The Continuing Saga of the Washington DC Streetcar

Recently, the city council of Washington, DC voted to drastically cut the proposed budget for the DC streetcar, from the estimated $1.3 billion that would be needed for the construction of the basic 22 mile system, to less than half that, $460 million. This level of funding would only be enough to support construction of about half the H Street/One City line and a short segment in Anacostia not connected to the rest of the city, as opposed to the full One City line, Takoma Park line and the first line linking downtown with Anacostia. 

When the DC Streetcar was first proposed, it was intended to serve several purposes. First, it was intended to promote economic development in neighborhoods and corridors not served by Metrorail, many of which had streetcar service previously. Second, it was intended to connect neighborhoods and move people around DC, unlike Metrorail, which was designed to bring people in and out of Washington as fast as possible. Third, it was intended to add substantial transit capacity without having to spend tens of billions of dollars and decades expanding Metrorail.

To the first point, the city council's actions constitute blatant deception. Much of the economic development the streetcar was intended to attract has already occurred, and now it seems that this development will not be getting the transportation that spurred its construction and that is necessitated for it to live up to the expectations of developers. Not only does this open the floodgates to lawsuits but it also shows in a very public way that the DC government cannot keep its promises, even to developers whose efforts are generally immune from political power struggles. To this end, it is likely that DC will be left out of future economic development efforts, as the future of the District's infrastructure is in doubt and developers cannot guarantee that the city will support future efforts on a similar scale, or that growth projections can, in fact, be met.

In addition, the city council's actions are yet another reason for the residents of the District to lose faith in their government. The original maps of the streetcar system show it serving many low income neighborhoods, especially Anacostia. This transportation service, combined with the economic development brought by the streetcar and the District's affordable housing and inclusionary zoning policies offered the best opportunity to date to create true mixed income neighborhoods that cater to everyone and can bring about substantial, lasting reductions in crime and poverty. The city council has completely forsaken this opportunity. One which would prove valuable to other cities across the country and around the world.

To the second and third points, as two short segments of the streetcar system now intended to be the limits of construction for the foreseeable future, it goes without saying that the streetcar falls short of its goal of serving as a DC circulator and extending the reach of pedestrians within the city. This is a role that Metrorail has been forced to take on, and a role which that system was not designed for. Building the streetcar in its entirety can shift intracity trips away from Metrorail, allowing it to take on additional capacity in the form of radial expansions to suburbs as originally intended.

In addition, the lack of intra-city mobility brought about from the scaling back of the streetcar will only serve to increase the concentrations of wealth and poverty within DC. Lack of a more permanent, extensive, exclusively within the district transportation system will mean that wealthy residents are less likely to spread their spending dollars to other parts of the city, as accessing them is that much harder. This not only means that gentrified areas will continue to gentrify as a result of neighborhoods retaining dollars spent, but that low income areas will see little, if any, benefit from economic development in other areas of the city and continue to decline. It also means that there will be less transit capacity for low income residents who have jobs in other areas of the city, limiting economic and social opportunities.

One criticism brought against the streetcar system is that of mismanagement, and it is a very valid concern. A streetcar system, in various iterations, has been in construction since the mid 2000s. First in Anacostia, now the current line on H Street and the larger system after that. The fact that it has taken this long, and streetcars are not in revenue service, is unacceptable. It is clear that management and construction of this system is a bigger bite than DDOT can currently chew. To this end, a design, build, operate and maintain contract was planned to be put out that would cover the design and construction costs of the streetcar system, as well as its operation and maintenance in the future. This would turn the system over to an organization with expertise in the construction and operation of streetcar infrastructure, and significantly lessen the impact that political fights have over the streetcar system. However, by drastically reducing the funding available to the streetcar, the assembly of such a contract is essentially off the table, as the funding required now cannot be procured. Thus, the decision by the council has ironically shackled the streetcar system to the poor management of DDOT. 

Overall, it seems that the city council is either unaware of the consequences of their decision, or malevolent in their actions. The streetcar system as proposed would address several crucial economic and transportation needs within DC, doing so in a way that has a great potential to lessen income equality and provide for all the city's residents, not just the young and wealthy. This is what it really means for a city to be world class. Not that it has some fancy amenity, but that it uses its transportation system, zoning regulations, and economy to do the most good for the largest number of its residents.

Mass Shootings and Suburbanization

Whenever a mass shooting occurs, public opinion focuses on one of three things: guns, video games, or mental illness. Where and how we live, a prominent aspect of our culture, is rarely discussed in relation to increasing violent tendencies.

Most mass shootings have occurred in suburbs or small towns, not in cities. This includes the Virginia Tech shooting, Columbine High School, and most recently, Newtown, CT. A recent study by the Brookings Institute showed that as the crime rate for inner cities is decreasing, the crime rate for suburban areas is increasing.  

Likewise, poverty is shifting from the inner cities to the suburbs. This is due to both the special severity of the financial crisis in account of the pervasiveness of mortgages, and the fact that suburban living is highly decentralized and infrastructure intensive, and thus has higher living costs.

The ways suburbs are planned and built runs contrary to the ways the built environment is intended to work for people. Jane Jacobs notes how shared and varied land uses promote use of outdoor space and socialization with other users of that space. This goes for adults as well as children, as she notes that when children play on sidewalks or in alleys they are indirectly protected by public surveillance of the streets.

This is a process that is not allowed to occur in suburbs chiefly because land is segregated by use. There is no incentive for those who live in residential neighborhoods to survey their streets because nothing of interest is taking place on them. Likewise, residents of suburbs are also less likely to use sidewalks on their streets because of the lack of destinations reachable on foot and the fact that fences have been erected around yards, prohibiting residents from interacting with each other via streets.

