Washington DC: Rail transit

[VivaLFuego]

Yeah, obviously WMATA is a commuter/subway hybrid, but still, 40% of ~750,000 average weekday unlinked trips is an enormous percentage and is basically on par with plain, non-hybrid commuter rail systems. Of the nation's heavy rail systems, the only ones in even remotely the same ballpark would be BART (obviously) and to a much less extent, the T.

It does suggest that novawolverine is on to something, if the demand for WMATA service is so heavily car-commuter driven, there may be more cost effective capital investment options than heavy rail subway.

At 40% driving access, when people talk about the DC area's transit commute mode share, I can't help but think the number is significantly overstated by counting people who are still hopping in their cars at least twice daily as part of their routine commute. It means we need to treat journey-to-work census data with a high level of cross-tabulation to make meaningful city-to-city comparisons of broad categories.

[202_Cyclist]

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) recently published the DC Circulator Transit Development Plan:

http://www.dccirculator.com/images/p...-11-forWeb.pdf

DDOT recently held a Circulator open forum and will be holding another public event on March 31 to discuss the plans for future Circulator growth. At the recent open forum, DDOT officials noted they'll be terminating the National Achieves - Smithsonian route but there are several good routes planned, including Tenley - Silver Spring and Tenley - Brookland.

[novawolverine]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

Yeah, obviously WMATA is a commuter/subway hybrid, but still, 40% of ~750,000 average weekday unlinked trips is an enormous percentage and is basically on par with plain, non-hybrid commuter rail systems. Of the nation's heavy rail systems, the only ones in even remotely the same ballpark would be BART (obviously) and to a much less extent, the T.

It does suggest that novawolverine is on to something, if the demand for WMATA service is so heavily car-commuter driven, there may be more cost effective capital investment options than heavy rail subway.

At 40% driving access, when people talk about the DC area's transit commute mode share, I can't help but think the number is significantly overstated by counting people who are still hopping in their cars at least twice daily as part of their routine commute. It means we need to treat journey-to-work census data with a high level of cross-tabulation to make meaningful city-to-city comparisons of broad categories.

I think breaking down the data further would be helpful. The high percentage is just inherent in the system we have and where jobs are located in the region. Plenty of people drive to commuter lots in MD and VA and head to downtown DC, but a lot of people drive to commuter lots in MD and go to jobs in VA as well.

[MDallstar]

Link with Good News: Purple Line and CCT Light Rail are being pushed through this year 2011 finally!!!! The Montgomery County BRT network is also moving forward:
http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/tr...mary101410.pdf

This is the planned Gaithersburg Mass Transit Network of Light Rail and BRT which can be viewed in the above document. The stations have not been given official names by MTA but the names represent the streets or venues of the proposed stations. All the BRT routes funnel into the Life Science City being built in Gaithersburg. This will also serve the Greater Gaithersburg area which is projected to reach a density of 9,000+ people per sq. mile in the next 15 years. Gaithersburg will join D.C. in the region as the only two cities with a mass transit network for the entire city where life without a car is possible.




The entire BRT network will be grade separated and the station's will be enclosed and the system will operate with 6 minute head ways during rush hour. The system is going to be designed like European and South American systems. These are examples of possible trams and stations:

[Beta_Magellan]

That combined pedestrian bridge-station’s pretty hefty for a BRT project—why did Gaithersburg go with that instead of an at-grade solution including a signalized pedestrian crossing?

[MDallstar]

Originally Posted by Beta_Magellan

That combined pedestrian bridge-station’s pretty hefty for a BRT project—why did Gaithersburg go with that instead of an at-grade solution including a signalized pedestrian crossing?

Nothing has been finalized yet. All station's will probably be more like the second rendering. The first rendering is only for area's where an at grade crossing is not possible but the second rendering is the probable choice for stations.

[OhioGuy]

WMATA is planning a rather significant service change next year affecting the Yellow, Green, Orange, and Blue lines. One-third of all Blue line trains departing Franconia-Springfield will now run as Yellow line trains and enter DC via the Yellow line bridge rather than passing through Rosslyn. This in exchange allows several more Orange line trains to be used during rush hour.

Right now, the yellow line only runs beyond Mt Vernon/Convention Center outside of the rush hour period. Does anyone know whether the service change on the Yellow line will now mean all Yellow line trains throughout the day will travel to/from Greenbelt (or at least Fort Totten)? In other words, increased rush hour service without the need to transfer in order to travel to/from locations such as U Street & Columbia Heights and National Airport & Alexandria?

