• DC’s pedestrian council and neighborhood groups suggest ways to improve streets during the coronavirus crisis

      By David Alpert     April 8th, 2020

      Lower speed limits? Longer times to cross? Wider sidewalks? Close spaces like Cleveland Park's service lane? These are some ideas that have been put forth in recent days to improve street space while people "social distance" amid the rising coronavirus infection totals.

    • DC, Montgomery, and Alexandria add pick-up/drop-off zones to help restaurants during the coronavirus

      By David Alpert     March 25th, 2020

      Most retail businesses are closed for social distancing during the Covid-19 epidemic, but restaurants are continuing to their business now comes entirely from take-out and delivery. To help with that, some area governments are adding more "pick-up/drop-off zones" near restaurants and other take-out businesses.

    • The good, the bad and the unexplained: what you need to know about the WMATA budget

      By David Alpert     January 29th, 2020

      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.

    • Why the streetcar from Union Station to Georgetown died (mostly)

      By David Alpert     January 23rd, 2020

      "DC Streetcar to Georgetown is dead," read the headline. But the once-proposed DC Streetcar extension, likely in dedicated lanes, from Union Station to Georgetown didn't just die. It died a long time ago. It's just that reporters saw the death certificate, and that lent a certain finality to what many suspected and others already knew.

    • What the heck is going on with the WMATA budget?

      By David Alpert     December 16th, 2019

      Up to 68 Washington-area bus routes could face cuts in 2020 (and some could see increases), under a draft budget document presented to the WMATA board Thursday. At the meeting, various board members then proposed numerous of amendments, and the board ultimately put off any action for a month. What's going on, and what should riders take from this?

    • More dockless scooters and bikes, but fewer dockless companies would operate in DC under a new DDOT plan

      By Caitlin Rogger     September 26th, 2019

      DC could limit shared dockless bike and scooter companies to just four, but increase the number of dockless bikes and scooters to 20,000, under a new proposal released for public comment Wednesday. Currently, Bird, Bolt, Lime, Lyft, Razor, Skip, and Spin operate dockless scooters and JUMP operates both scooters and dockless bicycles.

    • Ellen Jones will be DDOT’s new Chief Project Delivery Officer

      By David Alpert     August 14th, 2019

      When Sam Zimbabwe left to head Seattle's Department of Transportation, he left some big shoes to fill. That position will now go to Ellen Jones, who is currently Deputy Executive Director of the Downtown DC Business Improvement District and previously headed up the Washington Area Bicyclist Association.

    • Whose curb is it, anyway?

      By Caitlin Rogger     July 26th, 2019

      Nine curbside locations around the District will be available to reserve for commercial deliveries starting August 1, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) recently announced. The three-month pilot gives a company called curbFlow authority to manage the zones.

    • Video: How are downtown DC’s red hot summer bus lanes working out?

      By Caitlin Rogger     June 17th, 2019

      What’s black and white but red all summer? DC’s H and I street pilot bus-only lanes are getting more publicity, now from a short film produced by TransitCenter and Streetfilms.

    • Road trip! DC Councilmembers try out the H & I pilot bus lanes

      By Caitlin Rogger     June 11th, 2019

      DC’s dedicated bus lanes need long-term political commitment to thrive amid the jungle of competing demands for our street space. That commitment had a visible boost Monday, as a group of DC councilmembers gamely tried out the H & I pilot bus lanes, and shared their thoughts on the value of bus priority in the District.