CommuterPageBlog

Your Declaration of Independence

Declare your independence this July 4th with WALKArlington's new Walkabouts brochure is in!  Jam-packed with fun- and fact-filled routes through 16 of Arlington's walkable neighborhoods and urban villages, this brochure is your own personal declaration of independence from your car!  The Walkabouts brochure may not be written in calligraphy on parchment paper, but it is portable, colorful and printed on recycled paper!

Some of the routes (Rosslyn, Radnor-Fort Myer Heights) even take you to some fine locations for viewing fireworks this Independence Day!  Other Walkabout routes offer opportunities to explore Arlington over the long holiday weekend and the rest of the summer!

To order your very own copy of the new Walkabouts brochure free of charge, click here to set up your account, then click here, scroll down to Walkabouts, and place your order!  Or pick up your phone and call (703) 228-RIDE and request the Walkabouts brochure!

Here's to the pursuit of happiness on two feet!  Happy Independence Day!

Lauren Hassel, WALKArlington Coordinator

 

Some of the routes (Rosslyn, Radnor-Fort Myer Heights) even take you to some fine locations for viewing fireworks this Independence Day!  Other Walkabout routes offer opportunities to explore Arlington over the long holiday weekend and the rest of the summer!

To order your very own copy of the new Walkabouts brochure free of charge, click here to set up your account, then click here, scroll down to Walkabouts, and place your order!  Or pick up your phone and call (703) 228-RIDE and request the Walkabouts brochure!

Here's to the pursuit of happiness on two feet!  Happy Independence Day!

Lauren Hassel, WALKArlington Coordinator

 

Trail work from July 6-10th

Starting Monday, July 6th, there will be two trail repair projects underway.  One will be at the Custis Trail near where it passes over Spout Run.  The other will be at the western end of the new Four Mile Run trail extension near the Shirlington Road Exxon station. 

"Staff has been directed to maintain at least one lane passable along each, [due to a lack of] good detour options for either project."  Work will not start until 9AM each morning, to allow for the morning rush hour of cyclists getting to work.  The work is expected to wrap up before Friday July 10th.

Check out the Arlington County Bike Map (.pdf) to find alternate routes if you're traveling during the day next week.  If you need to cycle through the affected areas, slow down and use caution around the workers and fellow cyclists.  Be safe out there!

Melissa Esposito is the Car-Sharing and Bike-Sharing Program Coordinator for Arlington County.

New ART 87 Already Crowded. Help Is Here

As you know, Arlington Transit (ART) started service on a new ART 87 Pentagon Metro-Army Navy Drive Shirlington route this past Monday absorbing the ART 82 and Metrobus 22b. You can see the route map and schedule at http://www.commuterpage.com/art/87main.htm .   Beginning with the first day ridership, especially in the Nauck neighborhood (former ART 82 route), has exceeded projections and caused overloads on selected morning peak period trips to the Pentagon. ART has responded by adding one additional bus to cover these trips to alleviate the over-crowding.

Peak period service frequencies are every 20 minutes – same as the Metrobus 22b. On Monday evening and a few trips in the mornings, ART 87 buses have run late due to oversight issues. These issues are being resolved. We expect that the ART 87 will be run as well and be more attractive than the Metrobus 22b.

The blog posts that I have read have been helpful in this effort.  Thanks. Please continue to let me know how you like the 87. Hopefully, Shirley Park, The Grove and Avalon Bay residents will also use the 87 to reach Shirlington’s restaurants, shops and movies (see link http://www.commuterpage.com/art/villages/Shirlington.htm ) as well as taking it to the Pentagon. Thank you for riding ART.

Steve Yaffe is the ART Operations Manager for Arlington County Transportation in the Department of Environmental Services.

New ART Operations Contractor Selected

ART buses are operated by a private sector company under contract to Arlington County

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Oversight of the contract, policy, administration and marketing responsibilities reside with Arlington County Transportation Transit staff. A new company was selected for this work: Forsythe Transportation (Forsythe Press Release). Forsythe’s first day running ART is today, July 1. Forsythe’s proposal to run ART was unanimously selected for several reasons including their seasoned management team, oversight and supervision strategies, maintenance experience, and best overall value to the citizens of Arlington County

  We expect to see a higher level of service as a result. Let us know how we’re doing. And welcome to Forsythe!

