CommuterPageBlog

Metro Stuff

One of the most valuable things to get people to ride the bus is information about when the bus will arrive (another is a frequent arrival schedule). That's why it was such a blow when the NextBus system of arrival time displays for buses went dark. Yes, there were problems with the accuracy of the information but it didn't happen all the time and it wasn't that different from standing there not knowing anything about when the next bus would should up. The whole thing has been a mystery that still doesn't make any sense:  why couldn't the system work here when it works so well in other cities?; what are the technical and software issues that take a year and a half (believe it when you see it) to fix?; is there a problem with the contract that no one has admitted to?; is this somehow related to Homeland Security issues because of where some of these buses travel and the desire to keep that information secure in a cyber sense?; is this foul up the same as the one involving the contract with the company that produces the SmartTrip cards?

John is one of those readers who are not happy with the whole state of NextBus affairs. He writes:

"[Metro General Manager John] Catoe's response to questions about the NextBus system underscores a basic failure to understand the development and deployment of technology in a society: 'We can't release anything until it is perfect, because one mis-reported data point is as important as 100,000 accurate ones.' Is it really more important to have no complaints on NextBus than myriad complaints about the bus schedule? (Which surely under-represents the public's view, because really who bothers?) 

"But these asserted concerns are mere smokescreen. I firmly believe WMATA is deliberately lying about the real reason -- probably budgets and contracts. It's completely mendacious to hold up the sanctity of their complaint-handling process as a reason for anything. As if the problems of individual, inconvenienced riders have EVER had the 'full and complete' attention of that organization! 

"As for the 18-month estimate, it's not 'fairly accurate' until we see the official launch. Here's a countdown clock to August 1, 2009. Shall we place bets on the actual go-live date?"

Here is the full statement from General Manager Catoe:

"There has been a lot of talk lately about NextBus, which is a good thing because we expect NextBus to be back up and running this July.

"The return of NextBus is highly anticipated by many bus riders, and by many who were able to gain access to an internal test site over the last few months. We have restricted access to that test site, which has disappointed a number of people. Those people who were using the system have reported in blogs that the system was working well for them, and I'm pleased to hear that.

"However, I have to take a much wider view of NextBus and the accuracy of its predictions. Launching a 'beta' version may make sense for software developers, it doesn't make sense for Metro. Before NextBus is fielded again, I have to be sure that it will work well for all of our bus riders. If we allow access to a test site, then we are in effect launching that site and service. That means we need to be ready to give anyone and everyone using that site our full attention if they have problems and complaints. All the disclaimers in the world won’t make any practical difference. If we were to allow access to the site, then, potentially, there would be hundreds of thousands trying to use something that just isn’t ready for prime time, yet. That means a flood of complaints, and we take every complaint seriously. If we allow the system to be used before we're confident that it's ready, then, although, it may be convenient for some, it just won't work for everyone the way we envision it should. I would also take more resources, both financially and in terms of manpower that we aren't ready to commit yet.  

"When the system went off-line on October 31, 2007, we estimated that it would take up to 18 months to bring it back. That estimate was fairly accurate. Just be patient a few more months, and the service will be back up. There's a saying 'measure twice and cut once.' That's what we are doing with NextBus to make sure we have everything in place to meet our goal of 95% accuracy on bus arrival times. This will be a significant improvement, and worth the wait."

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By now we've all heard that Metro is getting a couple hundred million dollars from the fed's economic stimulus package. Staff is running around like six-year-olds on Christmas morning trying to put together lists and checking contracts and actually buying stuff. 45 new hybrid buses should be in Metro garages by the end of next month. Now that is moving quickly. This is so much better than the five-pound blocks of cheese that the government used to hand out.
 
Even though Metro is getting about $20-million less than it had expected as some of the funds went to other transit agencies it has added three projects -- heavy-duty track equipment; the replacement of the Southeastern bus garage, which was located next to the Nationals Ballpark, and the purchase of new financial system integration software which would improve financial operations and reporting.
 
Heavy-duty track equipment sounds really vague but it also sounds really important. The second item is the replacement of the Southeastern bus garage which is something that has been hanging around Metro's collective necks for years. It was sold and then it wasn't and it has just been a mess of planning and missed opportunities. Not sure how a bus garage fits into the federal plan for economic stimulation.  Speaking of which, I'd love to see the rationale for using federal funds to pay for "new financial system integration software." Metro's beancounters have had a tough time over the years trying to track debts and revenues but this just doesn't seem like something that's very stimulating in an economic sense.

