CommuterPageBlog

Another Voice: HOT Lanes Make Sense

Editors Note: I've received a lot of reaction to my recent post (Lexus Lanes Just Wrong, March 25, 2007, CommuterPageBlog) agreeing with Marc Fisher's column in the Washington Post that was negative regarding HOT or Lexus Lanes. In the interest of fairness I'm providing another view that was done in the form of an Op-Ed by Geoffrey Segal in the Times Community News yesterday. I should note that many of my industry colleagues hold the same view as Mr. Segal. Let us know what you think.

Another Voice: Hot Lanes Make Sense
Recently, Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart (R) called High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes "a sham." It seems Stewart and his colleagues on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors would rather see commuters stuck in traffic than give them an option to spend more time with friends and families at home.

HOT lanes have successfully relieved congestion everywhere they've been implemented. They've been so successful that they're supported from the political left and right alike, from environmental groups such as the Environmental Defense Fund to local business associations.

If you're unfamiliar with HOT lanes, they use variable pricing to mitigate congestion and ensure a free flow of traffic. As demand goes up, so does the toll; likewise, the price goes down with a drop in demand.

Why Light Rail is Worth Fighting For

This Op-Ed appeared in the Virginian-Pilot on Tuesday, March 27, 2007:

After years of struggle, Norfolk is on the verge of achieving its goal of building a light-rail line just south of Virginia Beach Boulevard. As your community gets close to starting this major transit project, I offer this perspective from a community that has spent decades putting transit-oriented development policies in place: Norfolk and Virginia Beach are already great places to live and work, and light rail will stimulate investment in both communities and ease traffic problems. But building the line is just the start of the hard work that lies ahead.

Despite the seemingly endless federal and state re-tape that sometimes delay these projects for years, the economic and quality of life benefits are clear.

Metro was the catalyst for transforming Arlington, a community of 200,000 just across the Potomac from Washington, D.C. But it was the transit-oriented planning and zoning policies the County put in place to maximize the development benefits offered by Metro that truly reshaped our community. We believe transit is such an essential part of planning that our County Board recently gave the go-ahead for a feasibility study to build a light-rail line along Columbia Pike, on the south end of the County.

Here is how transit altered Arlington: back in the 60's, our central business district was aging, its retail base in decline. County officials lobbied hard, and put up $300 million in local funds to have Metrobus built along the spine of that aging business corridor. Eleven Metro bu stations were build in our 26-square-mile County.

Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety is a Priority in Arlington

On Tuesday, March 27, 2007, from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., officers from the Arlington County Police Department’s Special Operations Section conducted a pedestrian and bicyclist safety enforcement detail at the intersection of North Lynn Street and Lee Highway in Rosslyn.

Officers wrote a total of 19 tickets to motorists who did not yield for pedestrians or made improper turns into the crosswalk at the intersection of North Lynn Street and Lee Highway. In addition, Arlington County Auxiliary Police Officers, Crossing Guards, and Public Service Aides handed out over 100 Street Smart Safety Tips pamphlets to pedestrians and bicyclists who commuted through this busy intersection.

The detail was part of the 2007 Street Smart safety campaign to promote pedestrian and bicyclist safety across the region. The month long enforcement and education effort runs through April 14, and the goal is to ensure everyone shares the roads safely. Approximately 25 percent of the traffic fatalities in the Washington area are walkers and bikers. In Arlington, one pedestrian was killed and 122 injured in accidents on county roads last year.

A second enforcement detail is planned for April 12, from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., near Patrick Henry Elementary School. Officers will monitor traffic on Walter Reed Drive, near 7^th Street South, and ticket motorists who don’t yield the right of way to students and other pedestrians.

by Lieutenant Robert Medairos
Arlington County Police Department

Information, Information, Information

Transit fans shouldn't miss Richard Layman's informative post from Sunday (To get people who have mobility choices to choose transit, they have to know it exists, March 25, 2007; Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space) on the importance of having information available if we expect people to make choices to take transit. He's in Seattle at a conference and is amazed at the great transit information everywhere and wonders why those of us in D.C. aren't doing this.

We've said it before (Transportation Information Everywhere, All The Time, December 6, 2006; CommuterPageBlog) and we'll say it again. We agree with Mr. Layman and are striving to get there. In fact, it was a few years ago that the Seattle example was brought to our attention. We had heard from Seattle's former Transit Marketing Director who said they made a commitment to put information in every commercial building in the City. We've set the same goal here in Arlington (see December 6 post) and hope to achieve it sometime soon.