Article originally posted on ArlingtonTransitBlog.com.

Steve Yaffe is the ART Operations Manager for Arlington County Transportation in the Department of Environmental Services.

NextBus Takes Away Mystery for Bus Riders

Metro Board Member Chris Zimmerman announces WMATA's introduction of NextBus on 1,500 buses and 12,000 bus stops. Will Nextbus entice more riders to the bus by taking away the mystery of when the next bus will arrive? Let's hope it provides for a better riding experience for existing customers and lures new ones too. Congrats to Metro.

Chris Hamilton is the Commuter ServicesChief for Arlington County in the Transportation Division of the Department of Environmental Services, manager of CommuterPageBlog and a Metro/biking commuter from Rosemont in Alexandria

Save Two Birds With One Starbucks - Fixing Washington's Traffic

Last week was a tough week for Washingtonians as we experienced Metro's saddest crash in the agency's history and all of the transport-related consequences, including major delays throughout the Metrorail system; a newfound wariness about using the system, and even some commuters getting into their cars, thereby creating and experiencing more congested streets. It's a vicious cycle time and time again: lack of sufficient funding for transport options, problems, traffic congestion, time wasted, everyone's stressed.

I’m writing with a proposal which would both improve downtown D.C.'s congested streets and the regional corridors that lead to them, while providing more funding for transit, cycling, walking, and streets through better management of our collective resources. How to do this? Through congestion charging and using the revenues to improve downtown D.C.-based commuting options throughout the region.

Congestion charging is a fee that motorists would pay to enter downtown D.C. (not inner adjacent neighborhoods in D.C.) during the work day. Whereas a toll is at one location on a street, such as at a bridge, a cordon congestion charging plan, which is what I'm proposing, would create a boundary around D.C.'s Central Business District (map). All motor vehicles entering this zone during the work day would pay the charge, regardless of which state they live in - VA, MD, or DC.

The purpose of this fee is to limit downtown traffic congestion while encouraging use of transit, carpooling, vanpooling, telework, and biking; and limit greenhouse gases. For a few dollars to enter downtown D.C. during weekdays 6AM - 7PM, the revenues generated by such a fee could be regionally applied towards improving and creating new transit service before the congestion charge begins, constructing improved bikeways, and improving the region's streets. Jurisdictions from the inner to the outer suburbs and D.C. too would each see a piece of the pie. Motorists would save lots of time and stress due to the improved traffic flow. Stanchions placed on streets along the boundary of the zone would read license plates to see who has entered the zone. Motorists could then pay the charge either on-line or at downtown D.C.’s multispace parking meters.

The charge amount would be a reasonable fee which would discourage auto trips into downtown D.C., and encourage transit, carpooling, vanpooling, telework, and cycling. The charge, let's say in the $3 - $5 range, would be the price of a Starbucks coffee, hardly a large fee when considering all the time commuters would save with better flowing traffic.

Congestion charging is being used in cities like London, Stockholm, and Singapore. A report by the Victoria Transport Policy Institute on London's congestion charging program states, "During the program's first few months automobile traffic declined about 20% (a reduction of about 20,000 vehicles per day)." Also, "[t]his has significantly increased traffic speeds within the zone. Average traffic speed during charging days (including time stopped at intersections) increased 37%, from 8 miles-per-hour (13 km/hr) prior to the charge up to 11 miles-per-hour (17 kms/hr) after pricing was introduced. Peak period congestion delays declined about 30%, and bus congestion delays declined 50%. Bus ridership increased 14% and subway ridership about 1%."

Is this idea pie-in-the-sky? Yes, if you don't like pie. But who wouldn't want to pay the cost of one Starbucks coffee to fight less traffic, save money on gas, decrease your personal stress level, and get home earlier every day to spend more time with family and friends?

I’ll take the pie.

by Paul DeMaio

image credit: DCist

Beer and Bikes

New Belguim Brewing, located in Fort Collins, Colorado, makes a variety of unique beers with names like "Fat Tire," "Skinny Dip," and "La Folle." They also are into biking, big time. New Belguim Brewing sponsors four bike-related events:

Tour de Fat -- a fun bike ride held in 11 cities
Team Wonderbike -- people pledge to bike, not drive
Urban Assault Ride -- bike scavenger hunt and obstacle course held in 10 cities
Bike-In Cinema -- drive-in movies on bikes

New Belguim promotes biking as much as beer on their website and encourages their employees to live the bike culture. Take a look at the photo on the home page showing the company's parking lot filled with bikes, not cars. They give away a bike a day to registered participants. (You have to live in a state where they sell their beer to register and unfortunately, Virginia is not one of those states.) Their logo has a bike in it. New Belguim is also a strong supporter of sustainablity and green buildings. What a great company to work for -- beer and bikes and community engagement -- it would be a dream job!