In addition to this, a growing amount of research is being done on the mental health effects of pollution and traffic congestion. An article in the Wall Street Journal notes that research has found possible links between air pollution and Altzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Autism, as well as increased levels of stress. Traffic congestion has also been linked to increases in stress.  

This stress, combined with the few opportunities for socialization provided by suburban life and the easy access to weapons in American society no doubt contribute to our high rates of gun violence and mass shootings. If mass shootings are a problem we wish to address responsibly and permanently, we need to look at the way we live and how it shapes us.

House Republicans Prefer Freeways over Safe Access to Schools

A recent article by the Huffington Post noted that two committees within the House of Representatives voted to remove federal funding for the Safe Routesto School National Partnership, an organization which promotes pedestrian and bicycle friendly environments around schools. The $202 million provided to the organization is approximately five percent of the interstate highway system's annual funding. This money will still be distributed to states, but in the form of general highway funding, which would be spent on interstate improvements and road construction as well as transit. John Mica (R-FL), who has a record of opposing alternative transit investments and was also the author of a bill to privatize Amtrak, claimed that this reduction in funding would not pose a problem, as he claimed that communities would make up the missing funds with their own investments. This seems highly unlikely however, as many communities are cutting back on program funding due to the economic climate.  

Dedicating additional funding towards freeways is wasteful and inefficient, as it causes increases in traffic congestion because of induced demand, increases in utility costs because of expansion of power and water lines to low density development and increases in personal transportation expenses.

Not only does this measure show the Republicans' support for inefficient and wasteful transportation projects, but it also shows they are willing to forsake communities and schools to get there way on these issues. Depriving schools of adequate pedestrian and bicycle access not only puts children at risk of being injured in a vehicular accident, but also promotes an unhealthy lifestyle as it discourages walking and bicycling, leading to a decrease in physical activity.

Furthermore, this proves once again that Republicans and the Tea Party are guided by blind ideology alone and care only about the illusion of policy implementation, rather than the substance of it. If reducing government spending was indeed a high priority for the right wing, then they would be adamant supporters of mixed use development, public transportation use, and bike paths and sidewalks such as those supported by the Safe Routes to School National Partnership. All of these things are proven to not only reduce government and private expenses but also to generate economic development, which is something that today, simply cannot be ignored.

VDOT Sees Sprawl as Good Politics

A month ago, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) reversed its neighborhood connectivity standards. In doing so, it threw out progressive, anti-sprawl regulations made in 2009.

In Virginia, when a developer builds a development, they construct the roads and then VDOT acquires them from the developer and covers their maintenance costs. In 2009, VDOT edited their regulations as to what they require from developers to include connectivity. With this, the number of roads in a development would be divided by the number of intersections, yielding the “connectivity index” of the development. These regulations stipulated that cul-de-sacs and other road termini count as intersections, but roads that terminate at the property line of the development without connecting to adjacent roads in another development do not, thus discouraging isolated developments connected only by a main road.

However, the regulations made permissions for “incompatible uses” or developments separated by natural boundaries (such as railroad tracks or streams) to be exempt from these connectivity standards, but went on to say that residential and commercial uses are always compatible and should be connected when possible.

Ironically, these original regulations were made with the understanding that they would save the state money in the long term, as less funding would be required to plow roads, install utilities, and provide police protection, fire protection, and educational facilities. In addition to this, it would also make main roads safer by diverting traffic off of them, save time by offering direct routes to destinations, and promote walking and bicycling, as secondary routes with lower speeds and less traffic were available.

However, in what seems to be nothing more than a political statement, VDOT and the Republican governor Bob McDonnell decided to throw these regulations out the window. Allowing for single use, cul-de-sac centered sprawl to grow without bound, and causing increased traffic congestion, increased rates of automobile accidents, increased pollution, and unnecessary spending on utilities and services.

 

Why, then, did VDOT and Governor McDonnell allow this to happen?

The answer is simple, ideology and politics got in the way of facts and numbers. Govenor McDonnell and VDOT decided to conveniently ignore the cost savings these standards could bring about. Instead, they derided the standards as “Socialist” and promised to stamp them out, as the Tea Party usually does with regulations that promote public transit, mixed use development, and alternatives to driving.

In reversing these development guidelines, the State of Virginia has shown that it is willing to ignore facts, sacrifice economic development, public safety, the environment, and the well being of its citizens in order to score political points. This is something that should not be allowed to happen.

Ken Cuccinelli and the Dulles Metrorail Saga

The idea seems simple enough: connect the ninth busiest airport in the country with the nation's capital. The execution, well, makin' progress... 

After a decade of planning and with phase one of the project finally nearing completion, a new dispute has involved, this time involving the infamous Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.  

Cuccinelli, apparently dissatisfied with the mere existence of the line, is now attempting to influence Loudon County voters to reject the second phase of the project (the one which would include the Dulles Airport station) by electing officials who would refuse to contribute funding towards it.  

Not only is Cuccinelli in the dark on this issue and willfully ignoring the economic development that the line would bring, but his actions regarding this project do not fall within his job description as Attorney General.  

And, like the Tysons' tunnel dispute, this is all over a relatively simple matter: Should the Dulles station be above ground, or underground?

The Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority (which is overseeing the project, not the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority, interestingly enough), wants to build an underground station, claiming that it will streamline connections from Metrorail to the terminal and decrease overall travel time.

Stakeholders including Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell want an above ground station, claiming that it will cut $330 million from the cost of the project, but increase travel time by three minutes.

The solution for this is simple: design the above ground and underground stations for the same plot of land. Build the above ground station directly on top of the main terminal parking lot (where the underground station is currently poised to go). This would solve any dispute and create the best of both worlds for travelers and taxpayers.

The link to the editorial which inspired this post.