The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689's questionnaire is worth reading. In an election season in which unions have come under fierce attack, especially from the Washington Post, it provides a valuable example of how unions can understand an issue and advocate in the public's in addition to its own interest.
Certainly, ATU Local 689's dissatisfaction with Metro infrastructure maintenance and the need to make it our first transit priority reflects public sentiment. As Jon Weintraub of the Bethesda Civic Coalition has repeatedly pointed out, major bottlenecks occur regularly at Bethesda Metro where the short escalators leading to the platform are under repair for several months. It's also common for the long escalators from the station to the bus terminal to to break down. Frequently, riders have to walk down what were once termed the "longest escalators in the free world" so that the one sole remaining functioning escalator can carry riders to the street.
Questions 1-8 from the ATU Local 689 questionnaire below the fold:
1. Unlike every other major transit system in the nation, WMATA has no dedicated stream of operating funds from the jurisdictions it serves except for a small gasoline tax in Northern Virginia. Instead, it has to request operating funds annually from each jurisdiction. Do you support establishing an adequate ongoing funding formula for WMATA?
2. There is some thought that having annual revenue targets for WMATA capital and operations that included both service expansion and inflation factors makes more sense than a single region-wide tax source (each jurisdiction decides on its source of dedicated revenue). Such an agreement was made for the "Metro Matters" capital funding program. Would revenue agreement(s) for capital & operations make more sense than a single dedicated funding source?
3. WMATA has a backlog of capital needs including repair and preventive maintaenance projects estimated to cost $11 billion over the next ten years. In October 2008, Congress passed Public Law 110-432, providing for $1.5 billion in federal funding for Metro repairs over ten years as long as Virginia, DC, and Maryland each allocated $50 million annually in matching funds and allowed the addition of two voting Federal representatives to the WMATA Board of Directors. Do you support the continued allocation of Maryland's local commitments plus the $50 million annually for ten years to make vital repairs to Metro?
4. The federal government and jurisdictions throughout the region have invested billions of dollars in WMATA capital infrastructure and operational expertise. There are a number of transit expansion projects including the Maryland "Purple Line." Some have argued that a proliferation of different technologies employed is inefficient and that stand-alone systems will result in redundant costs.
(a) Do you favor WMATA coordinating the technology for the different transit investments?
(b) Do you favor utilizing WMATA to operate this proposed systems, using WMATA's existing infrastructure, including heavy track equipment and overhaul facilities, to reduce capital and operating costs?
(c) Do you support paying wage and benefit levels on the "Purple Line" similar to those paid by WMATA?
5. Will you oppose any future proposals to replace Metrobus routes operated by workers who received decent wages and benefits with routes operated by private companies that provide inferior wages and benefits?
6. Both Montgomery & Prince George's Counties are trying to move forward with mixed use transit-oriented development around Metro stations. This often requires increasing density and sometimes requires incentives. Do you generally favor this type of development?
7. As our roads become increasingly clogged, many argue that we cannot keep widening existing roads or building new roads to serve population growth. One proposal to address this situation is to enact a principle known as "bus priority" to utilize existing road capacity more efficiently. The characteristics of bus priority measures include everything from holding signals for a few seconds for a bus to get through the intersection to wholly dedicated bus lanes. Do you support the implementation of bus priority measures on major arteries such as Veirs Mill Road, University Blvd., New Hampshire Ave, Route 1/Rhode Island Ave., Martin Luther King Jr., Branch Ave. and other appropriate corridors?
8. The collective bargaining provisions of the WMATA compact have been in place since the takeover of private bus companies. There has not been a strike since illegal wildcat strikes in 1978. There has been only one arbitration award since 1980 the vast majority of labor agreements have been negotiated settlements. Periodically, there are legislative attempts to change WMATA collective bargaining law. Do you favor keeping the existing system in place?