[afiggatt]

Originally Posted by OhioGuy

WMATA is planning a rather significant service change next year affecting the Yellow, Green, Orange, and Blue lines. One-third of all Blue line trains departing Franconia-Springfield will now run as Yellow line trains and enter DC via the Yellow line bridge rather than passing through Rosslyn. This in exchange allows several more Orange line trains to be used during rush hour.

Right now, the yellow line only runs beyond Mt Vernon/Convention Center outside of the rush hour period. Does anyone know whether the service change on the Yellow line will now mean all Yellow line trains throughout the day will travel to/from Greenbelt (or at least Fort Totten)? In other words, increased rush hour service without the need to transfer in order to travel to/from locations such as U Street & Columbia Heights and National Airport & Alexandria?

There was a recent discussion of the proposed changes at the Greater Greater Washington blog: http://greatergreaterwashington.org/...out-new-color/. There is a link to a WMATA viewgraph presentation. The plan is to shift 1/3rd of the Blue Line trains to operate on the Yellow Line all the way to Greenbelt. Some of the Orange Line trains go instead to the Largo Town Center at the eastern end of the Blue line. Going to be confusing. But this is the proposal, not a final plan.

[ardecila]

Seems like it would be a lot simpler to cut off the Blue Line at Rosslyn so it never enters the District, and then let the Silver Line go to Largo. Conceptually, it would be a lot easier.

[Beta_Magellan]

Wouldn’t having Blue Line trains terminate at Rosslyn only exacerbate the capacity problems there?

Honestly, this service change doesn’t seem too confusing to me—it’s just a rush hour-only extra branch of each line that. My main question has to do with commute patterns—how many commuters will have a more difficult route to jobs west of the Green-Yellow spine, and how does it balance against the number of people whose commute is being made easier?

In any event, it seems like the need for a second downtown east-west tunnel’s becoming more urgent.

[novawolverine]

We need a new tunnel under the Potomac near Rosslyn for sure. I don't think separating some Blue Line trains makes the commute that much more difficult and is the most sensible short term measure to help alleviate things. The cost/benefit ratio definitely is favorable. The "Orange Crush" is a big problem and only gets worse with a Silver Line. Blue Line users who need to get off at Rosslyn, Foggy Bottom or Farragut West still have that option while some people could very well be indifferent or only slightly inconvenienced.

Terminating the Blue Line at Rosslyn isn't helpful because the number of trains that can pass through the tunnel is a constraint and you wouldn't be directly shifting capacity to the underutilized 14 St. Bridge. There's no room on Orange Line trains for people to transfer from the Blue Line.

[202_Cyclist]

Decision to put Dulles Metro underground draws criticism

Hank Silverberg
wtop.com
4/7/2011


"WASHINGTON - A decision to build the Metro rail station underground at Dulles International Airport has produced a sharp criticism in the communities that have to pay for it and among state leaders in Richmond.

The underground station, as opposed to an above ground station farther from the terminal, could raise the cost of phase two of the Metro rail extension by $330 million. The decision was made by the board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority on Wednesday.

Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton says higher costs could mean much higher tolls on the Dulles Toll Road, something he says the state won't tolerate..."

http://www.wtop.com/?sid=2335421&nid=654

[202_Cyclist]

Va. governor gets Metro board seat he sought


By Anita Kumar
Washington Post
4/7/2011

"Gov. Bob Mc­Don­nell (R) scored a major, unexpected victory late Wednesday when both the Democratic-controlled Senate and Republican-led House of Delegates voted to allow him to appoint a seat on the Metro Board of Directors, which he had been seeking since the start of his term.

He had been working for months to get a seat but had been thwarted several times by local officials in Northern Virginia, primarily Democrats, who opposed the effort.

The Senate voted 21-19, with three Democrats — Northern Virginia Sens. Chap Petersen, Chuck Colgan and Toddy Puller — voting with all Republicans. The House voted 62-34..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...wIsC_blog.html

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by novawolverine

Terminating the Blue Line at Rosslyn isn't helpful because the number of trains that can pass through the tunnel is a constraint and you wouldn't be directly shifting capacity to the underutilized 14 St. Bridge. There's no room on Orange Line trains for people to transfer from the Blue Line.

No; the point is to get people to transfer to Yellow in Alexandria instead. If there weren't a station in Arlington Cemetery, I'd just say eliminate the Blue Line altogether and send every other Yellow Line train to Franconia-Springfield.

But the Blue Line would have to remain in some form to allow people from Alexandria/points south to access the employment in Arlington, and to allow people to get to the Cemetery. People heading into the District would be incentivized to take Yellow.