Bobbi Greenberg is the Marketing Director for Arlington County Commuter Services in the Department of Environmental Services

The Aftermath of a Tragedy

Sometimes it isn't until lives have been lost and lives have been forever changed that officials really pay attention to problems. In the case of Metro and Congress the tragic crash of the Red Line trains seems to have turned a light on things like poor maintenance, aging infrastructure in the form of rail cars and tracks and electronics and the need for billions of dollars. It is amazing to read about all of the things that Metro has let slide in what appears to have been an effort to save money. It's surprising that something horrific hasn't happened sooner. I just hope that the money that Congress is now more likely to give to Metro doesn't get squandered paying off lawsuits like the one already filed for nearly a million dollars because somebody broke a leg in the crash.

Photo: Ben Schumin, Wikipedia

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Our friends over at the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) remind us that a couple of new drunk driving laws take effort on July 1st. Specifically, persons twice convicted of DUI in Virginia in a ten year period will be mandated to use ignition interlock devices for a minimum of six months. (Current Virginia law mandates the same for persons twice convicted of DUI within five years.) In addition, persons required to operate a vehicle in Virginia with an ignition interlock device but later convicted of driving without such will be both guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor as well as subject to having their driver's license revoked.

This coming Fourth of July WRAP will once again be offering its SoberRide program to keep drunk and impaired drivers off the roads. The group cites stats from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showing that nearly half (44%) of all traffic deaths on Independence Day are alcohol-related.

The SoberRide program will be in operation beginning at 4:00 pm on Saturday, July 4th and continue until 4:00 am the morning of the 5th.

WRAP says that during this 12-hour period, area residents over the age of 21 who have been celebrating with alcohol may call the toll-free SoberRide phone number 1-800-200-TAXI and be afforded a no-cost (up to a $ 50 fare), safe way home. Please make sure to tip the cab driver (that's my and not WRAP's request.)

SoberRide is offered in the District of Columbia; throughout the Maryland counties of Montgomery and Prince George's; and throughout the Northern Virginia counties of Arlington, Fairfax, (eastern) Loudoun and Prince William.

Since 1993, the SoberRide program has provided 43,789 free cab rides home to would-be drunk drivers in the Greater Washington area.

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Texting while driving is just plain dumb and you would think that it wouldn't take the passage of a law to get people to stop doing it. Trying to stare into a tiny little screen while pushing buttons with your thumbs is not what we were taught in Driver's Ed. Nevertheless, laws are getting passed that make texting while driving an offense of some significance. 14 states and the District have texting or more general distracted driving laws on the books.

Last December only seven states and the District had passed such legislation. The Governors Highway Safety Association reports that the 2009 state legislative season has already seen more than 200 proposed distracted driving regulations. The group provides a breakdown of laws mostly affecting the use of cell phones but under the larger umbrella of distracted driving.

Photo: Alton, Wikipedia

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Steve Eldridge is a long-time reporter, observer and commentator on the Washington region's transportation issues. You can contact him directly by writing to: Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com. Unless otherwise requested, letters or portions of letters can be used within future columns. Letter writers will be identified by their first name and city/neighborhood.

Has Your Bicycle Been Stolen?

ARLINGTON COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT NEWS RELEASE:

"The Arlington County Police Department is currently investigating bicycle larcenies that occurred in the area of Lee Highway and North Harrison Street during the end of May and beginning of June. The Police Department recovered several bicycles that may have been stolen from their original owners. If your bicycle has been stolen, and you have not reported the theft, please call the Arlington County police Department Non-Emergency Line at (703) 558-2222. If you witness a theft in progress, immediately call 911."

by Paul DeMaio, BikeArlington

image credit: TreeHugger

Where You Live Influences How Thin You Are

Here's some not-so-surprising news recently posted on USA TODAY's Better Life blog.  According to a study by the Active Living Research Program at San Diego State University, if you live in a neighborhood where you can easily walk to nearby shops, you are likely to be more active and thinner than if you live in a place where you have to drive everywhere! This is true no matter what income level the neighborhood.

