From parking tickets to streetcars and Capital Bikeshare, a D.C. City Council committee began a discussion on Wednesday about overhauling the transportation system in the city.
Category: District of Columbia
In the District, a transportation plan that boosts transit and discourages driving
A draft of the District’s long-range transportation plan calls for toll lanes at major entry points into the city and other efforts aimed at keeping vehicles off downtown’s congested streets. MoveDC, which looks ahead to 2040, envisions a city with a wide transit network that includes a streetcar system, dedicated bus lanes in major commuter corridors, expanded Metrorail service in the downtown core, an active water taxi system and 200 miles of on-street bicycle facilities.
Testimony before the Hon. Mary M. Cheh, Chair, Committee on the Environment and Transportation regarding the Performance Oversight Hearing of DDOT
We want to commend the committee and the Mayor for the advances we are making in transportation to ensure that our streets, transit, walk and bicycling facilities help make our city a healthier, safer, more sustainable, and more attractive place to live and work. New services and improvements to offer better access and travel choices such as expanded Capital Bike Share, sped up limited-stop bus service, routine curb extensions in streetscape designs, extensive use of leading pedestrian intervals – demonstrate there is much to commend about the advances we have made in just a few years. Given the tremendous growth our city is experiencing, it’s clear that we cannot accommodate this growth unless we continue to increase the attractiveness of alternatives to driving and car ownership. Our city’s growth and vibrancy cannot be predicated on how many more cars it can jam onto its already congested roads.
843 people died walking in the DC region in the last 10 years
Over half of recent pedestrian deaths in our region happened on wide, high-speed arterial roads. When will traffic engineers, elected officials, and residents get serious about fixing dangerous street designs?
RELEASE: Dangerous by Design – with 843 pedestrian fatalities in 10 years, still work to do for safe streets in DC region
Washington, D.C. – A new report, Dangerous by Design, released today by the National Complete Streets Coalition, a program of Smart Growth America, provides information on pedestrian fatalities and injuries and ranks every state, metro region and county based upon the degree of danger faced by pedestrians. Comparatively, the Washington, DC region is safer for pedestrians than many other regions in the nation, ranking 35 out of the 51 largest metro areas (with 1 being the most dangerous). At the same time, the report found that 843 pedestrians were killed in the region from 2003 to 2012 — an unacceptable number no matter the DC region’s current ranking – and the dangers for pedestrians along suburban arterial roads is particularly high.
Amend B20-604, “Affordable Homeownership Preservation and Equity Accumulation Amendment Act of 2013”
The “Affordable Homeownership Preservation and Equity Accumulation Amendment Act of 2013,” Council Bill 20-604, over time could reduce the amount of resources available for future housing needs by shrinking how much of the public’s investment in affordable housing is preserved. While the bill currently proposed would make several changes that would exclude many current affordable homeownership organization’s efforts, amendments to reverse these proposed changes have been agreed to by the key supporters of the bill with the Coalition for Non-Profit Housing and Economic Development (CNHED).
16th Street bus lane fact sheet
How to get better bus service for 16th Street – Rush hour bus lanes – 16th Street NW buses are plagued by overcrowding and delays – A rush hour bus lane would greatly improve service – What would a rush hour bus lane on 16th street NW do? A dedicated bus lane operating during rush hour in the peak direction would keep buses from getting stuck in traffic. Buses in dedicated lanes would avoid traffic delays, move at increased speeds, and arrive on time. This means more reliable, regular service, and less overcrowding for riders.
Testimony to DC Zoning Commission on McMillan (Parcel 1)
We wish to express our support for the healthcare building on Parcel 1 as part of the adaptive reuse of the McMillan Sand Filtration site. The scale of the medical buildings responds to the scale of the hospitals on the other side of Michigan Avenue, with the highest point closest to the similar height at Children’s Hospital. The healthcare building uses Cell 14 as an acre of open space next to North Capitol Street to buffer its massing from nearby rowhouse neighborhoods.
Testimony to DC Zoning Commission on McMillan PUD
We wish to express our support for the multifamily/retail building, and townhouse elements of this adaptive reuse of the McMillan Sand Filtration Plant. We have tracked the review process at the HPRB for the last year and appreciate the evolution of the designs to today’s proposal.
16th Street will get another bus upgrade, but only a dedicated lane will really fix it
Metro has added more buses to the 16th Street “S” line, but ridership just keeps rising, the buses are crowded, and they’re seriously bunching. A dedicated lane is the best solution, say WMATA planners, but in the meantime, they’re going to add articulated (or “accordion”) buses along the congested corridor.