Washington DC
In DC, the Danger of Enraged Driving Is on the Rise
Road rage is boiling over. Twelve percent of people surveyed in the Washington, DC, metro area said they often feel “uncontrollable anger toward another driver.” The number of people reporting such feelings has doubled since 2005, according to the Washington Post, which conducted the survey.
September 4, 2013
Eleanor Holmes Norton Takes Top Dem Slot on Highways and Transit Panel
Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts was elected to the Senate last month, setting off a chain of events that has led to the appointment of a new ranking member of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee in the House. That new ranking member is DC Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton.
July 26, 2013
Capital Bikeshare Members Reduced Their Driving 4.4 Million Miles Per Year
We’ve noted before that it can be challenging to figure out exactly how much driving is avoided when someone rides a bike. But here we have it straight from the horse’s mouth – nearly 7,000 horses, in fact. According to a November 2012 survey of Capital Bikeshare members, released today, the average subscriber drove 198 miles less per year after joining the system. Multiply that by 22,200 members and that's 3.7 million pounds of CO2 that won't get belched into the atmosphere. Nice work, CaBistas!
May 22, 2013
Solo Driving Drops in DC as Transit and Biking Soar
We’ve been writing a lot this week about the national shift away from car travel and toward transit, biking, and walking. Yesterday, Washington area officials released new data that indicates the DC region is at the forefront of that trend.
May 16, 2013
After Years of Unchecked Sprawl, Employment Inches Closer to the City
To hear some urbanists talk, you’d think the outer suburbs have been abandoned wholesale, lawn-mowers still running with no one to drive them, picket fences left open in the owners’ haste to beat it to the city.
April 19, 2013
AAA Still Up to Its Old Tricks Fighting Progressive Transport Policy
A representative of the American Automobile Association was a keynote speaker at this week's National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C., the annual gathering of bicycle advocates. There the organization debuted a heartwarming new video reminding drivers to share the road with cyclists.
March 6, 2013
Making Your City More Walkable? That’s Not “Zoning”
In last week's Washington Post, Roger K. Lewis, an architect and professor at the University of Maryland, wrote an intriguing column suggesting that it's time for a big rethink of the concept of zoning, which he says is a relic of the early 20th century:
February 20, 2013
TTI Urban Mobility Report Bungles Congestion Analysis Yet Again
At the risk of repeating ourselves: The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) got it wrong again.
February 5, 2013
Confronted With Congestion Pricing, People Clamor for Transit, Gas Tax
Could a congestion pricing program work in the DC region? Maybe. But first, officials would need to get the public on board -- no easy task. A report on the conclusions from five public forums, held in the region between October 2011 and January 2012, suggest that more and better transportation options need to be in place before a congestion charge is levied, so that commuters feel they have options.
January 24, 2013
Did Barack Obama’s Election Change the Way Washington Commutes?
Barack Obama has been as supportive of transit, biking, and walking as any president, but one of his most transformative actions may not have been any law or funding measure so much as simply getting elected. There's a compelling case to be made that Obama's election in 2008 led to significant changes in how people commute in the greater D.C. area.
January 22, 2013