Researchers looked at 32 neighborhoods in Seattle and Baltimore, based on income and walkability factors. About 2,200 people, ages 20 to 65, wore accelerometers to track physical activity. Findings indicated that people did 40 to 50 minutes more physical activity per week if they lived in neighborhoods designed for pedestrians. Participants were also less likely to be overweight or obese if they live in places that are walk-friendly.

Meanwhile, the same blog covers an appeal by more than 30 leading fitness and medical groups urging President Obama to promote the importance of physical activity to combat health problems and cost in the U.S. This USA TODAY Better Life blog post notes that even brisk walking can boost weight loss while trimming body fat.

Perhaps the President was doing some research on nearby walk-friendly neighborhoods, if not weight loss, when he and Vice President Biden traveled to Arlington last month for lunch at Ray's Hellburger, smack dab in the middle of the walkable Rosslyn-Courthouse metro corridor. Next time, maybe they'll ditch the limo and walk off their meal afterward!

Lauren Hassel handles outreach and promotions for WALKArlington, part of Arlington County Commuter Services in the Department of Environmental Services.

Washington Bike-sharing Survey Results Are In

Originally posted at The Bike-sharing Blog:

The Washington, D.C. SmartBike program survey results are now complete and the District of Columbia Department of Transportation is kind to share them with The Bike-sharing Blog readers. The SmartBike D.C. program is nearly one year old with its birthday coming up in August. Of the 1,000 or so members of the program, 333 responded to the survey. The SmartBike D.C. program is in its pilot stage with 120 bikes, so these results may not broadly apply to other programs, but the data is interesting nonetheless.

A few points I found particularly interesting:

Question #2: A majority of the respondents use the bikes less than once per week (62%). This is likely due to the lacking availability of stations. With only 10 stations in the pilot program, most of the respondents find their needs not met as station coverage is poor. However, about a third use the bike 1 - 3 times per week (28%).

Question #3: A majority of respondents use the bikes for social purposes (48%) while commuting is the second most common use (41%).

Question #4: Nearly 70% of bike-sharing trips would have been done by foot had the bikes not been available. However, bike-sharing pulled 16% of the respondents away from driving a personal car for their trip and 19% away from a taxi.

Question #7: Trips combining bike-sharing and the subway or bus was low. A smartcard usable on all three systems, like the D.C. region’s SmarTrip card, could improve these numbers. Also, more stations at transit-accessible and non-transit accessible locations could improve this.

Question #8: 60% already own a bike and 40% don't own a bike. This affirms the belief that people with bikes would use the system. Also, with 40% not owning a bike, bike-sharing is creating bike trips that otherwise wouldn't be made.

This first survey of a 3rd generation bike-sharing program in North America is helpful in guiding its growth and that of other programs. Overall, it says that bike-sharing is working on this side of the pond too and that’s good news.

image credit: Gwadzilla

Paul DeMaio works on the BikeArlington team, part of Arlington County Commuter Services in the Department of Environmental Services.

Thoughts and Prayers

Both of the above are going out in large amounts to the families, friends, neighbors and co-workers of the nine (as of this writing) souls who lost their lives on Metro's Red Line. This is a true tragedy and one that some people saw coming because of some of the issues that are now coming to light and will continue to be revealed in the days and weeks ahead. Things like maintenance records, engineering reports on these old workhorses, data from track sensors and of course the testimony of those on or near the trains at the time of collision.

The one piece of real interesting information that has come out is that riders on the trailing train say that the operator told them that there was another train on the track ahead of them and that they would be moving shortly. That would seem to indicate that the cause was mechanical in that the trains were being controlled by a computer. That computer system was something that the Washington Post referred to without any sign of tongue being in cheek as "failsafe."

I was a traffic reporter back in 1982 when the last Metro fatality crash occurred. Unlike this crash which led the nightly news on CNN and MSNBC, the crash 27-years ago got hardly a mention. Why? Because the Metrorail crash occurred the same afternoon as the horrific Air Florida crash into the 14th Street Bridge. The hero that day was somebody name Lenny Skutnik who, time after time, jumped into the freezing waters of the Potomac river that January day to save as many lives as he could. It was an amazing and heartwarming thing to watch.