Monday, June 07, 2010
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689's Questionnaire on WMATA
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Post Transportation Poll Finds Support for Metro Slipping
The Post conducted a new poll of local residents and noted their generally high marks for Metro. But we see a bigger message here: Washington’s Metrorail system is still popular with area residents, but its support has slipped in the last five years.
The poll interviewed a sample of 1,107 metro area residents between 3/25/10 and 3/29/10 and had a margin of error of +/- 3 points. Many of its questions were identical to those asked in another poll conducted on 1/31/05. Consider the responses to the following questions on those two dates.
Q 4: I would like you to rate some types of public transportation available in some parts of the greater Washington area. If you have never used this type of public transportation, just tell me and I will move on. Generally speaking, how would you rate the Metrorail subway system: Excellent, good, not-so-good or poor?
A: Excellent/good, users only
3/29/10: 80%
1/31/05: 86%
A: Not so good/poor, users only
3/29/10: 19%
1/31/05: 14%
A: Excellent/good, full sample
3/29/10: 70%
1/31/05: 75%
A: Not so good/poor, full sample
3/29/10: 17%
1/31/05: 12%
Q 7a. (Asked of those who report ever using Metrorail) In terms of reliability, would you rate the Metro as excellent, good, not-so-good or poor?
A: Excellent/good
3/29/10: 75%
1/31/05: 87%
A: Not so good/poor
3/29/10: 23%
1/31/05: 12%
Q 7b. (Asked of those who report ever using Metrorail) In terms of comfort, would you rate the Metro as excellent, good, not-so-good or poor?
A: Excellent/good
3/29/10: 78%
1/31/05: 83%
A: Not so good/poor
3/29/10: 20%
1/31/05: 16%
Q 7c. (Asked of those who report ever using Metrorail) In terms of value, would you rate the Metro as excellent, good, not-so-good or poor?
A: Excellent/good
3/29/10: 72%
1/31/05: 75%
A: Not so good/poor
3/29/10: 26%
1/31/05: 24%
Q 9. (Asked of those who ever use Metro) Compared with a few years ago, do you take Metro (more) often than you used to, (less) often, or about the same as before?
Response on 3/29/10:
More: 15%
Less: 34%
About the same: 48%
No opinion: 2%
Q 15. In recent years the Metro system has run up against funding shortages. Do you think (Metro should operate within its existing budget, even if this might mean cutting current services), or do you think (the region should find a new way to fund Metro, even if this might mean raising taxes on area residents)?
A: Operate in existing budget
3/29/10: 40%
1/31/05: 32%
A: Find a new way to fund Metro
3/29/10: 52%
1/31/05: 63%
(Asked of those who say find a new way to fund Metro) Some people say that new money for the overall Metro system should come from (higher taxes across the region, since improved public transportation benefits the community generally). Others say the money should come from (Metro fare increases, since riders would receive the most direct benefit)? In your view, should new money come from (higher taxes) or (higher fares)? (Though not provided as options some respondents said "both" or suggested other options means.)
Response on 3/29/10:
Taxes: 43%
Fares: 36%
Both: 15%
Other: 3%
No opinion: 3%
Q 16. Changing topics, in general, do you think government efforts to reduce traffic congestion in the Washington region should be focused more on expanding and building roads, or on providing more public transportation options, such as trains or buses?
Response on 3/29/10:
Focus on roads: 30%
Provide more options: 62%
No opinion: 8%
Our Take:
Metro is still popular, but its support is slipping. On question after question, the performance evaluations of its customers and the broader population have declined. Many of these declines have been within the margin of error, but they are consistent across a range of different questions. The public’s opinion of how to fund Metro has shifted enormously in five years. In 2005, the public favored new funds over having Metro operate within its existing budget by a 63-32 margin, or 31 points. In 2010, the public favored new funds over having Metro operate within its existing budget by a 52-40 margin, or 12 points. If the gap between those two options ever closes in public opinion, it will be even harder to get increased subsidies for Metro from the District, Maryland and Virginia than it is now.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
WMATA: No to Employee Raises, Yes to Goodies for Catoe
Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689, which represents WMATA employees, has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to enforce an arbitrator’s decision granting pay increases to its members. WMATA is crying poverty, claiming that they cannot afford the raises. But poverty did not stop WMATA from giving their General Manager, Jack Catoe, some juicy morsels in his contract extension just two months ago.
