The Streetcar Is Dead. Now What?

[Starduster]

The streetcar project for Columbia Pike is dead. Fisette is chastened, Vihistat and Garvey are elated, Tejada is mad, and over in Faixfax County, Sharon Bulova and Penny Gross are absolutely furious with us.

So what happens now in this new landscape? Specifically for us in the cycling community? The Pike remains a high-traffic bus corridor to 2 Metro stations; it remains a risky place to ride, even for the fittest, fastest, and most daring; and the 9th & 12th St Bike Boulevards can only address some of that, partially because of the Arlington tradition of streets that exist in a dozen disconnected segments.

Of concern is the bike trail segment needed to connect North Bridge Park (correction- Long Bridge Park) with the Mt. Vernon Trail under the humpback bridge. My understanding is that it is tied to the proposed Aquatic Center project at North Bridge. John Vihistat has opposed the Aquatic Center for similar reasons, and I expect it will be on the chopping block next. How can the trail segment be separated from the Aquatic Center project?

OK, I vented. But what will happen to our hopes and dreams in this new reality?

WGF

Topic

[baiskeli]

@cyclingfool 100634 wrote:

Wait. Why weren’t you working on my masters capstone paper this weekend?! (It’s related to TOD)

I’m still available. Standard fee.

Seriously, what’s your paper about and what’s your degree in? Interesting.

[cyclingfool]

@baiskeli 100683 wrote:

I’m still available. Standard fee.

Seriously, what’s your paper about and what’s your degree in? Interesting.

Masters in urban planning. Paper on affordable housing in TOD.

[baiskeli]

@cyclingfool 100705 wrote:

Masters in urban planning. Paper on affordable housing in TOD.

Cool – could you be any more topical? I’d be interested in your conclusions.

[lordofthemark]

Napes

When I lived in Annandale, I used to ride the 29 express buses regularly. I rode the 16’s several times on weekends (when the express buses do not run) mostly to move by bike to more bikeable places. I think I took the 16 on a weekday once or twice.

Certainly on weekends most of the ridership on the 16 from Annandale got on at Culmore or closer in – and note, most 16 buses did not originate in Annandale, so I was not seeing the folks getting on the buses that originated closer in) And some of the people who rode the 16 from Annandale got off well before the Pentagon. Assuming something similar held on weekdays (though of course there would be more people going all the way to the Pentagon then) I doubt that establishing local fares on the express buses would do a lot to reduce demand for the 16 buses.

Its certainly worth exploring (though I guess the subsidy would have to come from Fairfax, not Arlington, and there would be problems with inconsistency with other express buses) now that the streetcar is dead. But I do think the answer to the bus congestion on Col Pike is going to have to happen on Col Pike. The best approach now is to speed the implementation of the enhanced bus option.

[Author]

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