Annapolis Transit…Poor Neglected Stepchild? or De Ja Vu All Over Again?

2007-04-11T11:18:00.000-07:00

It’s de ja vu all over again as The Capital reports, that once again, due to a change in federal law, our bus system faces a severe cut in operating subsidies. To those in the know, this is not news, nor does it come as a surprise. To make a long story short however, it’s just another example of how lack of leadership and management and intergovernmental cooperation is bringing down this essential service. It’s only partially a federal thing! (As of publication, calls to the MD Transit Adm. and Congressman Sarbanes’ offices for comments have not been returned)

Over five years ago, CP, other Maryland transit operators and the Community Transportation Association of America met with federal lawmakers after which CP personally visited the chief of staff to then Congressman Ben Cardin. CP made it clear that proposed changes were going to severely affect the city’s ability to fully operate its transit system. CP suspects that Transportation Director Danielle Matland and Mayor Moyer may have done something to follow-up, but as was often the case with many issues, Matland worked on her own--or did not work on her own, and little seemed to happen.

Last year, when it became apparent that this huge loss was going to occur, Matland and Moyer suddenly acted as if this was some new and big surprise and held a public meeting at the Loews Hotel, which the Mayor did not attend. Over 50 transit customers angrily pointed fingers at Matland about the lack of concern, awareness or interest on her part for any and all matters related to transit. CP sat in the back, worriedly shaking his head knowing that nothing would ever improve with the arrogant and disinterested Matland at the helm and with little or not oversight from any city official. Fortunately for everyone, it was an election year, and Governor Ehrlich--no friend of public transit, saved the day by bringing state dollars to the table. Annapolis Transit, as it has been configured, survived but this funding monster has raised its head again.

Lest CP be misunderstood, CP shall be very clear. Funding is of course extremely important but it is not the fundamental issue at stake. What is at stake is whether or not we have the will, the resources and commitment to create a really fine, if not world-class and regional bus system, or whether we will be satisfied running a few buses around in circles in our little corner of the world with outdated management and technology. This can only happen when Mayor Moyer and City Council take a good hard look at what works--and what does not at Annapolis Transit. We need oversight, supervision and possibly even an audit or a series of audits of fiscal and personnel management as well as maintenance and procurement and performance. And finally, we cannot do this alone, as CP has been saying for years. We need county and state support and involvement and that begins with talking--something which our Mayor says she loves to do, but it just ain’t happening when it comes to making a regional bus system. Simply turning over routes to the county is just a band-aid, destined for at best, partial success.

We deserve better-- subsidy or no subsidy! CP invites your comments.

Moving Mid-Maryland: Baltimore-Washington Corridor Transportation Summit, April 26

2007-04-11T10:19:00.000-07:00

Paul Foer alerts us to this conference (which I don't think I'll be able to make):

Hosted by the Corridor Transportation Corporation in partnership with the
Baltimore/Washington Corridor Chamber of Commerce, Fort Meade Alliance, and the BWI Business Partnership, Inc.

Sponsored by Booz/Allen/Hamilton - Saul Ewing LLP and NextBus - The Business Monthly.

The Baltimore-Washington corridor faces tremendous challenges in the public transportation arena. As more and more people travel across jurisdictional lines for work, shopping and entertainment, maintaining effective transportation and the resulting "quality of life" will be come even more critical.

This transportation Summit is designed to highlight today's public transportation challenges by looking at what commuting means to the region. Participants will also gain a clear perspective on the econmic impacts of efficient transportation.

Featuring noted economist Anirban Basu, Sage Policy Group, Baltimore Examiner’s Steve Eldridge, State Senator James Robey, Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream’s Peter Laport, American Public Transportation Association President William Millar, former State Senator Robert Neall, Columnist and Author of "Five Years, Fifty Thousand Jobs: Acting Now on Regional Transportation", Barry Rascovar and Alan Pisarski, author of "Commuting in America I, II, and III".

Invited guests are Governor Martin O’Malley and Congressman Steny Hoyer.

The keynote luncheon address will be by Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Secretary John Porcari.

For directions ONLY, call 410-859-8300.
Location: BWI Airport Marriott, 1743 West Nursery Road, Linthicum MD 21240
Cost: $85

By Choice Not By Chance: Transportation for the Baltimore Region (ULI Baltimore - Tuesday, April 24, 2007)

2007-04-11T10:17:00.000-07:00

Paul also alerts us to a conference about Baltimore transportation issues, sponsored by the Baltimore chapter of ULI. Based on the conference schedule it looks pretty good.

This dispersed pattern of development is promoting a sharp increase in long distance commuting and traffic congestion. What have we learned in the past five years from the 2002 Baltimore Regional Rail Plan? What do we need to do going forward?

Join the Urban Land Institute-Baltimore District Council and Lambda Alpha International as we host a presentation by key panelists to examine real solutions for relieving regional congestion.
• Click here for a printable event flyer
• Click here for a printable registration form

Location -
The Johns Hopkins Downtown Center
8:00am - 4:00pm
10 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD

Transit travel (and marketing) as a lifestyle

2007-04-11T08:19:00.001-07:00

(Cross-posted from Rebuilding Place)

Gee writes (and I appreciate his writing to goad some content forward, given my illing ways lately), slightly edited with my comments inserted:

I am not rich, I don't like driving my car.. but I have no option but to drive the car due to my hours and the costly commute option ($11 per day for me with about 1 and 1/2 hours commute on train one way). My spouse lives close to work but I am far away (we adjusted with one) - so what are my options?

[I would argue it's too expensive for public transit to serve you cost-effectively, probably]

Everyday we keep hearing stories about the DC metro - how it's breaking down, how it does not make any money etc etc ... looking at its policy it no surpirse that it has these problems. Why don't they hire someone from any of the European countries and get the right policies?

Make people want to use metro any time of the day and decrease traffic congestions by continously improving existing lines and adding more lines.

