Quick Shout-Out to "The Examiner" for Smart Growth Article

Readers of this blog know that I am no huge fan of the free weekday DC tabloid "The Examiner", due to its irritatingly right-wing editorial slant. In fact, practically every week I say to myself "I am never reading that right-wing nut-job propaganda organ again."

However, I have to give credit where credit is due. Say what you will about the intellectual integrity of the paper's editorial rants against the President and Democrats: but the paper does the best job in town of covering traffic, commuting and development issues. Witness this article in yesterday's "Examiner" on smart growth. Here are a few excerpts:

Organizations like the Coalition for Smarter Growth are lobbying for transit projects that shy away from highway expansion and to focus more on encouraging development around transit hubs.

Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the coalition, said that rather than widening lanes and building high-occupancy toll lanes, officials should examine charging peak rates for using existing lanes during rush hour, as Metro does.

The coalition was one of several groups that rallied against a Montgomery County plan this week to widen Interstate 270.

"We urge the County Council to reject the Planning Board's misguided transportation recommendations, the result of which would be more cars on the highways and more traffic jams," said Ben Ross, president of Action Committee for Transit, a Montgomery County citizens group.

***

Schwartz said the key was to adopt a model similar to Arlington County or Old Town Alexandria, namely, focusing development near rail stations and transit centers.

So, props to "The Examiner" - here's hoping they will continue to cover these very important issues in a "fair and balanced" manner.

Breaking Up the Blue and Orange: Proposed Separate Blue Line Tunnel Downtown

Readers of this blog will come to the conclusion that I admire the blog "Greater Greater Washington" highly. And I mine their posts for material shamelessly (thanks guys!). Another blog (the chief inspiration for the blog you are currently reading) is "Track Twenty-Nine", which I credit with turning my attention to the proposed re-alignment of the Blue Line into a new tunnel separated from the Orange Line through downtown. Click here to see GGW's conception of Metro's vision of the system in 2030.

Separating the Orange and Blue downtown would accomplish several things:

a) open up space and headways for the new Silver Line from Tysons and Dulles,
b) with the addition of a new Potomac River crossing, greatly increase capacity into DC from northern Virginia, and
c) catalyze transit-oriented development and revitalization in areas targeted by the city, such as H Street NE.

GGW posted a "2003 WMATA expansion" map in September and discussed this proposed Blue Line re-alignment, which would run down M Street from Georgetown to Massachusetts Ave., pass the Convention Center to Union Station, then down H Street to Benning Road, terminating at River Terrace.

This alignment along M and Mass. has always struck me as being too close to the existing east-west Metro lines (Orange/Blue west of the Convention Center, and Red to the east). In fact, this alignment sits only a few blocks north of the other lines along a good portion of the route. It would appear to me that if we separated the lines a bit more, a larger part of the core of the city could be served by Metro.

I would therefore propose an alternative alignment a couple blocks further north, along P Street instead of M. Like the alignment proposed in the 2003 WMATA expansion map, my plan would begin with a new station in Rosslyn connected by a tunnel to the existing Rosslyn station. Blue Line trains would proceed north through a new tunnel under the Potomac, through Georgetown University with a new station on campus. The line then would turn east onto P Street and proceed to a new station at Wisconsin Ave. Continuing on P St., trains would then pass through and connect with the Dupont Circle station. After Dupont, trains would take one of several alignment options:

1) turn south-east on Massachusetts Ave., then turn east to N Street to a stop on the northern side of the Convention Center (with a connection to the existing Green/Yellow Line stop), then turning south-east on New Jersey Ave.; or
2) continue on P St. through a new stop at Logan Circle, then turning south-east on New Jersey Ave. (completely by-passing the Convention Center); or
3) continue on P St. through Logan Circle all the way to North Capitol Street, onto which the line turns south towards Union Station.

Under all three options, Blue Line trains would then turn due east onto H Street with a station at 1st St. NE & H Street (connecting to Union Station Metro via pedestrian tunnel), then continuing along H Street and terminating at a new station at Oklahoma Ave./Benning Rd., at River Terrace, or at Stadium/Armory.

A map of my proposed Blue Line route can be seen here. The new line is represented here in deep red, with large black dots indicating stops and/or attractions along the route, including Georgetown University, Wisconsin Ave/P Street, Dupont Circle, Scott Circle, Convention Center, New Jersey Ave./Gonzaga, Union Station, H Street NE, and Benning Road/Oklahoma Ave.