Last year, WMATA budgeted $44 million for FY 2009 for a 3% wage increase for non-union employees (including managers), another 2% for “salary adjustments and special recognitions” and an unspecified amount for “fair and affordable settlements on union contracts.” But since Local 689’s contract expired on 6/30/08 and was not renewed during the fiscal year, union employees received no raises while non-union workers and management received their 3% hikes.
By August 2008, the union began complaining that WMATA was not bargaining in good faith. Their President wrote in a newsletter: It appears that although we are attempting to negotiate in good faith through very uncomfortable issues, we continue to hit a brick wall. Since April 4th every obstacle that could be placed in front of us has been attempted. From stone walling on the beginning of the process to just plain walking away from the table, you name it and they have done it. We have patiently sat in rooms talking for hours that have led to nowhere. It appears that what we are asking to improve upon, they refuse to give and/or the price they are asking us to pay is just too dog-gone high!
The union filed for arbitration a month later. On November 4, the arbitrator awarded three percent wage increases for each year beginning on 7/1/09, 7/1/10 and 7/1/11. WMATA seemed to anticipate having to pay an increase, originally budgeting $12 million in FY 2010 for a “wage settlement” before revoking it in February. Nevertheless, WMATA vowed to appeal the arbitrator’s decision, claiming that it broke federal law by forcing it to pay “salaries and other benefits that exceed the interstate compact agency’s funding ability.” In other words, WMATA claimed that it could not afford a wage hike.
Few public employees are getting substantial raises these days. In Maryland, the state government and most county governments are not granting any general wage adjustments to their employees. But WMATA’s argument would be easier to sustain if it had not already given raises to non-union employees and managers last year while giving nothing to union workers. And its position is further undermined by its lavish generosity to General Manager Jack Catoe.
Catoe has been WMATA’s General Manager since January 2007 and was named the top transportation manager in the U.S. in May. But then Catoe had to deal with the June 22 Red Line accident, the biggest disaster in WMATA history. While the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has not determined the cause of the accident, much speculation centers on the old 1000-series Rohr cars that comprised the striking train. In 2006, NTSB advised phasing out the old cars because they were “vulnerable to catastrophic telescoping damage,” a recommendation that Catoe never implemented. Now the union is claiming that WMATA is allocating money to rehabilitating the HVAC systems in the old cars rather than replacing them. NTSB’s final report is sure to include plenty of finger-pointing directed at WMATA.
Despite the huge negative publicity and service disruptions caused by the crash, WMATA extended Catoe’s contract by three years in September. Catoe’s pay ($315,000 per year) and housing allowance ($5,000 per month) did not change, but the contract contained three generous new items.
1. Retention Incentive Payment (Section 3.3.2)On the Effective Date of this Agreement, Executive shall receive a retention incentive payment of $50,000 net of taxes and other deductions. Should Executive remain employed with WMATA on January 30, 2012, then Executive shall receive an additional retention incentive payment of $50,000 net of taxes and other deductions.
2. Nonqualified Annuity (Section 3.5.5.2)WMATA shall provide an annuity to Executive in the amount of $27,000 with WMATA retaining all incidents of ownership in such annuity. Such annuity will be subject to the claims of WMATA’s creditors. Executive shall be vested in 50% of the annuity amount upon completion of the first year as General Manager under this Agreement. Executive shall be vested in an additional 25% of the annuity amount at the completion of the second year under this Agreement and the remaining 25% of the annuity amount at the end of the third year of this Agreement.