[Yep. And start eliminating free parking at work, at school, at shopping malls]

Want to increase revenues ..here are some simple suggestions that would make our lives easier too:

1) have small grocery shops or small shops like at the gas stations where one can get basic stuff - people using the metro would really use it regularly to buy some of the small things that they may need while going to back home or even to the office (eg milk eggs, even flowers). The metro can earn revenues by subletting their space.

Tom Toles editorial cartoon for the Washington Post.

[Systems like the Hong Kong transit system make 1/2 their annual revenue from lease payments/realty.]

2) Have small coffee / breakfast shops for the morning commuters who regularly use the metro in the stations - and the metro can earn revenues by subletting their space.

[While I don't think the volumes exist at many stations to make this work, who's to say we shouldn't be working to make transit stops much more friendly and convivial places? Why not try to put places like this at various stations.]

3) During non rush hours or weekends or holidays - have easy to use all day family tickets. If I have to buy a seperate tickets for each member of a four member family ( or more if I have guests one weekend and want to use the metro) - and for each place i go to - It is not economical to use the metro. I would rather drive, add to the pollution, the traffic problems... etc etc. But if the Metro offers an all day pass for up to 4 people for $10 - what a great deal. Why will I take out my car, spend the money on Gas, try to find parking or risk getting stuck in traffic when I can use the metro, get some exercise and quality time with the family.

[This also is relevant to transit for people attending athletic events like baseball. An all-family pass for such an event is something to consider.]

4) Have monthly passes for regular Metro users. Washington DC is the only metro systrem I know that fines it regular users with highest ticket prices and no monthly discount for regular users. What a stupid idea to fine your regular users? If I use the metro to go to office (and so contribute to one less car on the road.) I have to go during the rush hour time - their is no way out unless each and every company has flex time.

[I made the point last week that the WMATA system actually charges based on real costs, which economists would say is a good thing. Still there is a way to balance the real costs with the need to promote mode shift, after all we don't want to coax people back into their cars because seemingly it is cheaper to drive than to take transit.]

Become a part and parcel of the commuters' lives instead of a stand alone system and that is how you make money. There are enough examples in this country of how products become successful - take some lessons from corporate America.

I would welcome the comments / suggestions of the readers.

WMATA Riders Advisory Committee meets tonight

2007-04-11T08:17:00.000-07:00

From "Metro committee seeks public input," in today's Examiner:

Passengers wanting to comment on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s rail system can speak out tonight.

Metro’s Riders’ Advisory Council will hold a public workshop at 7:30 p.m. inside the transit agency’s headquarters at 600 5th St. NW.

“Anytime we can get the public involved is a good thing,” riders’ committee chairman Michael Snyder said. “We are hoping to hear from different people who are excited about different issues.” Snyder said the committee will also take suggestions about which issues and projects it should push the system’s board of directors to address.

Robert Cervero to speak about Tysons Corner

2007-04-07T04:59:00.001-07:00

Robert Cervero is a professor at the University of California Berkeley and probably the most pubished researcher in the area of the connection between transportation and land-use. He'll be speaking Tuesday, April 17th, in Northern Virginia.

A (Long) More Formal Introduction

2007-04-06T07:37:00.000-07:00

Forgive me for not introducing myself properly earlier.

I'm C4bl3Fl4m3 ("CableFlame"). As of this writing in April of 2007, I'm 24 years old (I turn 25 in late May) and I live in Takoma Park MD, right on the DC/TP/SS border, right near Shepherd Park. I'm the newest Transit Doctor in the League of Transit Doctors. I want to thank Richard Layman for bestowing me with my Mad Doctorate in Transit.

I write different than Richard. Whereas he writes more academic pieces, my writings are far more informal. They're my narratives of what I've seen and experienced. I have no formal training in transit systems... just years of experience.

I've been replying to posts in his Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space blog for a while now. I'll give my 2 cents on just about anything, but I'm more likely to reply in the transit posts than any of the other posts. See, I've been a transit nut all my life.

I grew up in the middle of the woods in South-Central PA, about 35 minutes southwest of Harrisburg PA, in the Cumberland Valley. A very rural area, with farms and trees and streams, livestock and forest creatures. Beautiful country, but quite lonely. However, the area obviously didn't have any mass transit options available. The closest transit stop was in Carlisle, PA, about a 15 minute drive away, and it was one commuter bus that ran at rush hour and would take you into Harrisburg. (CAT) Honestly, I've never been on it.

However, I remember my first experiences with transit. My aunt and uncle live in New York City. I can remember my excitement of being able to take the subway there. I remember visiting Washington DC somewhere around 5th grade and taking the Metro and the Metrobus. And my grandparents live in Williamsburg, VA, the home of Colonial Williamsburg. And CW has its own private bus system to get you around the Colonial area and back and forth from the visitor's center. I rode that bus quite a bit growing up. I've always thought that subways were extra cool and that there was something special about mass transit.

When I became a teenager, my need for freedom grew exponentially. However, I didn't feel like I was ready to drive a car yet when I was 16. I understood the power and responsibility that one takes on when they drive a car (the ability to kill someone, if you're not careful), and I was, frankly, scared by it. I wasn't ready. So I biked everywhere. I'd take 4 hour bike rides in the gorgeous countryside around my house, but I'd also use my bike to go to the library in the nearby small town. I hated how, on the main roads, the giant 18 wheelers wouldn't share the road properly. There were places w/ no good shoulder and when you're biking at 20 mph, being forced off the road by some tractor trailer and into the gravel would get you thrown from your bike. Not fun.

I moved to Columbia MD at age 19 in 2001 (long story) and I was excited at living in a place where there was transit... where I wouldn't have to own a car. I lived there for a year and 3 months, and I quickly learned just how inefficient suburban transit systems are. (Howard Transit, Corridor Transit, and Connect-A-Ride have a long way to go.) I also learned how few people took the bus, and how the people who did were the poor people who couldn't afford a car. I also learned that they were almost always people-of-color.