Actually, maybe the Blue Line service could be curtailed further... Rosslyn to the airport? The Yellow Line would then split after King.

[novawolverine]

Originally Posted by ardecila

No; the point is to get people to transfer to Yellow in Alexandria instead. If there weren't a station in Arlington Cemetery, I'd just say eliminate the Blue Line altogether and send every other Yellow Line train to Franconia-Springfield.

But the Blue Line would have to remain in some form to allow people from Alexandria/points south to access the employment in Arlington, and to allow people to get to the Cemetery. People heading into the District would be incentivized to take Yellow.

Actually, maybe the Blue Line service could be curtailed further... Rosslyn to the airport? The Yellow Line would then split after King.

What you say in the second paragraph is already what a lot of people do. The cemetery is not the big issue. People have proposed a Rosslyn-Cemetary-Pentagon shuttle in the past that would be plenty convenient, IMO. Arlington and Foggy Bottom/GW/Georgetown and Farragut are major job centers and that link between I-95 and I-66 will be even more important when the Silver Line is operational. I can only imagine the chaos at a place like L'Enfant Plaza, which is already a zoo, if people were forced to go to western parts of DC from there. People from North Arlington and west of the city also go to the Pentagon, Crystal City, National Airport, etc. Of course, there are people in PG County who use the Blue Line that you would need to accommodate if it were to go away.

When the silver line is complete, it's very possible that even with no blue line going through Rosslyn that you'd still need more capacity at some point with all the growth that is supposed to occur.

[202_Cyclist]

Jason Broehm from Streetcars 4 DC (http://streetcars4dc.org/) will be hosting a meeting on April 20 to discuss the status of the H Street streetcar and the other planned streetcar routes in the District.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Wednesday, April 20 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., District Department of Transportation (DDOT) Interim Director Terry Bellamy and Scott Kubly, Director of DDOT’s Progressive Transportation Services Administration (which is managing streetcar implementation), will appear at a public meeting to update the community on progress toward completion of the first operational segment of the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line and other streetcar activities. There will be an opportunity for community members to ask questions.

The meeting is being hosted by Advisory Neighborhood Commissions 5B, 6A and 6C. It will be held at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, which is located at 1333 H Street NE. This location is accessible by Metrobus routes X2 and X9 and Capital Bikeshare (stations at 13th and H Streets NE and Bladensburg and Benning Roads NE).

We encourage you to attend this meeting to help continue to demonstrate strong citizen support for D.C.’s streetcar system.
Thank you for your support!

[202_Cyclist]

The District is proposing to elimate funding for some bus routes to help reduce the budget shortfall. The proposal to cut the N8 (Glover Park - Tenley via Spring Valley) is especially troublesome. Glover Park is a fairly dense neighborhood without convenient access to metro-rail. On-street parking is also scarce in Glover Park and providing convenient, reliable bus service helps reduce the demand for parking by providing an alternative to driving.


District looks to cut bus service, discount fares to fill Metro budget hole
http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/...ro-budget-hole

[miketoronto]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

At 40% driving access, when people talk about the DC area's transit commute mode share, I can't help but think the number is significantly overstated by counting people who are still hopping in their cars at least twice daily as part of their routine commute. It means we need to treat journey-to-work census data with a high level of cross-tabulation to make meaningful city-to-city comparisons of broad categories.

The high figure of drive access to rail has to do with the very limited bus service feeding into the rail network. For example: When I was in DC with friends, we were staying at a suburban hotel. The hotel was only a 5 minute bus or car ride from the closest rail station. We ended up having to drive and park at the rail station, because the bus service was awful. The service ended at something like 7 pm, and only came once an hour at best.

With service like that, it is no wonder people park and ride.

[Justin10000]

I have family in Washington, and they would never think of taking the bus to the metro. It is a quick drive to a metro station, compared to the bus. I tried the bus one time, and it took me nearly 45 minutes compared to 5 minutes driving.

[202_Cyclist]

Metro riders’ habits hard to break



By Robert Thomson
4/11/2011
Washington Post

"Metrorail’s peak of the peak surcharge has so far failed to move riders out of the most crowded part of rush hour, the transit authority staff says in a report to the Metro board.

Rush hour rail riders have been less responsive to last year’s fare surcharge than anticipated, according to the report on ridership and revenue, which will be presented to board members Thursday.

Rail riders now pay 20 cents extra for weekday trips that start between 7:30 and 9 a.m. and between 4:30 and 6 p.m., but only 3 percent in the morning and 3 percent in the afternoon moved their trips outside of those ranges..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...rUKD_blog.html