3. Extra Health Care Payments (First Amendment to Agreement)For calendar year 2009, WMATA will reimburse Executive for up to $6,000 incurred after the date of this First Amendment for additional medical or wellness premiums, costs or other expenditures not covered by the insured health care program. Reimbursement shall follow the procedure set forth in Section 3.4 of the Agreement. Executive shall bear the cost of any taxes imposed on such payments.
Catoe is also eligible for bonuses, is entitled to 26 weeks of pay if he is terminated without cause, gets 27 days of paid annual leave and participates in WMATA’s deferred compensation plan, qualified retirement plan and welfare plan.
And so WMATA, an agency that gave its besieged General Manager a $50,000 retention payment and a $27,000 annuity three months after the worst disaster in its history, is now claiming that it cannot give rank-and-file workers a dime more. If only they had made that claim prior to enriching Catoe, it would be easier to believe them.
Friday, August 14, 2009
WMATA Bus Driver Spared from Discipline
The Baltimore Sun's Mike Dresser reports that the WMATA bus driver accused of violating the agency's cell phone policy has escaped discipline. WTOP confirmed our story on the driver's innocence, and now, so has WMATA.
The incident gained attention when the Washington Post reported anonymous allegations made on an anonymous blog without vetting them. The Post really should apologize to this driver. Instead, the Post has now been scooped by the Sun on the finding of innocence and, as far as we can tell, no apology is forthcoming.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
WTOP Confirms MPW WMATA Story
WTOP is now confirming what our source told us about the WMATA bus driver cell-phone incident: she was not making a personal call, but was trying to contact management about a problem with the bus. This is a far different story than originally reported on UnsuckDCMetro and the Washington Post. Will either of them be sending an apology to the bus driver, who appears to be guilty of doing little more than trying to do her job?
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Big-Time Interest in WMATA Management Story
Right now, 54% of our traffic consists of direct entries to our story about WMATA management's cracking under pressure. Most of the visits are coming from the King of all Washington D.C. blogs, DCist.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Is WMATA Management Starting to Crack?
In the aftermath of the June 22 Red Line accident, WMATA is an understandably tense organization these days. But a recent event gives insight into the growing strains inside the agency and calls into question its management’s ability to withstand the pressure of public scrutiny.
In Jack Catoe, WMATA has one of the country’s most capable transit general managers. When he took over the agency in January 2007, Catoe inherited a budget deficit, aging equipment, crumbling underground infrastructure and a lack of dedicated funding for the agency. Catoe aggressively addressed these problems with multiple rounds of job cuts disproportionately targeted to management and overhead, a fare hike and advocacy for more federal and regional funding. Catoe was named the top public transportation manager in the U.S. in May 2009, an award he earned after just two bruising years on the job.
But the June accident changed everything. Public scrutiny of the agency has been unprecedented and unyielding. WMATA has been scrambling to understand the implications of the accident for its system, a problem it has not yet solved. Slow trains operating manually test the patience of Red Line riders (including your author). Perhaps most annoyingly, press-hogging agents from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have leaked embarrassing information to the media in an effort to head off any effort to blame them for the mess. All of this has taken a toll on Catoe and his staff that came to a breaking point less than two weeks ago.
On July 30, an anonymous Metro bus rider told an anonymous blog that he had witnessed a WMATA bus operator talking on a cell phone while driving. The rider stated:I caught my bus driver using her cellphone while driving Tuesday. I was riding the 63 from Takoma as I do every morning now that commuting on the Red Line is a mess. When we got to the stop just outside of the Petworth Metro station, our driver got out of the bus and started talking on her cell phone. One minute goes by, 2 minutes, 3 minutes ... and she’s still talking on her phone. Passengers start getting very angry. One, in particular, steps outside and yells at the driver to get moving. Yet another minute goes by before the driver bothers to get back on the bus. And she’s still talking on the phone. If I were smarter (and more awake), I would have caught this moment on video, but she sat down and pulled out into traffic with phone to ear, and drove several hundred feet before ending her call. I got a crappy picture with my cell phone. It was the best I could get from my vantage point. If you zoom in on the driver, you can see her holding up a phone to her ear with one hand and pulling out into traffic with the other.