(Jumping onto my soapbox) I am really tired of the way we throw the word "hero" around. Too many people in the media have been referring to some of the survivors because they helped others off the train. I'm sorry, but a hero is someone who goes way out of their way to help someone; rushes through a burning building to save a person or dives into icy and potential hazardous waters to save total strangers.  What the vast of majority of these Metro crash "heros" have been is simply good citizens, helping out their fellow man. What they did was wonderful and helpful and occasionally courageous but let's hold off on the hero tag so that it really means something when we actually convey it to someone.

OK, Metro has not had a crash that resulted in fatalities in some time but they still have had more people die in train crashes in the past 30 years than has the massive New York City subway system. Check out the statistics. It's amazing that so much of what goes wrong is because of technical issues.

I am sure that the number of lawsuits coming out of this crash will be substantial, especially if it is discovered that the system itself had failed. I just hope that not everyone who got a small cut or scratch feels it necessary to grab their million dollars from the system. After all, Metro may just raise its fares to make up for their losses and everyone will suffer.

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Steve Eldridge is a long-time reporter, observer and commentator on the Washington region's transportation issues. You can contact him directly by writing to: Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com. Unless otherwise requested, letters or portions of letters can be used within future columns. Letter writers will be identified by their first name and city/neighborhood.

And the Commuter Connections Employer Incentives Award Goes to...

The Consumer Electronics Association!

Yesterday, during a morning award ceremony hosted by Commuter Connections, a regional network of transportation organizations coordinated by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, CEA won the award for Best Employer Commuter Incentives.

CEA, is a national trade association located in Crystal City and is a model for other companies looking to start or enhance a commuter benefits program.

Not only do they offer employees pre-tax payment for public transit or vanpool fares; reduced or free parking for carpools; showers; lockers; bicycle storage; telecommuting; reimbursement for 50% of internet costs; and flextime; but they also encourage their employees to live in Arlington as well. To entice employees to live near their work and decrease commuting times they provide an interest free mortgage assistance loan of up to $25,000. Congrats to the Consumer Electronics Association!

It is great to see a company located here in Arlington, VA be recognized for their outstanding efforts to assist their employees attain more work life balance with programs that focus on commuting and "living near your work" practices.

Arlington Transportation Partners has been proud to work with CEA since 2001 and looks forward to working with them in the future. If you are an Arlington employer or an employee of an Arlington company, contact us to see how you or your employer can begin or enhance a commuter benefits program. With effort and assitance from ATP, you could see your organization at the podium receiving an award in 2010!

Wendy Duren is a Business Development Manager at Arlington Transportation Partners, and commutes with Metrorail daily.

Planning Board or Speed Bump

I have never been a big fan of the way that the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government's (COG) Transportation Planning Board (TPB) operates. Unlike most big cities' Metropolitan Planning Organizations our local group does not initiate anything. It sits and waits for the local jurisdictions to bring it ideas that it then debates and debates and debates. Occasionally the TPB will ask the presenting jurisdiction to make modifications to its proposal and, while it can't demand that those changes be made, it has the de facto power of the threat of veto.

The TPB is made up of a number of local jurisdictions from the miniscule like Fairfax City and Takoma Park, Maryland which represent a few thousand people to the large like Fairfax County and Montgomery County which each represent about a million people. That means that on a rotating basis the mayor of Takoma Park or Fairfax City assume the chairman seat and have control over the transportation agenda for the entire Washington region. It's far too easy for these leaders to let very parochial interests and their desire for re-election dictate what they do and what they allow on the monthly agenda.

What brought this up was the breathless media reports on Tuesday and Wednesday that literally shouted that the TPB had approved the Purple Line which is a transit connection between Bethesda and New Carrolton in Maryland. The thing is that it has yet to be determined whether the Purple Line will be a light rail or bus rapid transit route. It does not address the continued threats of lawsuits from the country club that is in the path of the route.

The Purple Line is a good thing in that it will provide a reliable east/west link that doesn't currently exist inside the beltway. The problem is that it is still a long way away from being built. All that happened the other day was that the regional Transportation Planning Board got itself out of the way so that the planning can move forward.

