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The good, the bad and the unexplained: what you need to know about the WMATA budget
Soon, WMATA will formally be asking riders and other members of the public to weigh in on its next budget. There's a lot riders should understand, and weigh in on, in addition to proposed cuts or changes to bus service which have rightly attracted a lot of attention — some of which transit advocates have been requesting for years, and other items which are worrisome.
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DC will build a tunnel from the NoMa Metro, delay the K Street Transitway, replace lead pipes, and fund more affordable housing
A long-awaited moment in budget season comes when DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson releases his package of budget changes, which combine, reconcile, and sometimes reverse things from the individual committees. Here are some of the changes most connected to issues we cover.
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Mary Cheh will fund more bike lanes, raise residential parking fees, study decongestion pricing, and not keep Circulator free
DC would get more public space inspectors, dedicated spaces for dockless scooters, and some progress on a long-delayed bike lane on 6th or 9th streets NW, under a draft budget revision from Councilmember Mary Cheh. Meanwhile, the DC Circulator would no longer be free and people would have to pay more for residential parking permits, especially for cars beyond the first.
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Bowser’s budget funds fixing “Dave Thomas Circle,” Circulator to Ward 7, bike lane towing, streetcar, and more
DC will extend the Circulator bus to Ward 7, demolish the Wendy's at New York and Florida avenues NE, extend the DC Streetcar to Benning Road, and more under the proposed 2020 budget just released by Mayor Muriel Bowser.
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The Circulator is now free. Why just the Circulator? It’s complicated.
Following two months of free rides on DC’s Circulator bus in February and March, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that Circulator rides will now be free, permanently. But with no routes serving Wards 4, 5, or 7, is making the Circulator free really an equitable move?
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The K Street Transitway gets $122 million. What’s the K Street Transitway?
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser pledged $122 million to build the K Street Transitway in her State of the District address Monday evening. Residents who haven't been in DC for a decade, and probably 98% of those who have, may have been wondering: What the heck is the K Street Transitway?
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To make ride-hailing work for urbanism, here’s what needs to happen
Ride-hailing services like Uber, Lyft, and Via have grown meteorically since launching just a few years ago. Meanwhile, transit ridership nationwide is declining, and some studies posit a direct connection. As a result, many transit supporters have sharply criticized these services. Some fears are warranted, but ride-hailing is also offering people a valuable transportation service.
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DC may require ride-hailing companies to share data, but won’t encourage pooling
Cities have required taxis to give logs of their rides to regulators for a long time. New York, Toronto, Chicago, Seattle, and others ask for taxi-like data from ride-hailing companies such as Uber, Lyft, and Via. Now, DC might join them. However, it won't follow through on an earlier proposal to encourage carpooling on these ride-hailing services.
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Phil Mendelson restores some, but not all, streetcar and solar funding
For the first vote on DC's budget on May 30, DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson slashed streetcar funding and a program that provides incentives for more solar power in DC. The budget lacked money necessary to extend the streetcar to Benning Road, never mind downtown. Now, he's proposing to bring back some but not all of the lost funding.
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DC Council Chairman Mendelson says he didn’t cut the Benning Road streetcar extension. DDOT says “that’s false.”
When a final budget came out of the DC Council the night after Memorial Day, I reported that it cut $60 million from the DC Streetcar and that would significant delay, or permanently scuttle, extending the line to Benning Road Metro in Ward 7. Chairman Phil Mendelson is disputing that's the effect of his cuts, but transportation officials re-confirmed to me that is exactly what will happen if the cuts stay.
Blog Budget
Image by Sam Kittner / DDOT used with permission.