After visiting Washington DC a large number of times and making friends closer to the city, I decided I wanted to live there, with one of the main reasons being because they had a better transit system. I could get where I wanted to, when I wanted to go there much better than in Columbia. So I moved to Silver Spring.

Well, between the years of 2002 and 2004, I moved 9 times all over the DC area in MD. Every time I've moved to a new place, I've always had to choose places that it wouldn't be necessary to own a car to live there comfortably. I've lived in Takoma Park 2x, College Park 2x (once at UMCP), Kensington, and North Rockville (Shady Grove in King Farm). I've lived on both ends of the Red Line as well as on the Green Line. I've had commutes both short and long. I've lived in an area where I wasn't in walking distance to the Metro (Kensington) and had to rely on both Metrobusses and Ride-On (MoCo transit) busses. I've had commutes where I biked part of my commute. I currently live on some of the major bus lines and use them on a regular basis. I've commuted from my house in TP to Bethesda every day for 9 months, taking the bus that will be replaced by the Purple Line, so I know the everyday riding issues of the Purple Line.

Transit is a part of my everyday life. My daily commute is a flexible one, consisting of a number of options for getting to and from the Metro station, for taking the subway or the bus to work. I love the fact that I don't have to own a car and I live the Carfree lifestyle, having been introduced to the term and radical anti-car living by an individual I met living and hanging out at UMCP that I called "Bike Peter" (because at the time I had a roommate named Peter as well). (Sometime I'll have to write about him on here. He was something else... and a wonderful model for us all.) I don't bike so much anymore, but I used to take part of UMCP's Critical Mass bike ride, taking over the streets with a number of bikes to show that the city "doesn't have to be a church for cars" (the words of Bike Peter from the Critical Mass fliers) and that we bicyclists are legit traffic too.

Transit's also a part of my non-every day life. I enjoy travel quite a bit and always use transit when on the go. I love NYC, so I've taken the Greyhound, the Chinatown Bus, and Amtrak to NYC before. (My recommendation? If you have the money, Amtrak. If you don't, Chinatown bus. It's better than the Greyhound.) I've ridden transit in (let's see if I can remember them all): NYC (MTA, PATH, LIRR, and NJ Transit), Atlanta (MARTA), Baltimore (MTA and the MARC), Berlin (BVG: U-Bahn & S-Bahn), Chicago (CTA, the L, and METRA), Paris (RATP), Metz & Nancy (in France), Toulouse, and Seattle (SoundTransit and King County Metro Transit). (I'm sure I forgot one in there somewhere... I always do.) Transit has the same basic usage everywhere (you need to know your route number/letter/color and terminus, you have to know how to pay fare [exact change, please], etc.) but the feel of the various systems is often times quite different and the experiences you have with the operators and other riders can be as different as night and day. (Best place to ride the bus? Seattle. Everyone's SO friendly and helpful. People actually TALK to each other on there.)

I like the built in time that taking transit to work affords me. I use the time to listen to music, read (I'm an avid reader, and that's my time for reading every day) or sometimes simply to look out the windows and daydream. I've also been known to observe the other passengers, and occasionally try to draw. (I'm a horrible artist, but it's just for fun.) Heck, sometimes I even take the time to observe (people that I find to be) attractive men and women on the cars. (Don't we all check out people we think are hot on the Metro?) Even though I've lived in the DC area for 5 years now, taking transit all that time, I still haven't quite gotten over the inherent coolness of subways. Sometimes I still get a little bit of that thrill I got as a child because I'm riding a subway.

I must admit, not only do I have my driver's license, but I actually enjoy driving a car. (gasp!) I love how I have absolute freedom of movement in a car... how I can go whereever I want, whenever I want. After being stuck living in the woods for 18 years, this freedom is a big deal to me and, I must admit, it's a bit heady when I stop and think about it. I also love the feel of the open road before me. I really enjoy road trips. This is something that most transit advocates don't seem to have, and I think it helps me bridge the (sometimes seemingly impossible) gap between transit advocates and car lovers. When it comes to getting greater ridership on transit, although I know and would love to see the radical reforms that most transit advocates espouse, I recognize that it's too much, too quickly for your average car driver and I'm far more in favor of small baby step style changes to slowly wean the car driver off their car. (For example, more parking at Metro stations to encourage more people to make at least part of their commute via transit, as well as better shuttle service to and from Metro stations from neighborhoods.) I think it's more likely to actually WORK that way rather than a cold turkey (or almost cold turkey) approach.

I'm a member of Flexcar, a car sharing service, but haven't actually gone out and used it yet. I've only had it for a couple of months.

I'm known to call out Metro on their shortcomings. I've been saying for years that the handholds are wrong (too high... DC has lots of short people, including the 5'1" myself). Within the past 9 months, after interacting with Richard and everyone on Rebuilding Place, I've also been noticing how horrible their marketing is, how unavailable information is (specifically for bus services), and, recently, how this system will die if they don't expand beyond 2 track service.

I'll also give credit where credit is due. Example. I love Commuterpage and the Commuter Store and I desperately wish that MD had the same thing.

I have other interests in my life that, inevitably, color the way I look at transit, merely because we can't fully separate all of our interests from the others... we're whole people and one side of us will leak a bit into the other. I'm a computer geek, being formally trained in PC maintenance and repair (CompTIA A+ certification) and SOHO (small office/home office) networking (CompTIA Network+ certification). I like it when tech and Metro collide. I used to have a Palm that I used to download bus schedules from Commuterpage (I wish they'd have them up for every route) and Ride-On. My work at the time had Adobe Acrobat Pro (the full version) so I'd make my own PDFs with selected last and first train times from the stations I frequented the most. (Yes, these are available in PDF online but their table structure translates extremely poorly to PDF on Palm.) I'm also a geek in many other ways. I enjoy fandom, writing fanfiction and role playing. I've been known to role play on busses before with other RPers and to read fanfic on the bus that I've downloaded online, turned to PDF, and downloaded to my Palm. I'm just a generally geeky kind of person and I think it gives me a more critical eye for transit.