Metro officials state: "The Metro projects are focused on stimulating the local and national economy by creating jobs and building a stronger regional transit system.  All of the projects are linked to Metro's strategic goals of delivering quality service, improving reliability, using resources wisely and ensuring safety." Creating jobs? I thought the idea was to reduce 800+ jobs in order to reduce the red ink in the budget.

Here is the rest of the list of projects Metro will spend the fed's (taxpayer's) money on:

• Replacing Metro's oldest diesel buses with new hybrid-electric buses
• Replacing crumbling platforms
• Installing SmarTrip purchase capabilities at more Metro fare vending machines
• Enhancing bus garage security
• Installing technologies to improve bus route and schedule information
• Rehabilitating the oldest stretch of track in the rail system
• Updating train arrival signs on platforms and mezzanines
• Replacing the Metro Center Customer Sales Facility
• Expanding and replacing vehicles for paratransit service

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Steve Eldridge is a long-time reporter, observer and commentator on the Washington region's transportation issues. You can contact him directly by writing to: Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com. Unless otherwise requested, letters or portions of letters can be used within future columns. Letter writers will be identified by their first name and city/neighborhood.

Is Olm Germany On to the Next Phase for Carsharing?

Our friend Neil Takemoto always seems to have the hot leads on his wonderful Cool Town Studios blog. Here's another: Next Gen 'Leave It Anywhere Carsharing', March 27, 2009.

Chris Hamilton is the Commuter ServicesChief for Arlington County in the Transportation Division of the Department of Environmental Services, manager of CommuterPageBlog and a Metro/biking commuter from Rosemont in Alexandria

Car Pools, Red Light Cameras and Potholes

Our friend Paul Minett at Trip Convergence wrote asking for our help. Paul's group is taking part in the Just Means/Green Mountain Coffee Corporate Social Responsibility Challenge called 'changing climate change.' In the first round of voting they made it onto the short list but they need our help to get them over the top. Paul's group, based in Australia, has developed a concept for flexible carpooling. As we have seen with the Slug Lines in this region this sort of thing can go a long way to reducing the number of cars on the roads during peak hours. The contest in which Trip Convergence is involved has a grand prize of $40,000 per year for five years to bring this carpooling concept to Seattle. This is certainly a good place and a good way to see if this idea works although I'd like to see it beta'd in a city like Boston or Philadelphia.

Look at their entry and see if this is something you feel is worth promoting. I think it could be a wonderful way to reduce congestion by getting cars off the roads and I think it's something of value.  Let me know what you think about it.

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 Mississippi Governor and former head of the Republican National Committee Haley Barbour has signed into law a ban on traffic cameras used to photograph and ticket people who run red lights in his state. According to the Associated Press the new law says the two cities that already have the cameras, Jackson and Columbus, must take them down by Oct. 1. Of course Columbus only has one red-light camera and their city council had already voted to take it down.

The other thing that is interesting is that there was specific language in the bill that will allow State Police officers to continue using the cameras that are fixed in their patrol cars to record traffic stops and other incidents.

Supporters of the cameras say they deter people from running red lights, reduce auto accidents and save lives. They cite Federal Highway Administration statistics that show red-light violations and crashes were reduced in cities after installing traffic cameras. They point to Oxnard, Calif., where intersection collisions declined by 32 percent.

At least 18 states have laws allowing the red-light cameras, but about six states have banned or severely restricted their use, according to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

As you might imagine, the makers of the red-light cameras—who had urged Barbour to veto the bill—said the new law tramples on local governments' rights to enact their own traffic ordinances. It also could unlawfully sever contracts cities already have with the companies to install and operate the cameras.

I find this whole thing very interesting. As more and more cameras are added to intersections in this region that are raking in millions of dollars the fight continues across the country as to whether or not these cameras have value (in terms of safety) or whether they are just moneymakers. I would add, once again, that there is substantial research to show that changing the timing of the yellow or amber cycle of the lights does as much or more good in reducing serious crashes and that there is good evidence to show that the presence of red-light cameras increases the number of rear-end collisions as drivers slam on their brakes to avoid getting a ticket.