The rider sent this picture to the blog:
The Washington Post picked up the story the next day without doing any investigation of its own. We will leave the discussion of why the area’s paper of record chose to print an anonymous allegation on an anonymous blog as news for another day. Catoe told the Post, “We will determine who this operator is... the action for speaking on your phone or texting on your phone is termination.” Catoe also told WTOP he was “embarrassed,” and said, “We will not tolerate any violations of our policies whatsoever. The penalty for doing that is, you will lose your job.”
Catoe spoke too soon. A source with knowledge of WMATA’s investigation related the following account:The actual story was that a number of passengers reported that the destination sign on the bus was not working and asked her where she was going.
This investigation will conclude soon and we will see if our source is right. In any event, when a respected head of a billion-dollar agency makes snap personnel decisions on the basis of anonymous allegations from an anonymous blog, there is a BIG problem. WMATA management is starting to crack. That benefits no one. It is time for the alarmists to stand down. It is time for the mainstream media to carefully scrutinize any allegations of performance issues rather than merely run wild-eyed to the printer with the latest hysterical blog entry. And it is time for WMATA’s leaders to take a breather, avoid over-reacting to the press and refocus on providing the quality service we need them to deliver.
The operator stepped off the bus and examined the sign and determined that it was not working correctly. She then proceeded to the rear of the bus to “re-boot” the sign so that it would re-set. This did not correct the problem. When she went to board the bus again, she tripped on the steps of the bus and suffered minor injuries to her arm and leg.
She attempted to contact central control via the phone system installed by Metro (a fixed radio-phone system installed on the bus). Central control did not respond. The operator then stepped off the bus to call central control with her cell phone. She was able to contact central and report both her injury and the need to schedule a “change-off” where a bus with a working sign could replace her bus en route.
While still speaking to central control outside the bus, passengers became agitated about her not leaving the terminal on time and began “berating” her. According to the operator, she boarded the bus, sat in the driver’s seat and completed the call to central control before actually moving the vehicle.
A witness on the bus corroborates her story. The witness confirms that she was talking about mechanical problems on the cell phone and did not move the bus before hanging up the cell phone. The witness also states that the person who took the photo was asleep until he awoke and saw her in the bus seat and took the photo. The witness did fault the driver for not telling passengers exactly what was going on.
A tape of the conversation between her and central control also corroborates her story. As a side note, central control failed to schedule the requested change-off and she continued to operate the bus for the rest of her assignment with a broken destination sign.
The operator is scheduled to be re-interviewed again next week. Although the facts as I have described them have all been confirmed, WMATA is still contemplating firing the operator.
WMATA Revised Use of Electronic Device policy dated July 10, 2009 issued by Alexa Dupigny-Samuels, Chief Safety Officer (the so-called “zero tolerance” policy) states: “....In the event of a life threatening situation or a Metro provided radio, car-bourne equipment, or bus radio malfunctions, cellular phones may be used to contact the respective Central Controls or Departments after the vehicle is stopped in a safe place.”
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Metro Operator Caught Sleeping
This video is rapidly acquiring cult status. For more details, look here.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Summer Reading List
By Marc Korman.
Find yourself with some free time this summer? Taking a vacation? Waiting in METRO due to delays with nothing to do? Let me recommend The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro by Zachary M. Schrag.