Map: Coalition for Smarter Growth

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While we are on the subject of WiFi (wireless internet) in moving vehicles (OK, we discussed it a couple days ago) there are some groups that are pushing Amtrak pretty hard to add the service.  According to a blog within reasononline that quotes a column from the Washington Post (the ever-shrinking, once-great newspaper of the nation's capitol) the rail system's spokesperson says, "Presently Amtrak is testing a system on the Acela express train, and we hope to have some results on that front soon.Our goal is to provide WiFi service." The Reason piece notes that Canada's Via Rail provides WiFi and so do most national rail services in Europe.

As I argued in favor of adding WiFi to local commuter trains, it seems to me that adding WiFi to Amtrak would be a wonderful sales tool. But notice that the Amtrak spokesman said that they are looking to add WiFi only to their very expensive Acela Express service. While I understand this from a marketing standpoint I think it's very shortsighted on the part of Amtrak not to make WiFi available in all of their trains. I can tell you that one of the reasons my daughter and I use a particular brand of bus from here to New York is because they offer WiFi. Somehow or another a $20 bus service has figured out how to provide WiFi but the local commuter trains and Amtrak can not. If the issue for Amtrak is security then it would be nice if they would just come out and say so. Otherwise, it's time to wake up and smell the next millennium and add WiFi for your paying customers.

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Many of you may have already seen this but for those that haven't I think this is one of the funniest videos dealing with local issues that I have seen in some time. It's called "Arlington: The Rap" and it's a very tongue in cheek look at our fair city. It would help if you didn't take it too seriously.

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Steve Eldridge is a long-time reporter, observer and commentator on the Washington region's transportation issues. You can contact him directly by writing to: Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com. Unless otherwise requested, letters or portions of letters can be used within future columns. Letter writers will be identified by their first name and city/neighborhood.

Baby Steps towards a Carpool Commuter Benefit?

I rather enjoy riding Metro to work. In fact, I have centered my search for housing based upon the proximity to the train. However, there was a time in my life that I was known to carpool a few days a week. If you aren't the driver, carpooling gives you the same benefits that transit does. Hopefully, if you are the driver, you are able to cut your costs of the commute by splitting it amongst those you drive safely and efficiently to end destinations. Your employer may even provide a preferred parking space for you.

Commuter Connections is thinking about taking carpool benefits one step further by PAYING YOU to carpool - that's right - $2/day. The pilot program will last 3 months. After all, if a program like this can be successful in cities like Atlanta and Los Angeles, surely it can succeed in the DC region as well. Stay Tuned!

Wendy Duren is a Business Development Manager at Arlington Transportation Partners, and commutes with Metrorail daily.

Walk This Way? or That Way if it Works Better For You

All the talk over the years about the evolution of GPS navigation systems for cars has been frustrating for those who walk or ride their bikes off the beaten path. Now, the people at NAVTEQ have come up with a navigation system called Discover Cities. It is described in an article (that looks more like a reprint of a company press release) as "routing options to pedestrians - whether entirely on foot or using public transport for all or a portion of their journeys.

"For instance, when a pedestrian wants the option to use public transport, NAVTEQ Discover Cities enables routes that take into consideration the location of bus stops and rail stations and their entrances/exits in relation to the pedestrian route, as well as the train/bus network information - including transfer locations."

Right now the data is being used in devices marketed and sold by Garmin, Networks In Motion and Nokia but I would imagine that more companies will add the information to their packages, even if it's just as an add-on option. This could be invaluable especially when traveling to another city and not wanting to take cabs or buses. At the same time I think I will wait a little while until the bugs are worked out before I venture off in the heart of Detroit at two in the morning looking for some gyro joint in a sketchy neighborhood. After all, I am still simultaneously impressed and disappointed after all these years with the information I get from services like MapQuest and my Magellan GPS system. The difference is that I can drive away from trouble if it occurs because of a wrong turn or a street that turns one-way out of the blue while in my car much better than I can walk or run.

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Put on your thinking caps all of you who think you have the perfect solution to traffic congestion. The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) and IBM are partnering in a global challenge to come up with new ideas to fight congestion.

At stake is a $50,000 prize presented at the 16th World Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems in Stockholm, Sweden, this September. The winner will also receive the development support needed to put his or her idea to work.