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The  (DDOT) sent me an update over the weekend on its upbeat pothole repair program called Potholepalooza. The program is at the halfway point and has repaired 3,366 potholes throughout the city. If that doesn't sound like much, try this: that's 280 potholes repaired each work day even with all the rain we've been having.

When the program started DDOT was getting about 70 service requests a day. That's fallen off to about 12 requests a day. But there are still a number of potholes out there and the city wants to hear about them.

To report a pothole, residents and commuters can contact DDOT in a variety of ways: 1) call the Mayor's Call Center at 311, 2) use the On-line Service Request Center at www.dc.gov, 3) text message or Tweet to twitter.com/DDOTDC, or 4) e-mail to Potholepalooza@dc.gov. Callers must identify the location including the correct quadrant (northwest, northeast, southeast, southwest) in the city and as much detail as possible about the hazard, including the approximate size and depth of the pothole.

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Steve Eldridge is a long-time reporter, observer and commentator on the Washington region's transportation issues. You can contact him directly by writing to: Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com. Unless otherwise requested, letters or portions of letters can be used within future columns. Letter writers will be identified by their first name and city/neighborhood.

Be Street Smart

The region's Street Smart safety campaign kicked off last week with encouragement by police and elected officials, including Arlington County Boardmember Walter Tejada (above), for safer walking, biking, and driving. The campaign's purpose is to get all users of the street to be more aware of their actions and the actions of others in order to decrease injuries and fatalies.

The campaign also includes stepped-up enforcement by the region's police. This morning, the Arlington Police Department was out in-force at the intersection of Lee Highway and Lynn Street in Rosslyn, ticketing and giving warning to motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists who did not obey traffic laws, thereby putting others' safety and their own at risk. The Arlington Police and other police departments throughout the region are conducting a greater number of traffic safety stings to remind street users that we're all in this together.

Paul DeMaio, BikeArlington

Bike and Walk Commutes Increase Dramatically in Arlington & Alexandria

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments' (COG) 2007/2008 Regional Household Travel Survey is completed and Arlingtonians and Alexandrians can toot their own horn, or rather ring their own bike bell, as the percentage of residents from both jurisdictions who bike or walk to work is UP, UP, UP!

Arlington's bike and walk commuting mode share doubled from 3.8% to 7.6% between 1994 and the year of the report and Alexandria also doubled from 4.5% to 9.0%. These increases in both jurisdictions were due to improvements in engineering, education, encouragement, and enforcement. During these years, the bike and walk infrastructure of the county and city has improved with the striping of miles of bike lanes and new trails, pedestrian countdown signals and higher visibility ladder crosswalks, and more bike parking. There has been more education with Confident City Cycling classes, encouragement with Bike to Work Day and the BikeArlington and WALKArlington programs, and enforcement through the Street Smart campaign which places emphasis on the safety of these active modes of transport.

Kudos to Arlingtonians and Alexandrians for commuting in a cleaner, greener way.

For more information, see COG's highlights presentation on the subject. Over 10,000 households were surveyed for this report.

Paul DeMaio, BikeArlington

If You Want to Go There, You Have to Have Gone There Before

One frustration that works against more people making new transportation choices is that the information being provided is directed at insiders--regulars--and is either not helpful or outright confusing to newbies.

I had this experience last summer on a trip to New York City.  It has always been an interest of mine to ride on the Staten Island Ferry, just for the experience.  The opportunity presented itself when I coordinated a drop off of my daughter and another pre-teen girl to a family in New York City, who would then take them to a camp out on Long Island.  Part of the logistics included seeing The Lion King in New York, which was terrific.

The plan was to have the other girl's father drive us to the ferry; we would take the ferry to Manhattan and the subway up to the theater where we would meet our friends.  All well and good.

We found the ferry terminal without incident and were pleased to find a subway card machine at the terminal, so that we could get our farecards before we boarded--a nice convenience.  After our 20-minute wait we hear announced, "Now boarding: the 12:30 ferry to Whitehall at dock number 2."  Whitehall?  I've never heard of Whitehall.  Where's that?  I glance around the waiting area and see throngs of people heading over to board and about 10 others like me with uncertain looks on their faces.  My daughter, with an anxious tone in her voice asks, "Are we getting on the right boat, Daddy?"  Now I'm pretty sure that the Staten Island Ferry just runs between Staten Island and Manhattan, but I'm not 100% certain of that--especially right then.  I look all around for some clue about Whitehall and finally spot on the large schedule board the words "(Whitehall Terminal)" in parentheses.  My anxiety level goes down, we get on the boat and everything goes smoothly from then on.