THE REGION
Schrag’s book is a comprehensive history of the METRO, but also the region’s entire transportation grid and the battles that have accompanied it. Some of those battles continue today with the Dulles Rail Line debate and our own Purple Line. The rapid growth of Washington, DC during and after World War II, combined with the mass transit vision of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, triggered the early plans for METRO. The federally triggered idea led to regional cooperation and coordination on transportation issues for the first time. The vision for the agency that became the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), which runs METRO today, was a much more ambitious plan for a regional compact on a number of planning issues. But as the clock ticked on Congressionally imposed deadlines for METRO, the broader vision was abandoned in favor of a rail transit only (eventually expanded to bus as well) authority with no ability to raise its own funds. That decision, necessary to get all of the jurisdictions to sign off quickly, left METRO forever dependent on the federal, state, and local government.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Schrag spends a great deal of time focusing on Washington, DC and the long fights between advocates of highways and transit. But since the METRO was largely designed to bring in suburban workers there is also plenty of material about Northern Virginia, Prince George’s, and Montgomery Counties. For example, when what became the Red Line was initially being discussed, one possibility was terminating the western half at Pooks Hill in Bethesda and the eastern half would turn from Silver Spring and go on to Rockville. That would have left the rest of the stations on that half of the Red Line, as well as a long stretch of 355, without METRO service. As early as 1976, when the METRO first began operating, then-Montgomery County Executive Jim Gleason sought a study of a “circumferential line,” which today we call the Purple Line.
Schrag also offers an extensive section on development around METRO stations, one of METRO’s early goals, favorably comparing the development in Bethesda and Silver Spring to the less developed areas around Northern Virginia’s METRO stations. Of course, Maryland’s work is not done. Several METRO stations in Maryland could use further development and are not yet the walkable communities some had envisioned. The effort is not complete in Bethesda. While Schrag discusses the Bethesda Metro Center as a victory, recent Washington Post articles and MPW posts show there is still work to be done.
PROBLEMS WITH CONGRESS
The most sobering part of the book is how little has changed. From the day it opened, METRO was hopelessly underfunded as WMATA quickly realized it would not be able to pay for operations and maintenance, let alone repay the original capital costs, from fares alone. Right from the start METRO was also dealing with Congressional interference. Although early federal support was crucial to METRO planning, by the late 1960s Kentucky Congressman Bill Natcher, Chairman of the DC Appropriations Subcommittee, was blocking all federal funding for METRO until a new bridge was built between Virginia and Georgetown. Only a broad coalition of reform minded Democrats and moderate Republicans spoke up for the right of the local governments to decide their own transportation plans.
Today, conservative Republicans are holding up much needed funds for METRO by objecting to legislation that would provide $1.5 billion in sorely needed capital funds for METRO in exchange for Maryland, Virginia, and DC establishing a fixed funding mechanism. They consider the capital funding bill an unnecessary earmark, despite how important METRO is to moving the federal workforce, and the many contractors it relies on, to and from work each day. Ironically, the capital funding bill is just a replay of a 1979 bill which authorized $1.7 billion for METRO, but those funds were appropriated in such small amounts over such a long period of time, it delayed the completion of the original METRO system and led to large cost increases.
CONCLUSION
I read a large chunk of Schrag’s book while sitting in delays on the MARC train and METRO. Like myself, Schrag has a lot more love for mass transit than it sometimes deserves given the constant delays and broken escalators that can infuriate riders. And while the system can be improved, Schrag also reminds us to think about what our transportation grid would be like if we did not have a 100 mile mass transit system with over 800,000 trips ridden on it each day.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Metro Wants More from Me: What I Want from Metro
The following is by Sally Hand who is new to MPW. A law librarian for the past 25 years working in private, governmental and educational settings, Sally is also the Community Outreach Coordinator for Delegate Saqib Ali (D-39). Of course, the views presented here are her own. She and her dog Ginger Jar are residents of Germantown. Welcome!
With the announcement of the new Metro fare hikes on Dec 13th my cost to get to work just went up $1.95 a day, or $39 a month, or $468 a year. I am a middle-class working women who can rearrange my budget to cover this increase and will but it is now cheaper for me to drive into DC, park in DC and drive home than it is to use Metro. I believe that others might give up using the Metro since it is so expensive and the service is erratic.