My other main interest is human sexuality. I eventually want to get my (actual, not Mad) doctorate in it, and I already do sexual education. I've been interviewed for a podcast, I've given presentations on it, and I've done one-on-one education about a wide variety of issues via online chat. (Ok, insert obligatory jokes about Metrosexuals here. ;-) )

So that's the long and short about me when it comes to transit. I'd love to hear a bit about you. Tell me about your interests!

To get people who have mobility choices to choose transit, they have to know it exists

2007-03-26T03:08:00.000-07:00

Trying to get on the subway at National Airport. Flickr photo by Burnt Pixel.

1. You don't necessarily appreciate the convenience of WMATA, the Washington area subway and bus system, until you ride transit in other places. (Not that there aren't many aspects of transit that can't be improved -- see below.) Subway to National Airport is so much easier than bus to/from other airports.

At least WMATA, in its services to Dulles Airport and BWI Airport, has a special bus, with racks to accommodate luggage. The bus service to the Seattle-Tacoma Airport is extensive, both by the King County system (Seattle) and Sound Transit (Tacoma). But they are regular buses, with no special accommodations for luggage.

And it is a pain in the a** to lug three bags and stuff them in and around your seat on a full--articulated, which can accommodate 60-80 people--bus.

The same goes for Pittsburgh and its 28X bus service.

The Pittsburgh buses are regular, either mini or full sized, buses without accommodations for luggage.

However, more people ride the bus to Seattle from the airport, even though the usage for the Pittsburgh bus is high, so comparatively it's easier to take luggage to/from the Pittsburgh airport compared to Seattle.

Transit Information Rack, University Book Store, University of Washington, Seattle

Still one thing that I don't think WMATA (or DC for that matter) does very well is use transit points of purchase (bus stops, subway stations) and frequently used places as points to promote and distribute information about transit.

I mention this because I didn't go to many places yesterday--the airport, Pike Place Market, and the University District adjacent to the University of Washington--but I found in each place a massive rack distributing information about public transit (which in this region includes ferry service). Plus, the buses had information displayed as well, including the Sound Transit published Transit Guide.

Rack of transit schedule information, Pike Place Market.

3. By way of comparison, at National Airport in Terminal A, there are two transit brochures, one the schedule for the 5A bus line to Dulles Airport and another general brochure (but no maps or other promotional materials displayed) in an information rack affixed to an information booth.. Granted there is the subway station, which is a promotion in and of itself, but I write frequently that we need to better utilize these stations as places to promote transit.

At the Seattle-Tacoma airport, a large information rack for public transit was immediately adjacent to the Visitor Information desk. I think information about transit was also placed in the various visitor information racks too. Plus the signage pointing people to the public transit ground transportation options was also pretty clear.

Plus, this poster, promoting transit as a viable way to get around, was affixed to one of the boards in the six-sided information rack.

And the signage at the bus stop explained how to use the system very well, and how to get to various places in the region from the airport, using public transit.

This reminds me of my first experience using the subway at National Airport about 20 years ago. I was new to the city and someone asked me how to get to Germantown by transit. I had no idea. And looking at the map of the subway system even today, how would you know you can get to Germantown by taking the red line to Shady Grove?

These transit-promotion materials were available in the various information racks I have come across so far in Seattle. (I know that some of these kinds of guides are made available by WMATA, or the county-based bus systems. But I don't think there are many such comprehensive guides for the DC region. And these kinds of materials are likely inadequately distributed in our region.)

DC Circulator Bus Extension in Georgetown to Launch Monday

2007-03-23T14:44:00.000-07:00

From Erik Linden, DDOT:

1. DC Circulator Bus Extension in Georgetown to Launch Monday
2. Smithsonian/National Gallery of Art Route Resumes Daily Schedule on March 26

As previously announced, the DC Circulator bus will extend its East/West route to take on the Georgetown Metro Connection "Blue Bus" Foggy Bottom line beginning Monday, March 26, 2007.

The Georgetown Metro Connection, fondly referred to as the "Blue Bus," was launched five years ago by the Georgetown Business Improvement District (BID), to link Georgetown to the three closest Metro stations - Foggy Bottom, Dupont Circle and Rosslyn. It was a precursor to the DC Circulator bus, demonstrating the high demand for efficient neighborhood-based surface transportation.

In an effort to provide the best and most efficient means of bus transportation in and around Georgetown , the District Department of Transportation - in partnership with the Georgetown BID - will conduct a six month trial to extend the Circulator's route.

The demonstration project will run through September 30, 2007 and if deemed successful will become an ongoing route. The Georgetown BID will continue to run its Blue Bus on the long-established Roslyn to Dupont Circle route.

Also, please note that the Circulator's Smithsonian/National Gallery of Art Route will resume running seven days a week on Monday March 26 as part of its seasonal change. The Smithsonian/National Gallery of Art Loop will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

For more information and for new route details please visit the DC Circulator website.

DC Circulator route map, Effective 3/26/2007

Thoughts on the New 79 (7th St./GA Ave. express) Line

2007-03-20T00:27:00.000-07:00

New Metro Extra Bus, Georgia Avenue NW. Photos by Richard Layman.

Hi there... I'm C4bl3Fl4m3 (that's "CableFlame" to those of you that don't read 1337), newest Mad Doctor in the League of Transit Doctors. I'll put more about myself later. Just know that as Dr. Richard writes up more academic style, more formal report style posts about transit, mine are far more informal and deal more with the social aspects.

Today, I'm going to write about the new 79 express bus on Georgia Ave.

