I was a little surprised that Virginia's governor signed off on a continuation of the bill that allows hybrid vehicles bearing clean special fuel vehicle license plates to use the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes. Even though it seems that every other car on the road these days is a hybrid (this region has one of the highest uses of hybrids in the nation) the numbers of those able to use the HOV lanes has not increased because no more of the special tags are being handed out. Even still, I think it's time that this special allowance comes to an end. We need to be encouraging people to leave their cars at home or in a park and ride lot and taking transit or carpools. Remember that hybrids only run on electric power in stop and go driving conditions; when traffic is moving at 55 mph those hybrids are running on an internal combustion engine just like the rest of the cars and trucks out there. If you're interested in reading the bill as written and amended, click here.
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Surprised as well that the District would be the one local jurisdiction to hold up the federal funding for Metro. As you will recall, the bill that made its way through Congress promises Metro one and a half BILLION dollars (it seemed like so much more before all of these various bailout programs came to be) over ten years if the participating jurisdictions of Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. could come up with dedicated funding sources. When this all started I felt confident that either Maryland or Virginia would be the spoiler with the smarter money leaning toward the west side of the Potomac because of the historic problems between the north and the south side of the commonwealth. But the District wants the fed to guarantee that it will pay the money and not just that it will promise to pay the money. It seems like a ridiculous thing in that the fed has the ultimate power to decide what it's going to do but it is something that District officials want to have included. In the meantime, it just becomes one more bump in the funding road for Metro although I feel confident that it will be resolved.
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April has been designated Alcohol Awareness Month and I take this sort of thing very serious. The Century Council, an association of distillers and importers in partnership with groups like the International Association of Chiefs of Police, is taking the opportunity to launch an educational campaign geared toward a younger audience. In working with middle and high school age students the first thing they stress is that it is illegal to consume alcohol under the age of 21. Of course, adults over 21 who choose to drink should do so responsibly and in moderation.
The program also addresses parents who wield enormous influence over a youth's decision to drink — or not to drink — alcohol. Ask, Listen, Learn: Kids and Alcohol Don't Mix, developed in partnership with Nickelodeon, recognizes that the key to stopping underage drinking is communication early and often between parents and youth. During Alcohol Awareness Month, and throughout the year, The Century Council will host Ask, Listen, Learn events in middle schools across the country. They have also recorded television and radio public service announcements that include Olympic gold-medalist Misty May-Treanor. I believe that this is the type of program that can reach kids and do so at an age when they are formulating decisions. I also appreciate the fact that these distillers and distributors have gotten together under a banner that is not self-promoting, thereby making the message more pure.
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I have to say that I am not a big fan of the tricycles being launched in Arlington as a way of giving employees an optional mode of transportation. It's bad enough when people drive bicycles on sidewalks already full of people. Adding these gigantic three-wheelers, driven by people who are not used to navigating them, is a recipe for disaster. Since less than five percent of Arlington County employees have registered to use one of the six trikes I guess the problem will be minimal until the volumes increase. Even still, was there something wrong with the good old two-wheeled variety of self-transporters?
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
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