Since Metro wants so much of my paycheck this is what I would like from Metro:
* Ample parking – either at Metro Stations or at a Park & Rides with frequent bus service
* Buses that travel to the Park & Rides as long as Metro is open (currently the last 124 bus leaves Shady Grove at 8pm – I often have to work late and have to cab it to the Park & Ride)
* Clear announcements that give information
* Train drivers that look before they close the car doors
* Emails that explain the disruption not just say it is cleared
I encourage ridership of the Metro and the ride on buses as the Green way to get to work. There are costs to the environment that Metro can assist healing. My carbon footprint is much smaller using public transportation than if I drove to work everyday. If Metro really wants to be a service to the entire community than they need to look at ways to encourage riders so that there are less cars on the roads these fare increases without service upgrades are just a way to lose ridership ergo losing more money.
P.S. Metro was shocked at the low turnout for the public forum in Reston about the fare increases. Hello, the hearing was not Metro accessible.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Unhappy New Year from Metro
The Washington Post reports that Metro fares are going up on January 1:
The biggest increases would affect rush-hour subway riders, who make up the largest portion of daily users. The proposal would increase rush-hour boarding charges by 30 cents to $1.65 and increase the maximum fare per trip by 80 cents to $4.70.I'm glad I'm not going to be sitting on the dais at the hearings on this one.A $1.15 increase in parking fees would be added at Metro lots, where spots cost as much as $4. The cost to take a bus would rise a dime for cash-paying passengers, though it would remain $1.25 for riders who pay with electronic SmarTrip cards.
The increases are aimed at raising $109 million to help close a projected shortfall in next year's budget.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Where the Sidewalk Begins
According to the Gazette, Kensington Councilman Al Carr is pushing for a new sidewalk as a way of improving pedestrian safety in his town along Connecticut Ave.:
Pedestrian safety was also a factor in WMATA's surprise decision to cancel development at the Forest Glen Metro stop:Mayor Peter Fosselman started planning the meeting in March following the death of Karen Shprintz-Grossman of Potomac. The Temple Emanuel schoolteacher died from injuries sustained after she was struck by a car while crossing Connecticut Avenue at Dresden Street.
Three fatalities have happened near Dresden Street since 1991.
‘‘Connecticut Avenue is not the Beltway,” Chris Schiponi, of Kensington, told the panel of representatives. ‘‘How many people have to die in our town before you take action?”
A sidewalk on the southbound side of Connecticut Avenue from Washington Street south to Saul Road may help reduce pedestrian fatalities, Carr said.
‘‘You can walk from the District all the way up Connecticut on sidewalks except for the gap right here,” Carr said of the missing sidewalks on that stretch of Connecticut Avenue.
Officials with the State Highway Administration said in 2002 that installing a sidewalk was possible but expensive, and not much has changed in five years.
In 2002, a steep slope in the area would have required larger easements from property owners and retaining walls to hold back the dirt at an estimated cost of $228,000.
County Councilwoman Nancy M. Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park, who once served as mayor for that town, said she noticed improved driving conditions on Strathmore Avenue after SHA expanded the sidewalks and installed more streetlights. . . .
Del. Jeff Waldstreicher (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington said he lives near the University Boulevard intersection and noticed a ‘‘bottleneck” effect that may be causing problems all along Connecticut Avenue.
‘‘We need to ease the traffic through the community core,” he said. ‘‘Traffic slows so much right there that when people get freed they jet out of there.”
Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington said the state lawmakers could hold SHA’s ‘‘feet to the fire” in order to keep traffic discussions and solutions coming.
Steps need to happen to develop Kensington into a community where residents feel safe walking around town, Madaleno said.
As residents continued to raise concerns about pedestrian safety in and around the Metro area, and county officials worried the project may not mesh well with the surrounding single-family detached homes, however, WMATA has stopped the talks with developers.
