The red double-decker buses rule in London. Despite its wide and effective underground subway system, buses remain London’s most widely used form of public transit. They make more than 2.2 billion passenger trips annually.
Author: Elena Sorokina
Better DC Buses: What does it take?
New and innovative bus service has offered a better ride on DC buses, but many more improvements, like the 16th Street rush hour bus lanes, are still pending. Improving bus service is of vital importance to DC residents, since they rely more on riding the bus than on Metro.
Traffic congestion, constrained funding, and limited street space are all challenges to speedier and more reliable buses. For several years, better bus service has been planned, and sometimes implemented in DC and the region.
What’s the status of bus improvement plans, and what can we learn from other regions’ experiences? Together with ANC Commissioner Kishan Putta, CSG hosted Parsons Brinckerhoff’s Joseph Barr (formerly of NYC DOT), WMATA’s Jim Hamre, and DDOT’s Sam Zimbabwe, as well as DC Councilmember Mary Cheh.
Testimony to DC Zoning Commission on McMillan parcels 6 & 7
We wish to express our support for the Master Plan and open space elements for the adaptive reuse of the McMillan Sand Filtration Plant. We have tracked the review process at the HPRB for the last year. This thoughtful plan restores all the major historic features, along with creating a new large park that celebrates the distinct historic elements and function of the former industrial site.
Coalition for Smarter Growth walking tour of East Falls Church
Come join us explore East Falls Church – an area centered on the Metro station and on the cusp of big changes. Divided by I-66 and split between two jurisdictions, the area is surrounded by well-loved neighborhoods, with parks and the booming W&OD bicycle trail.
Plans for HOT lanes on 14th Street Bridge and D.C. freeways still just warming up
The District’s transportation planners envision sets of high-occupancy toll lanes stretching from Interstate 295 by the Maryland border to the 14th Street Bridge and the Virginia side of the Potomac River. But to see what they see, you’ll need powerful binoculars.
D.C. mayoral candidates call parking ticket system ‘maddening’
Both candidates for D.C. mayor want to overhaul the District’s parking enforcement to end bad tickets, confusing signs and lengthy appeals. Council members Muriel Bowser and David Catania, who will face off in November, have signed on to support a bill to overhaul the ticketing process in the District.
Testimony to the TPB re Climate Change and the CLRP Update
Over the past three years and particularly since last summer, the TPB has asked the staff to review CLRP updates for conformance with the goals of Region Forward, the COG Climate Report, Access for All, and the Regional Transportation Priorities Plan. The COG staff, elected officials and a wide range of stakeholders have committed significant time and resources into developing these plans and associated goals.
Letter to TPB Regarding the 2014 CLRP Update
Dear Chairman Wojahn and Members of the Transportation Planning Board:
Please accept the following comments on the draft 2014 update to the Constrained Long Range Plan (CLRP). The Coalition for Smarter Growth (CSG) urges the Transportation Planning Board (TPB) to fundamentally reevaluate the entire Constrained Long Range Plan this year in order to meet the Council of Governments’ (COG) own goals, including addressing climate change and meeting ever-stricter air quality standards for human health. This reevaluation should include the ability to remove projects which do not support your goals, including allowing for shifting funds to transit and the internal connectivity needs of the mixed-use, walkable and transit-oriented activity centers to which you have committed.
Rival bureaucracies are not the way to manage traffic congestion in Washington, D.C.
The D.C. transportation department is building a record of partially fulfilled promises on bike lanes, bus lanes, street parking, streetcar service and pedestrian safety. “In the 12 years since the District Department of Transportation was spun off from the Department of Public Works, no one has asked the critical question: Does the current agency structure work,” D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) said last week.
DC region’s new long-range plan fail to meet its own climate goals
If sea levels rise just one foot in the Washington, DC, area, nearly 1,700 homes could be lost. Is the region’s transportation planning agency doing enough to stop that from happening? Several environmental and smart-growth organizations in the region are saying no. Seventeen groups have signed on to a letter, being delivered today, urging the agency to take action. The comment period on the agency’s latest long-range transportation plan closes tomorrow.