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Chris Hamilton is the Commuter Services Chief for for Arlington County and a biking/Metro commuter.

My Commuter Mug

This post is a little off the beaten path - it's more a savvy-consumer post.  I generally take my insulated travel coffee mug with me, because I'm a tree hugger and I don't care to waste the paper cup (also, being insulated, it keeps my coffee warm longer).  Interestingly, however, about 30% of the time I am given a significant discount (Starbucks sometimes just charges me 50 cents).  Today, in fact, I wasn't charged at all; the server just said, "Nevermind, free refills."  I'm not angling for the discount--I'm happy to pay for my coffee--but if it's offered, why not?

I think I've probably unintentionally saved at least $20 over the last six months just by having my travel mug with me.  Try it yourself.  Even if you're a paper-wasting environment hater, it might just save you a few bucks.

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Steve Offutt, Arlington resident and Director - Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIRE), Transportation Projects

DMV dilemmas

Transit's biggest promoter just might be the DMV. 

Promoting alternate transportation modes, I consider myself to be "car-lite." I take the metro to work. Outside of work, I try to walk to complete most errands and use the Circulator and metro for weekend jaunts. However, I do own a convertible that is just perfect for the weekend getaway, especially a beach trip (carpooling of course!)! 

Anyway, recently, I have endured the DMV twice in one week for errors that were not my own. I received not one, but two parking tickets for parking in a residential zone. Interesting, seeing as I have a rather large residential parking permit pasted on my windshield. 

I coerced myself to endure the DC DMV's notorious long lines and apparent disregard for customer service (I don't know if other local DMV locations are different in this regard. One could only hope!). For me, a trip to the DMV is worse than my anxiety of going to the dentist. 

At the DMV I sit in a room for an indefinite period of time, waiting for my number to be called. I stare at the clock and try to read of few sentences of the book that I dragged with me. I can't concentrate on anything except the fact that I don't know how long I will be sitting in this room. Will it be 30 minutes? An hour? Or longer?

After the seemingly indefinite wait, I am shuffled into another room with others hoping to fight their tickets. Each of us will receive time to defend or accept our infractions. Rightfully, both of my tickets were dismissed due to being insufficiently completed and issued in error. However, the thought of returning to the DMV made me question owning a car. I can't imagine if I even drove regularly! Indefinite waits, frustrating inferior customer service, and tickets thrown around like confetti definitely strengthen my pro-transit stance. At least metro has displays letting you when the next train will arrive….

Carly Nider, Arlington Transportation Partners

Arlanda Express anyone?

Look to Stockholm, Sweden for...   Progress. Add to the long list of positives, that includes great transit, interesting cities, unique non-corporate shopping, safe streets, congestion pricing, good restaurants, lively arts, bikesharing, traffic calming, safe cars, well here is one more thing to gush about..

..but first the preamble...

I just had the pleasure of seeing their great new Embassy in Washington DC on the Potomac for the recent WABA Gala fundraiser, what a view. Did it take leadership from Stockholm to figure out that our Potomac riverfront is under appreciated and underutilized? Yes.

Did you know that the city of Stockholm is a beautiful habourfront city of boats, bridges, solid architecture surrounded by parks and clean water?

Okay, now down to business...

Washington could learn a lot from Stockholm, especially when it comes to transportation to the airport. The best example of express airport transit, and the model for the modern world, its the Arlanda Express. www.arlandaexpress.com

Meanwhile, Virginia can't get started on an lousy metrorail extension that Fairfax doesn't want, will negatively impact the orangeline, and isn't the right solution for transit to Dulles airport.

Please take time to visit the Arland Express website to learn how Swedes can get to their airport on an efficient high-speed train built as a public-private scheme. They even give you your money back if the train is more than two minutes, TWO MINUTES late! 

Word of caution, this train is not cheap, it is run for business type travelers, for the budget travels they  have a regular but well run bus service.  So that is two things that our Dulles airport does not have, two adequate transit choices for getting from downtown to the airport without being delayed or having to change trains to bus.

Look to Stockholm for the state of the art, look to Washington for a state of disarray. Next thing you know Europeans will be building better jetplanes... airbus anyone?