Would apreciate your comments. From my perspective, the chief advantage of this proposed alignment is to put more of the city closer to a Metro station, making more of the city attractive for re-development into the vibrant, walkable communities made possible elsewhere by thoughtful transit-oriented planning.


*****

On a separate note, I have to call attention to the excellent DC map containing city streets and an overlay of the existing Metro lines and stations, which is found here. Why is this extremely useful information (combined street/metro overlays) such a rare find? And why doesn't Metro have such a thing on their website?

Manifesto to Change.gov

I wrote and submitted this letter to the “An American Moment: Your Story” feature on then President-Elect Obama's website on January 8, 2009. I thought I would post it here as a statement of my thoughts on the necessity to use the economic stimulus package as an opportunity to invest in our future, not simply as an exercise in throwing money at the same old problems via the same old "solutions".

President-Elect Obama and VP-Elect Biden,

I have read much in the press about the stimulus plan, which envisions substantial funding for "shovel-ready" projects like roads and bridges, among other areas. What I have seen comparatively little discussion of is Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), a critical concept that impacts economic development, climate change, and energy independence.

I strongly encourage you to work with Congress to build into this recovery plan significant funding for mass transit projects such as subways, commuter and high-speed rail projects, and urban light-rail projects. Investments in transit projects, when coupled with land use policies that encourage denser development, can serve as a powerful catalyst for economic activity and urban revitalization. We MUST move away from development policies that prioritize sprawl-inducing, auto-centric land use patterns. Investment in transit and TOD will revive our urban centers by making cities more livable, bringing people back from distant suburbs and removing cars from our overclogged highways. This reduction in automobile use also reduces pollution and our reliance on imported oil. If we could reduce our oil consumption approx. 25%, we could virtually eliminate our imports of oil from foreign energy suppliers in Latin America and the Middle East which are very hostile to American values, including democracy and human rights. So TOD has enormous benefits in many areas of critical national importance. If we truly want to use this recovery package to invest in America's future, I can think of no better way than to take steps such as TOD which reduce auto emissions, oil consumption, and urban sprawl.

I just watched the president-elect's speech at George Mason University on Thurs., Jan. 8, and I have hope that President-Elect Obama and his team are listening to the nation for the best ideas - please do all you can to leverage TOD and invest in America’s future.

Thank you, good luck, and God Bless America,
Glenn Boyce

I just fell in love...

... with Christopher Leinberger of The Brookings Institute. Thanks to the "Tranportation for America" blog for publicizing the fantasic interview (below) appearing in The Infrastructurist (http://www.infrastructurist.com/).

In this interview, Leinberger discusses the folly of suburban development, the reversal of "white flight" underway which is bringing professionals back to the urban core, the long road back from the current housing crisis, and ideas for a better way forward, including public transportation.

Here's the interview: http://www.infrastructurist.com/2009/02/10/how-to-save-the-suburbs-an-interview-with-christopher-leinberger/

And here's a phrase I think we will be hearing a lot more in the years to come: "the emerging suburban slum" (used in a comment by Bruce McF below the article). My architectural-historian wife has voiced this same thought under the phrase "tomorrow's tenements", referring to the shoddily-constructed suburban developments now struggling to attract buyers.

We have to move beyond the notion of mass transit in this country being "poor man's transportation". Perhaps the current financial meltdown will give us all a push in that direction.

I'm on my way out the door to find Leinberger's book(s)...

Welcome to DC Metro Transit!

Welcome! This is the first post in this blog, which I hope will become a regular conversation about transportation issues in Washington, DC.

For this first post, allow me to share an article I saw today in the free "Examiner" newspaper distributed in the DC area. I am generally not a big fan of this paper due to its right-wing bias, but I applaud them for covering a study by the Urban Land Institute (being released today) which concludes that people who purchase homes in the distant suburbs to escape high real estate prices end up paying more for housing and transportation than those who choose a home closer to the center of the metropolitan area. This study is a nice piece of ammo against automobile-centric transportation policy.

Here's the link: http://www.dcexaminer.com/local/Study-Home-savings-in-outer-suburbs-often-get-sapped-by-costly-commutes-39289052.html

(Bear with me as I get up to speed on editing the HTML coding...)

I will post more later on my personal thoughts regarding issues such as transit-oriented development (TOD), public transportation policy, and the relative value of enhanced transit systems versus ever larger automobile-centric transportation networks. I cannot think of a better way for this country to invest in its future, and stimulate the economy, than by focusing on transit-oriented development.