For those of you who don't know, for a while, they've been talking about adding an express bus on the 7th St./GA Ave. corridor. Ever since Dr. Richard posted about this last fall (and included a map of the proposed route), I've been very excited about this. See, I live 3 blocks from said GA Ave. corridor near the DC/Silver Spring border. I've complained about the 70/71 (local) service before (namely that it's so unreliable heading to Silver Spring that you can't use it for time-critical use). So the idea of having an express bus that stops near my house and can get me downtown in half an hour (the amount of time it takes me on the Metro) for the price of bus fare? Good times.

So yesterday was the first day of service. And I had to go to my friend Fritter's house for Monday Night Faerie Potluck. Well, he lives on the GA Ave. corridor too, just north of Howard. So I thought, WTF, I'll try out the new bus service.

So I get out of work @ 6, head over to Chinatown on the Red Line and wait at the stop. Now, first off, there was no advertising around the station or the stop that there was a new bus line running. Nothing. No ads, not even a Route Map at the stop. The stop did have the new "Metro Extra" blue sign, however. (To check out the sign, click on this link to go to the WMATA page on it.) I thought I had missed the last bus (they stop running at 6:30), but I waited about 5 minutes, and, sure enough, the new style dark blue bus came pulling up. The bus didn't have the route on the front yet, instead sporting a "Not In Service" banner. However, riders of the buses in the DC are used to this, and it was sporting hand drawn "79" signs in the front and side window.

I had to admit, when I spotted it, I was excited. New bus, new route, first day of service for the route... I was making history. Well, sorta. The bus was shiny and clean and new. I stepped on the bus as the driver announced to each of us that it was a limited stop bus. I nodded as I paid my fare with my SmarTrip card.

And it was then that I noticed the flaw with this service. Nowhere inside did it have a map of the route. Not posted on the walls nor fliers in the racks. And there was much discussion with the people getting on as to "does it stop at _____ street?" Even after we got going, some of the people were still trying to confirm what was going on, and one woman even got off at Convention Center, obviously angry and upset over the confusion and that the bus wasn't going to stop where she needed to.

Another woman on the bus behind me had a flier for the new route. I asked her where she got it. She said "they mailed it to me". Well, I never got such a flier, and if the only way to get a flier of the route (or even be aware of its existence) is via the mail, then there's a problem. Yes, it's on the Internet, but this bus serves lower class, poorer areas whos access to the Internet may be limited or non-existent. Because I didn't know exactly which stop I should get off at, I asked the lady if I could borrow hers, which she let me do.

The bus didn't have many people on it after the first stop or so... I'd say between 5 and 10. As people got on the bus at the various stops, the same questions were asked "where does this bus go?" "will it stop at my stop?" Much of this confusion could be dealt with if 1.) there was more signage and fliers for the route and 2.) people were more pro-active in learning about transit. So many people won't even look at the maps at the bus stops (some of the ones we passed had the map of the route up) or read the schedule to find out when the next bus is coming, or if it goes where it needs to go.

So I rode the bus, and asked the bus driver which of 2 stops would get me closer to my destination. He said the latter, which would cause me to back track. I got off and it was a 7 minute walk to my destination. Perhaps slightly longer, but not on a steep grade uphill as it would have been had I gotten off at Howard Ave. (or St. or whatever).

In short? Unless Metro gets their act together and starts publicizing this route more and getting out information better about the stops on the route, etc., the route is going to fail. Metro will find that there's low ridership and that it's no faster because of confusion of people getting on the bus holding it up while they try to determine if it stops at their stop or not.

Another issue with the bus is that, right now, it only runs during rush hours. However, have you ever taken the 70 during night? Like from the hours of 9 to closing? It's PACKED. And by packed, I mean almost to the capacity of what the bus can carry. It only runs every half hour then, and for the busses that aren't the "accordion busses" (I know there's an actual term for them that Dr. Richard uses, but I don't remember it), it gets dangerously full. (I'm a short woman, 5'1", and I'm too short to use the overhead handholds. I can only hold on at certain places. Because it's mainly poor/lower class people that take the bus, and we have a decent number of poor Hispanics/Latino(a)s in this city, and quite a few of them are short, like me, there's a large number of people that can't use the overhead handholds. And so we're stuck crowding around the few vertical bars and behind the seat holds. It's dangerous.) Anyway, the 79 needs to not just run during rush hour, but the late nights too. Many people who use the bus have jobs that are 2nd or 3rd shift or that run late at night. These people are coming home at night at 9, 10, 11 o'clock. It's Lower Class Rush Hour during those hours, and yet service isn't designated to them at those times.

Basically, I think they're putting the new service at the wrong time. I don't know the amount of people who use it to commute during morning and evening rush hours, but I do wonder if it's anything like late at night. If they want to keep service during rush hour, add it during the Night (as opposed to evening) Rush Hours. If they have to cut the regular rush hour service to do that, then do it. Radical ideas, yes, I know, but I think it would be worth it.

So those are my thoughts on the 79. Have you ridden the line? What were your thoughts? Even if you haven't ridden the line, do you have any ideas on it?

Think different...about mobility

2007-03-07T04:44:00.000-08:00

(Reprinted from Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space, 12/2005)

Schwinn Women’s Cruiser 26" Bike for sale at $99.99 on the Target website. Target employees get a 10% discount.

When society is so focused on the car, it's hard to explore options in a focused and more broad-minded fashion. Take mobility. I get around the city of Washington (where I work and live) pretty much by bike.

Now some people say, "oh that saves you money." But it really doesn't. DC roads are not kind to bikes, neither are thieves. And I am not mechanically gifted so I pretty much pay for repairs and tuneups. So it costs about the same.

But what that doesn't take into account is the time I save. Rather than waiting for a bus or subway, for the most part I can ride where I need to go, when I want to. I figure that bike transportation saves me a minimum of 30 minutes/day (granted I waste that time blogging...).