The next step for WMATA is to continue working with Montgomery County and the State Highway Administration to ensure community concerns, specifically pedestrian safety, are addressed before any other plans are formulated, Bottigheimer said.
Community members are happy that the Metro property will remain untouched for now.
‘‘We were very encouraged to hear them talk about pedestrian safety,” said Adam Pagnucco, a member of the Forest Estates Community Association. ‘‘That’s what we want to hear.”
The nearby Forest Glen Road and Georgia Avenue intersection was named the most congested intersection in the county, according to the 2006 Highway Mobility Report, which was released by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, and some residents have called for a tunnel under Georgia Avenue.
Pagnucco said residents were concerned about the already congested intersection getting worse with added housing and the school system being inundated with more students than it can handle. He said nearby Oakland Terrace Elementary School already has several portable classrooms and is about 300 students over capacity.
Paul Gordon, president of the Forest Estates Community Association, sarcastically called the intersection ‘‘our favorite intersection of death.”
No doubt the County's sluggish housing market also played a role in killing the project for now. Hopefully, any new plans will address these pedestrian safety concerns when WMATA is ready to try again.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Legislators Debate Purple Line
Maryland legislators debated the Purple Line in the Sun. Sen. James Rosapepe and Sen. Gwendolyn Britt from Prince George's were quoted as supporting the light-rail link:
"During the last four years, money has unfortunately been sucked away from the Purple Line," Sen. James C. Rosapepe, a College Park Democrat, said at an Annapolis rally yesterday. "Now with Gov. O'Malley, I think there's a need to expand our commitment to it."However, Sen. Richard Madaleno and Del. Jane Lawton, both from District 18 in Montgomery, supported burying or moving the proposed line:
Sen. Gwendolyn T. Britt, a Prince George's Democrat, said the project is especially important to minorities and low-income families who often need to commute from one suburb to another, a pattern not well-served by the Metro system.
"In my district, there are families and hard-working individuals who must take 2 1/2 hours on the bus, on several buses, getting to work," Britt said.
But Sen. Richard K. Madaleno, another Montgomery County Democrat, said the light rail plan is a mistake. "You want to expand transit in places where you take people out of cars and put them on rail," Madaleno said. "This takes people out of buses and puts them on rail."
The Purple Line has also generated opposition from users of the Capital Crescent Trail, a recreational amenity adjacent to part of the proposed light rail route. They petitioned to move the tracks or build the line underground as part of the Metro.
Doing so will "increase ridership, expand Metro's ability to run alternate routes in emergencies and protect the trail," Del. Jane E. Lawton, a Montgomery Democrat said in a news release.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Transportation Blues
Traffic remains a top issue in Montgomery County. However, the lead story in today's Washington Post highlights why none of the County's many proposed projects won't do anything to solve the County's leading traffic jam. Fairfax County has now emerged as the region's leading job growth center. The largest traffic jam in Montgomery is caused by people trying to get from here to their jobs in Fairfax or elsewhere in northern Virginia. Traffic south on I-270 and westbound on the Beltway is a nightmare in the morning. Rush hour in the reverse direction begins around 3PM.
None of the proposed big-ticket transportation projects will do a jot to address this problem. Neither the Purple Line nor the ICC nor the Corridor Cities Transitway will get a single more person over the Potomac. And Maryland should want to facilitate cross-border commutes because it makes it easier for people in Montgomery to access the jobs and benefit from the growth in northern Virginia. Meanwhile, the new Metro line out from Tysons that will eventually reach Dulles will make it easier for District residents to get there, thus rendering us less transit competitive than our southern neighbor.
While Montgomery may engage in some handwringing over the business climate in Maryland v. Virginia, the proximity to Dulles and National Airports seems far more important in propelling Fairfax to the top of the heap. In contrast, the closest airport in Maryland is at BWI which is farther away from many in Montgomery than either Dulles or National. Ironically, all of the debates about transportation in Montgomery center on projects that ignore our largest transportation problem.
