As members of ULI convene in Washington, D.C., for the annual Fall Meeting, some may be looking around to see what D.C. is doing differently from other metropolitan areas. One area where the region has been forced to innovate is transportation planning.
The District of Columbia has the highest daytime population change due to commuting of any major city in the U.S. i Congestion due to workforce commutes negatively impacts the lives of everyone in the region, and thus planners in the D.C. area have developed new ways to help people move from place to place.
The following are a few samples of features in place today and what the Washington area has planned for tomorrow to beat the commute.
TODAY
Biking
SmartBike DC is “the first of its kind in the U.S.,” according to David Silverberg of Digital Journal ii. For a payment of $40.00 per year, SmartBike subscribers can use one of the 100 available bikes for up to three (3) hours, and return it to any of the ten stations throughout the downtown with an available return slot.
The popularity of D.C.’s SmartBike program has encouraged Arlington County in Virginia (immediately across the Potomac River) to initiate a joint program scheduled for launch in September 2010 called Capital Bikeshare. For $50/year, Capital Bikeshare subscribers will be able to use one of what could eventually be 1,100 bicycles for up to 30 minutes without additional fees, and return it to any of the 110 stations throughout Arlington or D.C. iii For tourists and other temporary users, day passes and other shorter subscriptions will be available with this new system. Capital Bikeshare will replace SmartBike DC.
Bikestation Washington DC is a bicycle storage facility located in front of D.C.’s Union Station, a block from the Capitol Building. This new 1,600 SF facility is the first of its kind on the East Coast. It offers members secure 24/7 bike storage access, and also provides changing rooms, lockers, and repair services. Payment plans range from $1/day to $96/year, plus a $20 administrative fee.
Bicycle-only and contraflow lanes are also helping make D.C. a bike-friendly area. The Washington region has hundreds of miles of bike lanes, and the city itself recently introduced contraflow lanes to 15th Street and New Hampshire Avenue. These lanes provide a lane opposite vehicular traffic flow for bicycles, giving cyclists a safe direct route to and from the commercial core.
“Barnes Dance” Crosswalks – Similar to those popular in New York City, London, and Tokyo, the crossing at 7th and H Streets in Washington’s Chinatown allows diagonal pedestrian passage in one walk cycle. With more pedestrians than cars accessing this intersection, D.C.’s Department of Transportation decided to implement this feature on a trial basis in May 2010. Many Washingtonians may recall similar “pedestrian scramble” crossings from the 1960s and 1970s. The pedestrian-friendly approach to intersections gets its name from a traffic commissioner named Henry Barnes who championed the diagonal crossing in Denver in the 1940s.
One-way traffic during rush hour – Relative to other cities, Washington, D.C., has an unusual number of reversible lanes used during morning and evening rush hours. Rock Creek Parkway, typically a four-lane road providing two lanes northbound and two lanes southbound, becomes entirely one-way downtown in the morning, and one-way outbound in the evening. Similarly, Connecticut Avenue in D.C., Colesville Road in Silver Spring, MD, and the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial and Chain Bridges linking the District of Columbia and Virginia, reverse a standard lane during rush-hour.
TOMORROW
D.C. Streetcar - Although it can boast an extensive subway system, the D.C. region has come late to the renaissance in light rail. It is now looking to make up for lost time. D.C. has already laid tracks and ordered its first cars, which should be operating by 2012. The streetcars will supplement the current Metrorail and bus service. Virginia has plans for streetcars along Columbia Pike, a corridor not served by Metrorail. Maryland, meanwhile, is planning a light rail line that would connect some of its inner suburbs and link the spokes of Metrorail’s hub-and-spoke system. Connecting neighborhoods via electric-powered streetcars will provide customers a smooth, quiet ride relative to a conventional combustion-driven bus.
(Courtesy of dc.gov, “DC Streetcar”) (Courtesy of District Department of Transportation, Presentation_2010-04-20_Designs_HStreet-BenningRd[1] )
Virginia High Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lanes – In addition to projects for bicyclists, pedestrians and mass-transit-riders, the D.C. area has also undertaken some ambitious highway projects. Four High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes of additional roadway between the Springfield Interchange (aka “Mixing Bowl”) in Virginia and the HOV-only rush-hour lanes of I-66 are being built along the existing Capital Beltway. Plagued with rush-hour congestion, this stretch of the Beltway will hopefully improve when the project is completed in 2013. Use of these HOT Lanes will be free for qualifying high-occupancy vehicles, while a variable-rate toll will be charged to others. The toll charge will change based on traffic congestion. In heavy traffic situations, prices for non-qualifying vehicles could be $1/mile or more. When traffic levels subside, the toll could be as low as 10 cents/mile. Payment will be by E-Z Pass only to allow customers to enter/exit at will and to maintain the highest throughput levels possible with minimal delays.
Maryland Intercounty Connector (ICC) – The ICC will connect the major corridors of I-95 and I-270, providing a controlled-access highway linking Laurel in Prince Georges County and Gaithersburg in Montgomery County. The 30-mile, roughly 90-minute peak rush-hour commute via the
Beltway will truncate to 18 miles and hopefully take only 20 minutes. Like the HOT Lanes in Virginia, this new highway will be E-Z Pass only. (Courtesy of Maryland Department of Transportation – ICC)
- “Estimated Daytime Population and Employment-Residence Ratios: 2000”, U.S. Census Bureau. 2000. Retrieved 2010-8-23.
- Silverberg, David. “First U.S. Bike Rental Program Will Open in Washington, Thanks to Clear Channel”. Digital Journal. 2009. Retrieved 2010-8-23.
- “Frequently Asked Questions – Capital Bikeshare”. Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc.. 2008-4-28. Retrieved 2010-8-24.