Now I don't think that the ferry is deliberately trying to confuse passengers or create angst, but that was the unintended consequence of the announcement for me and a dozen others (and probably almost every trip for at least a couple of new riders).  The "insiders" do not need anything more than, "12:30 ferry now boarding."  We newbies would benefit from something like, "The 12:30 ferry to Manhattan now boarding."  Mentioning Whitehall provides no useful travel information to anyone: insiders already know where the ferry is going and we rookies are only confused by it.  It also sends a signal--not so much that we newbies are not welcome--but that they just haven't given any consideration to thinking about us.

Those who provide transportation services need to constantly be putting themselves in the shoes of a brand-new user and trying to forget everything they already know.  How can they make that experience simpler and the information clear and useful to that brand-new user?

For more on transportation on Staten Island, they have their own blog here.

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Steve Offutt, Arlington (and now a veteran of the Staten Island Ferry)

Free SmarTrip® Card Exchange for Seniors, Disabled

If you are a person with a disability or a senior citizen using a regular SmarTrip® card, you could save 50% on your bus and rail fares. Exchange your regular SmarTrip card for a Senior SmarTrip card or a Reduced Fare SmarTrip card for FREE at Metro Headquarters, 600 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001

10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Wednesday, April 8
Wednesday, April 15
Wednesday, April 22

Please bring photo identification (valid Metro Disability ID Card, completed application for the Reduced Fare Program for People with Disabilities, proof of age 65 or older). These events are being held for the sole purpose of exchanging an undamaged, regular SmarTrip card for a Senior SmarTrip card or a Reduced Fare SmarTrip card. For any other concerns or questions about SmarTrip(r), please call 1-888-SMARTRIP (TTY 703-620-8782) or visit MetroOpensDoors.com.

Commuter Rail Flubs and Ped/Bike Safety

Virginia Railway Express, or VRE, had three train locomotives go sour last week and the result was hundreds, if not thousands, of stranded riders. Not a good thing when you are trying to run a railroad. In response the VRE Operations Board exercised an option to buy additional locomotives from a company with whom they already have a contract. According to statements the board did this as a way toward "fulfilling their commitment to improving Virginia Railway Express operations." I'm sorry but this seems to me more of a reaction to equipment that was allowed in service too long and was run until it failed at the great inconvenience of its passengers. Having those extra locomotives on order already would have been the "commitment to improvement" that everyone is looking for. By the way, those new locomotives won't be here for another year and a half. VRE states: 

"[The Virginia Railway Express] Operations Board modified their existing contract with MotivePower to increase the contract to $33,103,342 for the purchase of up to nine locomotives. VRE will utilize nearly $9.8M in funding through the Stimulus Bill, as well as a $5M locomotive funding appropriation by Senator Webb and VRE formula funds. The locomotives are tentatively scheduled to start arriving on the property in October 2010 ? timed to meet anticipated ridership growth over the next decade."

And until those new locomotives arrive... ?

By the way, VRE is the nation's tenth largest commuter rail system, providing more than 3.6 million trips per year on two rail lines and 30 commuter rail trains per day.

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I like it when good people get behind programs that are aimed at safety. Case in point is Assistant Chief Patrick Burke of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). This guy walks the walk (pardon the really obvious pun) and has been involved in safety issues in the District for as long as I can remember. He never tires of it, either. The thing he is currently involved with is the latest version of the Street Smart pedestrian safety campaign. But it's really more than just talking to and educating people who might be walking around the city, it's about making drivers and bikers and walkers all understand how to coexist.

The city's Department of Transportation says that to date, there have been four traffic fatalities in the District in 2009, and one of the victims was a pedestrian. In 2008, 15 pedestrians and 1 bicyclist were killed on the city's streets, down from 25 pedestrians and 3 bicyclists the previous year. DDOT credits the decline to the ongoing Street Smart campaign and other efforts to improve pedestrian safety.