Winning ideas are expected to focus on the following five areas:

• Speed and efficiency: Enhancing transportation systems, using technology to reduce delays and transport people and goods efficiently and reliably.
• Behavioral impact: Providing travel alternatives that convince users to choose options that reduce congestion.
• Safety: Preventing accidents, improving incident response and providing more timely, accurate transportation information.
• Sustainability: Lowering energy use and emissions while actively managing traffic and reducing congestion.
• Economic competitiveness: Gaining productivity through new technologies, including wireless applications and mobility tools.

If you need or want more information or just want to enter your submission, go to www.itsa.org/challenge.

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It seems to me that one of the things that might get more people to use commuter rail is the addition of wireless internet access. Many of those using MARC and Virginia Railway Express (VRE) are on the trains for long periods of time and for many having access to the internet might help them get some things done (like answering email) before they get into the office.

On VRE's website it is stated that "Wireless Internet (WIFI) is not currently available on our trains. We know that there is interest in having WIFI on our trains and it is an idea that we would like to put into effect. Through a number of different tests and studies, we have discovered several areas along the tracks we use where a signal cannot be received. Until a provider is able to offer continuous service, we will not offer WIFI on our trains."

At least VRE mentions WIFI. Over on Maryland's MARC website there is no mention of it whatsoever and a search for "wireless internet" comes up with zero responses.

This is not a local issue. Although many systems around the country offer wireless internet access the two big commuter rail services in New York, the Long Island Railroad and Metro North, don't... although each have been talking about it for some time. NY Senator Chuck Schumer is getting impatient and is almost demanding that those two commuter services get WIFI installed sooner than later.

Again, I think it would be a great addition to the commuting experience and yet another plus when it comes to "selling" commuter rail. After all, if you use wireless while driving your car you might get one of those $100 tickets from the police in D.C.

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Steve Eldridge is a long-time reporter, observer and commentator on the Washington region's transportation issues. You can contact him directly by writing to: Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com. Unless otherwise requested, letters or portions of letters can be used within future columns. Letter writers will be identified by their first name and city/neighborhood.

Not So EZ Pass

This past weekend I drove my son up to a football training camp in Philadelphia. In addition to having some quality one on one time with my boy I also had some experiences from the driving perspective. We headed over to I-95 and thought we had everything we needed. I had brought one of my E-ZPass transponders so that we could zip through the tolls. At the first toll coming out of the Fort McHenry Tunnel (yes, it is now two dollars each way) we used the lane on the far left side that  allowed us to maintain 30 miles per hour because the lane was wide and the transponder reader was overhead. So far, so good. At the next toll however, we ran into a little problem.

As we went through the second Maryland toll an alarm went off and the message board flashed "Invalid Tag." I thought perhaps it was because we were not using the vehicle to which the EZ-Pass tag is assigned but that it would be charged anyway and things would be just fine. Even still, and the more I thought about it, I figured I'd better see if I couldn't get things straightened out before we got to the Delaware welcoming station (also known as their toll plaza which is the first thing you get to experience in the state regardless of the direction you are traveling).

I called the phone number on the EZ-Pass transponder and fairly shortly was connected to a live person... not a helpful person, but live nevertheless. The problem, it was explained, was that the credit card they had on account for me had expired. I offered to give her my new credit card number but was told that in order to do so I would have to tell her my PIN number. "Oh, you mean the number I created ten years ago and have never used since?" I could feel the icy chill through the phone. "Do you know your PIN?" So I tried to guess at it and failed. Here I was offering to give my credit card that would be used to charge tolls against and I needed a PIN number to do so. Why would I add my credit card to the EZ-Pass account of a total stranger? The whole thing was very irritating. I should add that I never received a notice from the good people at Maryland EZ-Pass telling me that they needed a new credit card for my account because the date on my old card had expired.

Even still, the worst was yet to come.

Because we no longer had use of our EZ-Pass transponder we had to wait in line and pay by cash. And wait we did. We averaged a 12 minute wait at each of the toll plazas we went through where we had to pay cash. 12 minutes times three or four toll plazas adds a lot to the trip and was particularly maddening as I watched all those cars and trucks zip through the EZ-Pass lanes. I vowed that I would get my transponder situation in order before I set out again.