Yesterday's Post, in "For the Carless, Life Is a Wait: Local Bus Systems Can Be Slow, but They Get There" recounts the story of Connie Wells in Fredericksburg, who takes a bus to work. She leaves up to three hours before she is supposed to be at work, to ensure she's on time. Unlike most people Ms. Wells actually lives pretty close to her job--it's three miles away.

From the article:

Connie Wells is waiting for the 1:10 p.m. bus outside her Fredericksburg apartment complex. Her cashier shift at Target doesn't start for nearly three hours, and she's only going three miles. But the next bus, in two hours, will get her there too late. So Wells is waiting, early -- very early -- to make it to a job she desperately needs.

Eventually, Bus No. 2 pulls up, a beige, boxy 20-seater on the regional system called "the Fred," which serves suburban cul-de-sacs, rural roads and the touristy little city of Fredericksburg. Wells beams at everyone in their clean, green vinyl seats as she walks down the aisle. And for the most part, they beam back, because that is the unspoken rule of the Fred: No complaining.
Image from Fredericksburg Public Transportation Evolution.

"I have learned a lot of patience riding the Fred," said Wells, 41, who sometimes gets to work nearly two hours early, where she waits in the break room talking with co-workers. The last bus leaves at 7 p.m., so if her shift runs past that, she'll take a taxi home, which costs $6.25 -- 75 cents shy of an hour's worth of smiling and taking money at a Target register.
___________
While I imagine that the roads from home to work don't offer convenient bike lanes or sidewalks, she could walk to work in one hour (saving two hours of her time there, and I don't know how much time coming back), or she could bike to work in no longer than 20 minutes--saving more than 2.5 hours of time getting to work, plus the time returning.

Transportation and mobility isn't just about bus, subway, or car--even in Fredericksburg.

Although, it's very important that businesses-office buildings offer quality bike parking as well as shower and locker facilities. Certainly shopping centers could offer this to employees, and it's another argument for requiring transportation demand management plans for commercial projects.

Note: it appears from the The Fred website, as well as the student paper referenced above, that the Fredericksburg area actually does pretty well from a transit perspective, offering more options than comparably sized regions across the country.

Wi-fi on public transit

2007-03-07T03:47:00.000-08:00

According to Wi-Fi to Board the Trinity Railway Express in the Dallas Morning News, wi-fi will be installed on that area's commuter railroad. While it has been successfully tested on Caltrain in California, see "Caltrain Succeeds With High-Speed Internet," wi-fi hasn't yet been rolled out on the Caltrain system for regular service.

The trade publication Metro has a nice article too, "What to Consider Before Equipping Your Transit System with Wi-Fi." According to the article, most people in the field think wi-fi service is best suited for transit choice riders taking long trips, i.e., long rides from the suburbs to the center city.

OTOH, I think there are plenty of routes in the center city and inner suburbs that provide long rides appropriate for wi-fi and transit-choice riders. E.g., S buses on 16th Street NW, the new rapider bus service on Georgia Avenue, PikeRide and Rex in Arlington and Alexandria, etc.

And of course, the area's commuter railroads.

Caltrain image.

We need a transit users conference, now!

2007-03-06T06:44:00.000-08:00

Cross-posted from Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space.

For more than a year, I've been suggesting that regional transit advocates need to have an annual conference, and lay out an "unconstrained" transit agenda, and then have the agenda "down" so that it can be pushed at any and every opportunity.

E.g. the Bethesda-New Carrollton Purple Line initiative is somewhat disconnected from the Cross-Wilson Bridge initiative from Branch Avenue to Alexandria. Wouldn't it make sense for these two initiatives to use the same technology?

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a transit users conference in Toronto, which brought about the power of "open source"--read civic engagement and deliberative democracy--to Toronto transit. See "Toronto "Transit Camp" engages citizens-users to improve the transit system."

DC1974 sends us a link to an article in SFist, "I wish," about ideas for upgrading and extending the Muni website and information services.

This reminds of the classic paper (later expanded into a book) by Eric Raymond, "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" about the difference between traditional and open source methods for creating computer software. This paper predates by many years the idea of Web 2.0 and community-software applications (such as Flickr, Myspace, Youtube), and user-generated content platforms.

The thing is, this is a paper about top-down vs. bottom-up initiatives generally. When I first read it, I was struck by the similarities about how his points on software development relate to civic engagement and democracy.

Another paper summarizes:

In his paper, Raymond discusses the historical model for software development and compares it to building cathedrals, a slow and laborious effort with exacting methods carefully applied. Each brick and beam was carefully planned and the structure was erected with painstaking craftsmanship to meet the planned design and symmetry.

The bazaar, by contrast, was often created ad-hoc and in an evolutionary fashion. The bazaar started with a few street vendors and was later built up by additional vendors and merchants, each staking out a piece of the market place as their own and maintaining and adding to their stall until a full-blown Agora was in place.

Clearly each approach served its purpose well, but the cathedral method is rigid and static. It needs the contribution of each part exactly as designed in order to stand, and has difficulty adapting to any other shape or location. The open-source movement is all about flexibility and evolutionary development.

Raymond went on to review nineteen axioms of open-source development by discussing his experience developing "Fetchmail," a Linux application used to forward e-mail. These axioms are the basic tenets of the open-source community, and Raymond discussed them with detailed analysis and examples in the original paper.

Open source isn't just about "flexibility and evolutionary development." It is also about the power and creativity of the group. Open source links skill to a kind of organized, somewhat ordered, but messy democracy.

"Getting There" is the Baltimore Sun's transit column, and yesterday's column, "Awareness the ticket for better bus use," has a similar suggestion, but about ensuring connectivity between systems. (Note that Cableflame, now a co-writer on the companion Dr. Transit blog, points out that the new WMATA subway maps show the bus links to Dulles (5A) and BWI (B30) Airports.)