The program is also about stepped up enforcement which I have to admit I'm a bit skeptical about. The teeth of this element of the campaign relies on MPD officers actually doing what they are supposed to do every day and, in my humble opinion, don't. I have yet to see police officers do more than keep going when a car get so close to someone in a crosswalk that the pedestrian pounds on the hood. In New York I believe that's called "HEY, I'm walking here!!" According to new DDOT and MPD policy, motorists who ignore traffic safety laws in the District now face stiffer penalties. Drivers who do not stop and give the right of way to pedestrians in crosswalks now face a $250 fine and three points on their driver's license. If the driver strikes a pedestrian in the process of failing to stop, the penalty is $500 and 6 points. Sounds great, now just get out and start writing some tickets for all of the drivers who make left turns from the center lane and who force people in the crosswalks to sprint as if they were the ones without the right of way.

VRE photo: Mr. Peter Furnee

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Steve Eldridge is a long-time reporter, observer and commentator on the Washington region's transportation issues. You can contact him directly by writing to: Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com. Unless otherwise requested, letters or portions of letters can be used within future columns. Letter writers will be identified by their first name and city/neighborhood.

This, That and the Other

We've have all seen the fantasy television show where the car had a mind of its own and could carry on a conversation with the driver. What if cars could talk to one another and help prevent crashes? What if these cars might be able to alert one another that there were potential dangers ahead or around the corner? According to the Courier-Mail in Australia that is exactly the kind of thinking that's going on at the University of South Australia. A team there has used Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) to develop a system that broadcasts information from one car to another using a combination of GPS and WiFi. The information is updated about ten times a second which I can tell you, even though I'm not an engineer or a scientist, is pretty frequent.

Those on the team say that this sort of communication would be invaluable when turning corners or when vehicles in front of you on the road have come to a sudden stop. They say that the vehicles equipped with this technology could prepare themselves for inevitable crashes by adjusting seatbelts or even deploying airbags a fraction of a second earlier than they currently do.

This technology would also seem to have applications for transit buses or even light rail or trolleys that mix with the uncertainties of a more open road system.

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Continuing into the "gee whiz" world of technological improvements... when Wired Magazine does a story on roads you know you are in for a good time. When that same magazine has an article about the stripes between lanes you know that the party is just beginning. Recently Wired did a story about stripes that featured a picture of a "retroreflect-o-meter" sitting in the middle of some country road. The bottom line, sort of, was that the "retroreflectivity values" of the stripes are higher if highway crews paint those stripes in the same direction the traffic moved. It sounds simple but it's the type of discovery that can save money and increase safety—sort of like shaving in the direction that the hair grows or being able to read greens on the golf course. Oh yeah, they found out that the stripes don't wear out as quick if they are painted on in the direction that the traffic moves. There's a whole thing about the glass beads that are embedded in the paint can bounce around but how they do less of it if the stripes go with the flow of traffic... fascinating stuff to be sure. If you want to read more about retroreflectivity values or just the current state of the art of road striping I suggest that you check out "The Impact of Directionality on Paint Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity." It appears in the current issue of the journal Public Works Management and Policy.

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On Monday, the 30th of this month, Metro is going to cut the ribbon on a new express bus service. The S9 Route is planned to run along 16th Street from Silver Spring to the McPherson Square Metrorail station.  The S9 is Metro's third-busiest line and carries 16,000 riders each day. The system is adding new blue and silver hybrid-electric buses with "express" branding will debut on the new route, which will make fewer stops and be shorter than the S1, S2 and S4 routes that currently make up the line. It's good to see that Metro still has the flexibility to make changes such as this that could make taking the bus even more attractive from the close in suburbs to the heart of downtown.

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Steve Eldridge is a long-time reporter, observer and commentator on the Washington region's transportation issues. You can contact him directly by writing to: Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com. Unless otherwise requested, letters or portions of letters can be used within future columns. Letter writers will be identified by their first name and city/neighborhood.

Can we have this for the Columbia Pike Trolley?

I first saw this on the GGW blog, which referred me to Transit Miami. Photo is by Maria in Europe on Flickr. This is accomodation for bikes on streetcars in Stuttgart, Germany. I've wished for something like this on Baltimore's light rail, which allows bikes but doesn't have any good place to put them. This looks like a great solution -- out of everyone's way and at platform level. (On Baltimore's light rail system, you have to hoist your bike up several steps and into the car.)

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Joe Chapline is Web Manager for Arlington County Commuter Services