DC and Baltimore Area Mass Transit/Transportation

[urbanvb]

Disabled Transit Accidents Increase

Driver Turnover Cited as a Factor

MetroAccess, the troubled curb-to-curb service for the disabled, is confronting a new problem: accidents.

The service recorded almost three times as many accidents from July 2005 to June compared with the same period the previous year, Metro officials said yesterday.

story

[bmorescottamanda]

Another 'transit-oriented' development slated for region

Baltimore Business Journal - 2:41 PM EDT Mondayby Daniel J. SernovitzStaff

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A team of developers including the Bozzuto Group of Greenbelt has been selected to redevelop 24 acres of state- and Anne Arundel County-owned land at the Odenton MARC Station.

The $150 million mixed-use development will include a hotel, more than 500 apartments and condominiums and two parking garages for MARC Station commuters.

http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore...tml?jst=b_ln_hl

[krazeeboi]

It just keeps getting better for B-more.

Metro Extension To Dulles Delayed

State Says Schedule Pushed Back a Year

The months-long debate over whether to build a Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport below ground through Tysons Corner has pushed the construction schedule back about a year, state officials said yesterday.

Subway construction probably won't begin until late next year or early 2008, said officials of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. It was supposed to start early next year, prompting some Fairfax County supervisors to question whether the state's management of the project was also to blame.

[urbanvb]

Poll Shows Support for Tax Increase

N.Va. Favors Fund For Transportation

A large majority of Northern Virginia residents want the state to spend more money to fix the region's roads and rails, and more than three-quarters say they wanted the opportunity to raise local taxes to do it, a new Washington Post poll shows.

[urbanvb]

Beltway Toll Plan May Need Va. Funds

Rising Costs Strain Private Partners

A privately backed plan to build express toll lanes on the Virginia portion of the Capital Beltway, which was promoted as a way to ease traffic without using taxpayer money, has become so expensive that the firms behind the project could require more than $100 million in public funds to make it work, according to state transportation officials.

[bmorescottamanda]

Beltway Toll Plan May Need Va. Funds

Rising Costs Strain Private Partners

story

[urbanvb]

False Alarm Over Project Delays

Studies for Purple Line, Shady Grove-Clarksburg Link on Track

Angry e-mails flew. Transit activists cried foul. Montgomery County politicians said they were alarmed and wanted answers.

Word spread over the weekend that studies of two proposed transit projects aimed at easing traffic in the Maryland suburbs -- a Metro Purple Line and a transit link between Shady Grove and Clarksburg -- would be delayed at least two years.

[urbanvb]

At Dulles and National, The Wait Gets Worse

TSA Official Worries About Holiday Crowds

Security lines have grown at two Washington area airports and at others across the country in recent weeks, prompting federal officials to seek new ways to reduce logjams during the holiday travel season.

[tombarnes]

My recent experience at Reagan and BWI has been much better than I had expected. Then again, I usually fly out of DC on Tuesday mornings so the security lines aren't as bad as they would be on Monday mornings. On Tuesday at about 5:15 AM, it took me about 15 minutes or less to get through the line.

Edited November 4, 2006 by tombarnes

[urbanvb]

hey this sounds pretty neat.

Web Lets Riders See Train Times From Afar

Tired of rushing to the Metro station only to see your train pulling away and the platform sign saying the next one is in 12 minutes? Good news.

Riders will now be able to find out when trains are arriving at stations before hoofing it to the platform. A new Metro technology provides real-time information on computers and Web-enabled wireless devices, such as BlackBerries and cellphones.

[krazeeboi]

This is becoming more and more common for rail systems in the US. It's good, because it's an added convenience that just may increase ridership a bit.

[orulz]

Month-old topic, but...

Hoofing It Out of the Subway

System Considers Converting Some Escalators to Stairs to Save on Repairs

story

[krazeeboi]

Exactly. Now some of those escalators are pretty long, and it would be an extremely tedious climb up a set of stairs that long.

[tombarnes]

All of the stations have elevators. Whether they are working or not is another question entirely.

[urbanvb]

VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS

Higher Fares Are Proposed To Offset Budget Shortfall

Virginia Railway Express should raise fares, reduce station security and slash rider discounts to cover a nearly $8 million budget deficit created by plunging ridership, Fairfax County officials said yesterday.

[urbanvb]

Afternoon Rush to Get New Ramp, And Relief

Springfield Project Aims to Reduce Wrecks, Congestion

A new ramp that is expected to dramatically improve the afternoon commute through the Springfield interchange is scheduled to open one week from today, project officials said yesterday.

[arlingtonian]

Arlington outshines counties at getting residents to use transit

http://www.examiner.com/a-441821~Arlington...se_transit.html

[arlingtonian]

Metro Considers Increasing Rail Fares

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6121001113.html

[urbanvb]

Rush-Hour Metro Fares May Rise as Much as $2.10

Broad Plan Aims To Reduce Deficit, Improve Service

Rush-hour Metrorail riders face a $2.10 fare increase, and some off-peak passengers could get discounts under a proposal designed to raise money, change rider habits and ease crowding.

[urbanvb]

Airports Authority Will Take Over Dulles Toll Road To Speed Rail Line

The region's airports authority agreed yesterday to take over the Dulles Toll Road, boosting efforts to build a rail line to Dulles International Airport and raising the likelihood of higher tolls on the highway.

[krazeeboi]

A $2.10 hike? Wow, that's a bit much. According to my Metro card (I still have an active one from my visit back in July, LOL), one trip is about $1.40, and one morning my trip was during the latter part of rush hour. Man, that might be enough to deter me from using the Metro during rush hour when I visit. That would be a pity, since I love that thing.

[bmorescottamanda]

All aboard

Wireless Internet headed for a MARC train near you

Baltimore Business Journal - December 22, 2006by Stephanie WentworthStaff

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Story Images

Jeffrey A. Schraeder sees his weekly trip on the MARC train as a waste of time.

When Schraeder treks from Baltimore to Washington, D.C., he answers e-mails on his Blackberry and totes work-related reading materials. The once-weekly trip isn't enough for Schraeder to justify buying a wireless Internet card that could cost $60 to $120. But having the ability to use the Internet would make the trip much more productive for the managing director of ConvergentWorks LLC, a Baltimore tech company.

http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore...7022800^1393680

[urbanvb]

Nifty idea. The Metro in DC doesn't offer wi fi does it?

[TheFutureIsNow]

not sure if this belongs here, but has anyone heard of any news about the silver line, if its going ahead or still stuck?

[tombarnes]

I have heard nothing about it recently. I wonder what is happening with the plan?