Michael Dresser suggests a regionwide system connectivity conference, although he is more focused on the Baltimore region, and the Maryland Mass Transit Administration.

From the article:

To its credit, the Transit Riders Action Coalition is prodding the General Assembly to adopt connectivity among adjoining local systems as a basic principle of state transportation policy. The advocacy group is pointing to such anomalies as a Carroll County system that connects with no other transit systems. Then there's that issue of base realignment, bringing thousands of new jobs to an Aberdeen area with woeful connections to Wilmington, Del., and Philadelphia.

The MTA could jump to the head of this parade. Here's a modest suggestion for you:

Convene a "Connectivity Summit" this summer, inviting every regional and local transit agency between Philadelphia and Northern Virginia along with transit activists, disability-rights groups and anyone who wants to participate. Hash out all the issues - from a common fare structure, to a universal "smart card" to a unified schedule database.

The long-neglected local transit systems are eager to join in and are looking forward to working with you."We're all hoping that with the new administration, things are going to get much better," said Carl Balser, chief of transportation planning for Howard Transit. "We have been fairly marginalized in the transit community for the last several years and we're hoping for a renaissance."

Note that MTA doesn't have a ride guide comparable to that created and continually improved by WMATA. I have argued that WMATA should license this system to MTA for the Baltimore region. Afterall, MTA is a funder of the WMATA system.

Anyway, I say we need to go beyond a strict conference on connectivity, and have a true regionwide transit users and advocacy conference, in part along the Toronto model, promoting the idea of the power of the group and "open source" transit and;

2. That this conference be co-sponsored by the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Post, which runs the Dr. Gridlock column, as well as the Baltimore and Washington editions of the Examiner, which each run the "Sprawl and Crawl" column by Steve Eldridge.

Note that along these lines, in January 2005, the Philadelphia City Paper did a great cover story on 33 ways to improve SEPTA. See "Let's Go." 33 ways to reinvent, rethink and recharge our beleaguered transit agency. Other cities around the world have cool public transportation systems. Why can't we?

Wouldn't it be cool for the Washington City Paper and the Baltimore City Paper to do this for each respective region, but run the articles the same week?

(Note that Mark Jenkins' piece in the Washington City Paper more than 10 years ago, proposing a Purple Line, was a significant contributor to my eventual involvement in these kinds of issues.)

Some run the CTA but rarely ride it

2007-03-05T04:57:00.000-08:00

DC1974 sends us a link to this article, "Some run the CTA but rarely ride it," from the Chicago Tribune "Getting Around" column by John Hilkevitch, and writes:

I wish there was this kind of investigation into the transit habits of WMATA board members.

From the article:

CTA board member ridership Rides taken in 2006
Henry Chandler Jr. 129
Carole Brown 53
Nicholas Zagotta 24
Susan Leonis 12
Cynthia Panayotovic 12
Charles Robinson 3 A
lejandro Silva 0
Source: CTA

Not all CTA executives using the system.

The Tribune obtained a list of 95 Chicago Transit Authority executives at the general manager level and above, and seven of its board members to observe whether they ride CTA buses and trains. Of the 95 employees listed, only 35 rode the CTA more than 500 times in 2006.

MOST AND FEWEST CTA RIDES AMONG EXECUTIVES
NAME TITLE AND JOB DESCRIPTION 2006
1. Terry Levin VP, Customer Service & Training 1,434
2. Angela Moore Special Assistant to the President 1,282
3. John Dalton GM, Construction 1,176
4. Bruce Nelson GM, Rail Ops, Cap Proj. Oversight 1,173
5. John Paquet GM, Service Planning 1,053
6. Jeff Sriver GM, Strategic Planning 997
7. David Simmons GM, Capital Grants 957
8. Kevin Stanciel GM, Facilities Development 901
9. Cary Morgen GM, Schedules 889
10. Michael Shiffer VP, Planning 888
86. Robert Degnan GM, System Maintenance Support 49
87. Reginald Lovelace VP, Purchasing 37
88. Sheila Gregory GM, Public Affairs 34
89. William Nolan GM, System Safety & Env. Affairs 31
90. Martin Stack GM, Dispute Resolution & Due Proces 20
91. Ralph Malec Senior Projec Mgr., MMIS 19
92. Michael O'Sullivan GM, Rail Car Heavy Maintenance 16
93. Terry Shinnick GM, Enterprise Systems Services 13
94. Robert Levine GM, Project Control, Construction 5
95. Marina Popovic Deputy General Counsel, Corporate 0
Source: CTA Chicago Tribune

I know that the new president of the system, John Catoe, plans to use the transit system. I know it would also be interesting to know how many elected officials in the region use the transit system at least occasionally.

It gets a bit aggravating to hear about things like "year of the bus" or "year of customer service" and at the same time, hear "we're eliminating our infrastructure construction division."

Follow through and building and maintaining system capacity are connected to a real understanding of both the theory and practice of transit.

Transportation Planning at the neighborhood level (H Street NE Transportation Meeting)

2007-03-05T04:38:00.000-08:00

Bill Schultheiss is a transportation planning consultant, as well as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in ANC6A. He is working with the ANC's Transportation Committee to forge a neighborhood-based transportation plan.

From an email:

Hi all, I know a few of you are interested in this subject. Let's meet sometime within the next two weeks to start developing a plan of action for H Street Transportation. Those interested, please email me.

Let's try to meet at a coffee shop or someone's house to come up with a strategy for improving Transportation on H Street. We can forward recommendations we develop to the Transportation Subcommittee, which can than send them to the ANC and the appropriate agencies for action. I envision each of the volunteers taking on specific elements of the work.

