@bobco85 110100 wrote:
I’m not upset, but to be brief, people double parking is a selfish act by definition (i.e., I’m not condemning the act, but I am judging it on face value) even if it does not personally bother me or inconvenience me, and I was starting to go off track with my rant (double parking -> blocking a lane -> delivery trucks blocking bike lanes -> condemnation; a bit disorganized and weak, really) so I cut it off.
My point is, why would someone need to double park anymore when pick-ups can be easily coordinated by cell phone?
Usually how it works is people say that they will meet at some time at some place. Now the probability of this happening has many variables. One is how far people live from the subways stop. Commonly that’s why people pick up family at the subways stop – because they live too far from the stop to walk. And of course the farther you live, the more uncertain one can predict the meet time. And there is the variable of the subway itself – which proves itself entirely unreliable. More than likely, they will miss by a few minutes. Which, frankly, is not a big deal.
Now – all things being equal – is it more comfortable for a person to wait in a car or wait standing at the bus shelter at Ballston…. like, today? My guess is that it is easier for the person waiting in the car. If I, who can sit in a car, insist that my wife stand out at the bus station while I drive to Ballston – do you think she might call me “selfish”
Now again, Arlington creates a transportation center. It builds spaces for buses. It builds spaces for bike share. It builds spaces for a taxi stand. But it provides no kiss and ride.
This is one of these things when you do engineering you have to take morals and shoulds out of the equation. Given that situation, with the factor that the Ballston stop is high volume, the outcome is 100% predictable. People will come to pick up people and will need space to do so. It’s like predicting where water will flow. No “people should do this” or “morals” or “judgements”. Just empirical observations that there will be a lot of traffic there and either it will have a place to go or not. If you dont build a Kiss and Ride – then that traffic goes somewhere.
Okay, so someone drives up. Here are the options
(a) Park. Good if there is some. Notoriously there is not parking in Ballston.
(b) Double park. You dont block traffic. It can still get by. You dont block bicycles. If you block a car that is parked, you just move. You dont add to traffic going through the congested intersections. Your carbon footprint is lower than if you drive around and around and around. You are really not imposing on anyone. No one has said how double parking at Ballston is a problem. You will be there when your friend shows up, that’s good, and you will get out of there faster, which is also good.
(c) Drive round and round. This congests the intersections, particularly the one by the mall. It also means you are repeatedly going through some of the pedestrian crossings in the area. You are burning more fuel. There is an increased risk of accidents (even if it is a small increase). And, well, what exactly are you achieving?
You comment that the parking is important for food trucks during lunch. But that is not what we are talking about, are we? People picking up passengers at Ballston is a thing during peak hours – rush hour – not lunch hour.
Oh, and you mentioned blocking bike lanes. But that is not what we are talking about either. There is no bike lane here. There is very little bike traffic here. This is a two block street. Most of the traffic on this street – is related to the subway stop.
Oh, and you also mentioned delivery trucks. Last I checked, I am a person, in a car, picking up my wife. I’ll check. But I dont think I own a delivery truck. Hate delivery trucks all you want. But why am I selfish because delivery trucks are dinguses?
Oh, and you mentioned everyone owns cell phones. Not true. I work for the FCC. I know the data. Not everyone does. I, in fact, do not.
I also happen to know the cell phones dont work very well in WMATA subway tunnels. Sometimes, sometimes not – depending on the carrier.
But let’s assume people do have cell phones. And let’s assume that minimization of wasted time is a good (not a moral good – just an economic good). What people will normally do is make their best guess, coordinate at the beginning of the trip, and try to arrive at the same point at the same time. If they do this, one person is likely to wait 1 to 5 minutes. On the other hand, if the person with the cell phone waits till they arrive at the station – calls – the family member receives the call – stops what they are doing – goes to the car – drives to the subway station – this is a variable. For us, that is probably more than 10 minutes.
And there is another factor. If I am at home, I have been traveling for 0 minutes. My wife has been traveling for 40 minutes by the time she hits ballston. Which one is selfish? For me to wait a couple minutes – when I have not been traveling – for my wife at the station – or for my wife to wait 10 more minutes after having traveled 40 minutes?
Let’s see. You mention that you could always pull into the parking spot. I think that is the very definition of double parking – that the parking lane has been taken – and the only spots available are the double parking ones. At any rate, at Ballston, that’s is consistent with my observation. If spots are available, people take them. Only a selfish person would double park when there is no need to.
You insist that you are not upset, but you are calling me selfish for double parking. Okay, let’s go to the authority:
Selfish: (of a person, action, or motive) lacking consideration for others; concerned chiefly with one’s own personal profit or pleasure.
Well let’s start at the beginning.
* I am coming to the metro to pick up my wife – I am doing something for someone else. Not exactly selfish.
* I am opting for the option where my wife does not spend time waiting for me at the station – I wait for her. Not exactly selfish.
* I am opting for the option where I do not ask my wife to wait outside on a day like today – not exactly selfish.
* Between endlessly driving around the block and parking the car, I am choosing the option with the lower greenhouse footprint. Not exactly selfish.
* I have chosen to double park – if I have to – on a street that is not a through street – it goes two blocks – where most of the traffic coming through is metro related – and I dont block traffic. I dont inconvenience anyone (If I am inconveniencing someone, who?)
So which is selfish? Demanding that people conform to your notions – or just not worrying about it and letting people figure it out themselves as many peoples situations are different, than say yours (after all the paradigm of selfish is defining how the world operates by yourself).
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Idaho stop. Exhibit E: Cross a double-yellow line in order to pass a bicycle with safe clearance. Exhibit F: Jaywalking.