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Jeff Price, a local transportation engineer and world traveler, is a regular contributor to CommuterPageBlog.

Buying a bike

So I've begun my bike-buying quest. I very much appreciate comments from commuterpage blog readers, who are encouraging me and giving me good tips! This help really does help make my quest less scary and initimidating.

Walking into a bike shop IS intimidating for us novices. I walked in and saw rows of shiny new bikes.  They all look kinda similar, yet some are $300 and some are $2,000... I gotta tell ya, they don't look all that different to me!

Yikes! Where to start?

I decided honesty is the best policy, so I found a staffer, and said, "I want to buy a bike. I don't know much about this and it's confusing! I don't want to race. I don't want to ride off-trail. It has to be simple. I don't want to spend a lot of money. I'll be running around town and I'll ride trails for recreation."

That was a good way to start, because the staffer was helpful, and pointed me toward several options. The first staffer I spoke to is a woman, which I thought was helpful, because I felt she had empathy, explained to me about women-specific design issues (e.g., shorter reach from seat to handlebars), and did not talk down to me. She took a lot of time to properly fit me for frame size (16"). All this put me at greater ease and I also felt that I had plenty of time to ask plenty of questions.

I also read articles on how to buy a bike. Here's an example of one, from wikiHow, although there are many more online.

Next posting: Diana visits a big-box store.

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Diana Sun is Director of Communications for Arlington County, a walking commuter, and a happy resident of the urban village of Clarendon. 

Lexus Lanes Just Wrong

If you didn't see Marc Fisher's column in today's Post, it's a good read (Exalted HOT Lanes Leave the Average Joe in the Dust, March 25, 2007; Washington Post) - especially for those carpoolers, vanpoolers, sluggers and transit riders that use the HOV lanes. Mr. Fisher doesn't like Lexus Lanes and is spot on about the issue.

Lexus Lanes are just wrong on so many levels. But they are an especially bad idea when they may be applied to existing HOV lanes, as some are proposing they do in Virginia and Maryland. If you are in a carpool or vanpool, slug or take the bus and use these HOV facilities, please keep abreast of this issue and talk to your elected officials. If you don't, then someday you may be sharing that HOV lane with some single occupant driver who can afford it and the whole point of the HOV lanes will be degraded as the lanes get more crowded (and this is the same reason why extending the hybrid exemption another year was a bad idea too).

Thanks to Mr. Fisher for shedding some light on the issue.

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Chris Hamilton is the Commuter Services Chief for for Arlington County and a biking/Metro commuter.

Bikesharing in Paris Today. In Arlington and D.C. Tomorrow?

In today's Washington Post, there's a great story by John Ward Anderson (Paris Embraces Plan to Become City of Bikes, March 24, 2007) about how Paris is becoming the next European city to implement bikesharing in an effort to "cut traffic, reduce pollution, improve parking and enhance the city's image as a greener, quieter, more relaxed place."

For those unfamiliar with the concept, bikesharing is similar to carsharing.  Bikes are placed at various stations and as a member you can rent the bikes for a period of time. Cool. Given that carsharing has taken hold here in Arlington and D.C. as a regular part of the transportation landscape, could bikesharing too soon be part of an urban picture where people "live, work, shop and play...no car required"? We'd like to think so.

While this seems all the rage in Europe (Cyclo-City Bikesharing Program Launched in Brussels, October 11, 2006; CommuterPageBlog), bikesharing hasn't quite gotten a solid foothold here in the U.S. just quite yet. The article mentions that Portland, Oregon is one of the few U.S. cities that have tried this. Our friends at the WashCycle blog mention that the Oregon program failed (The Yellow Bike Story) and that San Francisco is going to trying something similar (Muni Getting on the Bikes, February 14, 2007; San Francisco Chronicle). WashCycle blog also points out in a post today (Paris Embraces Plan to Become City of Bikes, March 24, 2007; WashCycle blog) that a D.C. program has been pursued for a number of years now, however with no apparent date set for implementation.

Without promising too much at this point, we here in Arlington are also looking into how we can add bikesharing to our transportation mix. We have some of the best bike facilities in the region here and we should be able to figure out a way to do this. Let's hope that Arlington and D.C. can do so very soon. Stay tuned.

(Images include bikesharing in Paris, Norway and Vienna.)