Preliminary issues are:

• Residential Parking along H - hours, enforcement
• Business parking - meters in residential neighborhoods, valet parking, shared use of existing parking lots, shuttle buses to parking
• Transit - Bus stops, schedules, shuttle between Union Station and Hechinger Mall,
• Temporary Bus for Street Car
• New development - Transportation Demand Management Strategies, parking, etc
• H Street Streetscape Construction
• Sidewalk conditions on adjacent streets
• Alleys behind H - condition and use
• Security
• Traffic calming on adjacent streets
• One Way Street Operation vs. two way on select streets (i.e. 12th at H)
• Trash

Lots of stuff and I am sure we will think of more. I am excited to work on this with you all.

To speed this up: I propose the following times to meet - let me know which work for you.
- Tuesday - March 6th, 7 p.m.
- Saturday - March 10th, 3 p.m.
- Sunday - March 11th, 3 p.m.
- Tuesday - March 12th, 7 p.m.
- Thursday - March 14th, 7 p.m.

Revival of the Dr. Transit blog

2007-03-04T19:26:00.000-08:00

After a conversation with an area transit groupie, we've decided that the Dr. Transit blog can and should be revived as a group blog.

1. I will continue to post transit entries in the Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space blog.

2. However, I will also cross-post those entries here.

3. Cableflame, a key commenter-contributor to transit posts on the Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space, will begin writing posts on Dr. Transit.

4. A few other people will be invited to be members of the posting group as well.

We'll see where things go, and expect more announcements down the road.

Thanks.

Living Streets from the exhibit in NYC to your community

2006-03-23T08:06:00.000-08:00

Exhibit panel, Living Streets Exhibit, NYC.

The New York City Street Renaissance Campaign is a joint effort by a number of groups working to better "balance" mobility resources vs. fealty to the car. In Manhattan, 80% of the residents don't have cars, yet much of the public space is devoted to car usage.

The campaign has sponsored a Living Streets Exhibit at the Municipal Arts Society (and lecture-organizing series) to get people talking about these issues. They're basic issues true, but need to be repeated constantly, because people plan, design, and advocate for the car without even questioning it. (Even in NYC...)

The companion website has a lot more information, more videos than were shown in the Exhibit, etc.

I am actually not a car hater, but I take an extreme position because pro-car lobbying forces-- ranging from regional affiliates of the American Automobile Association to the industry to the average resident--encourage the maintenance and strengthening of planning and transportation practices that put private automobile interests front and center.

Recent examples include:

- opposition to providing public space (designated parking spaces) to car sharing services, ostensibly because the car sharing services are for-profit companies, not looking at the overall impact of reducing the total number of cars seeking to park on city streets;

- opposition to increases in parking permit prices, and scaling prices according to the number of cars in a household, and limiting the number of permits to three per household (note that the street space in front of the average rowhouse can only accommodate one car, even small cars in the U.S. range from 12-14 feet long, and The Common Denominator, normally a decent good government oriented newspaper editorialized in favor of providing neighborhood parking structures!!!!!!!!!!!!, my unpublished communication to the editor started out stating that such a recommendation is "insane");

- calls for special parking permits for teachers at a Columbia Heights school, because they have to leave school throughout the day to move their cars, which are parking in residential permit zones--yet DC Public Schools don't participate in pro-transit usage programs (Metrochek) and DC schoolteachers expect free onsite parking generally);

Clearly, a comprehensive look at these issues is required, and people aren't doing it. Institutions like churches and schools ought to be required to produce and maintain transportation demand management programs aimed at reducing individual car trips. Such a requirement should include charter schools which likely generate upwards of 500 car trips/ day for each school. Businesses should be encouraged to receive truck deliveries at night, when there is little traffic on the streets, etc.

It's funny to talk with NYC activists about how bad it is in NYC when for those of us in the rest of the country, we see NYC as #1 in terms of pro-pedestrianism and as the one place where residents don't feel entitled to street parking. Parking fees and taxes there are extremely high and there is a recognition that making car ownership easier is counter-productive.

Still, we can learn from our colleagues in NYC, and we can be inspired by them, because at times it's hard to "keep hope alive" when you argue the same point over and over and over and over again, such as in Columbia Heights, site of the schoolteacher parking issue, where one person said it's necessary to widen DC roads for cars, as well as to provide parking lots throughout neighborhoods. Ugh.

Sculpture at Millennium Park, Chicago.

And DC is doing a lot more than a lot of communities in terms of rebalancing mobility planning, and in focusing on public space and streetscape improvement. One such project is the reconstruction of Thomas Circle to more of a park-like setting comparable to Dupont Circle, instead of an inaccessible micro-greenspace scarred by multiple street travel lanes.

Thomas Circle under reconstruction.

Rendering of Thomas Circle after reconstruction.

But even so, it is a constant constant struggle to do this up against the pro-car forces, that unfortunately seem to build with each new household coming to the District, a household that hasn't shucked off suburban planning and transportation practices, and applies these ill-fitted approaches to city planning and transportation questions which require urban-oriented and friendly answers.

Index Keywords: mobility; car-culture; walking

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The Frozen Tropics poll on H Street streetcar line routing

2006-03-10T09:05:00.000-08:00

I don't know all the issues, haven't seen routing diagrams or anything, so I can't say that this is exactly how I would word the questions-choices. But I think this poll is interesting. Join in.

From the Frozen Tropics weblog.

Where are Dr. Transit's blog entries?

2005-08-10T05:35:00.000-07:00

Dr. Transit doesn't have enough time to support three blogs, so transit posts are incorporated within Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space.

An Amtrak train seen at the Brookland WMATA station.

Continuing Transportation Education for Doctor Transit

2005-03-10T11:25:00.000-08:00

Dr. Transit writes very authoritatively but recognizes (usually) that there is a lot more that he doesn't know than he does know. Like the regular medical profession, and most of the licensed professions that have continuing education requirements, Dr. Transit is committed to earning CTEs, to ensure the transportation agenda moves forward, rather than backward.

So emails, blog comments, articles, conferences, etc., become grist for the mill in earning those CTEs.

And all the aspects of transit and getting a handle on it, feels like a much longer than one hour episode of ER.