When I got home I realized that I still couldn't update my Maryland EZ-Pass account because I still didn't have my PIN number although one was being sent to me within 10-15 working days... literally as fast as mud. I should also note that I signed up for EZ-Pass with Maryland many years ago because there was no charge for the transponder and no monthly fee. Maryland is adding a monthly fee and I will be sending my two transponders back to them with a nice note of thanks for all the fine service they have given me.  Instead I have purchased a new EZ-Pass transponder from the good people in Delaware who, if nothing else, know something about tolling. They charged me an upfront fee but not a monthly fee.

EZ-Pass is a wonderful thing if you have to drive on the interstates. But your experience may vary depending on the state that supplies your transponder.

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Every once in a while somebody comes up with an idea to sort of boycott a company or companies as a way of protesting what they have done, what they sell, or what they stand for politically. Over the years people have tried to organize boycotts against Coke because of its policies in South Africa or they have tried to boycott Proctor and Gamble because it was believed that the seven stars in the company logo had some roots in Satanism. I admit that after the oil tanker the Exxon Valdez broke apart and fouled 1,200 miles of Alaskan coastline I cut my Exxon gas card into small pieces, mailed the bits back to the company with a note berating them for being such no-goodnics and asking that my account be closed.

The latest is the whole Dump the Pump effort; a good idea but one that needs the participation of a very large percentage of commuters to have an impact. I can't imagine that one day of selling 10% or even 30% less gasoline is going to hurt any of the big oil companies. Remember that when gas was near $4 a gallon and the amount of gas people were buying was down substantially, Exxon was setting records for the amount of profits it was making. The only way that efforts like Dump the Pump will have an impact is if large numbers of people make changes in their commute, meaning that they are leaving the car at home or in commuter lots and taking transit.

Dump the Pump Day is going to happen on Thursday, June 18. WMATA (DC Metro) is taking part as is PRTC. There may be more local involvement but that is the extent of the list sent out by the organizers at the American Public Transportation Association (nothing self-serving about this).

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Steve Eldridge is a long-time reporter, observer and commentator on the Washington region's transportation issues. You can contact him directly by writing to: Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com. Unless otherwise requested, letters or portions of letters can be used within future columns. Letter writers will be identified by their first name and city/neighborhood.

Canine Commuters

I am usually prepared with reading material for my Metro commute from Maryland to Virginia, but there are days when I forget it. On some of these days I kindly accept a newspaper highlighting yesterday's news at the platform. On others, usually Wednesdays, it doesn't matter what I brought to read because I won't have a) the balance to stand and hold something b) the personal space to hold anything more than four inches away from my face. On those days, I pass the time by reading the advertisements as well as the Metro rules posted near the entrances of the cars. We've all seen them: No - eating, drinking, smoking, spitting, littering, blocking doors, listening to audio devices w/o headphones, transportation of non-service animals, etc. In my six months riding Metro, I've seen a few service animals, but what about animals without persons?

Apparently, in Moscow, stray dogs have found a way to live the suburban lifestyle and commute into the city. Unfortunately, these dogs don't have permanent homes to go to at the end of the day, but it's nice to see them find a way to get by. Makes me wonder what my pooch is actually up to once I leave for the day. Has she found a way to jump the train to the Mall to get a glimpse of the First Dog Bo or is she napping where I left her? I know one thing for sure, I'm going to check her dog bed for warmth when I get home tonight.

Wendy Duren is a Business Development Manager at Arlington Transportation Partners, and commutes with Metrorail daily.

Zipcar: Making It Even Easier To Go Car-Free

From San Francisco this week came good news for area Zipcar members: Apple's Worldwide Developers' Conference was where Zipcar announced it would be introducing an application for iPhones that allows all Zipcar members to do all sorts of cool things, like:

- locate an available Zipcar near you using GPS and Google Maps technology;
- reserve said car;
and, best of all,
- have your reserved Zipcar honk at you if you can't find it.

You can sign up to learn about updates and find out when the app is available.  I've heard rumors that the app might have other features by the time it comes out; what else would you like them to add before the launch this fall?

Melissa Esposito is the Car-Sharing and Bike-Sharing Program Coordinator for Arlington County.

Fun for the Day: Arlington The Rap - Living the Car-Free Diet

It's cute because it shows our rappers living Arlington's Car-Free Diet lifestyle.'s Enjoy.

Chris Hamilton is the Commuter Services Chief for Arlington County in the Transportation Division of the Department of Environmental Services, manager of CommuterPageBlog and a Metro/biking commuter from Rosemont in Alexandria.