CIP Work Session - County Board, County Manager, County Staff Clueless About Streetcars

Hello, Yupette,

I attended the County Board - County Manager - County Staff 10-year CIP work meeting yesterday afternoon. Most of this CIP meeting was about transportation. As you might expect, the Pike transit discussion was entirely about streetcars. Total cost of Arlington portion of a streetcar system is projected to be $198 million. The County Board would seek a $65 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration through its Small Starts program.

I was appalled to hear County Manager Barbara Donnellan declare that she and her staff don't know anything about streetcars and will have to hire consultants, travel to cities that have streetcar systems, hire streetcar program managers, educate the County Board and County Staff about streetcars, and so on. Not only the County Manager but Transportation Division Chief Dennis Leach stated they are clueless about streetcars.

Oh, even though County transportation staff don't know anything about streetcars that doesn't prevent them from persuading citizens that streetcars are the 'best option' for the Pike and Crystal City. One of the members of the County Board's hand-picked Fiscal Affairs Advisory Commission described how transportation staff intensely lobbied FAAC commissioners about the 'merits' of streetcars.

'Alternatives analysis'. What alternatives analysis? Looks like the County will try to tell the FTA that after a fair and unbiased process Arlington residents chose streetcars as the 'best' transit option for the Pike and Crystal City.

2100

County Board Plans to Impose Censorship, Conformity on Residents, Staff, Commissions, Civic Associations, Media

Hello Yupette,

Latest news about the County Board's agenda to control everyone, in every way, all the time was the strategic planning meeting that the County Board its Department Heads and Division Chiefs held at Ft. Myer on June 25th and 26th. Purpose of the day and a half facilitated meeting was to devise ways of tightening the County Board's control over County residents, County staff, advisory commission members, and civic associations while preserving the charade of 'local democracy'.

On June 25th, County Board and County Staff frankly discussed the oncoming budget train wreck, and the $40 billion in expected cuts by federal agencies and federal contractors in our region, loss of good paying jobs to other jurisdictions, and the need for the meeting's participants to be united in order to preserve the status quo, aka 'Arlington Way'.

On June 26th, County Board and County Staff discussed ways of preventing the County Board from losing control through so-called 'end runs' when the County Board makes decisions that are unpopular with residents or groups of residents. The goal is to present an appearance of democracy while consolidating power. The method used to attain this goal is to train County Staff and recruit compliant advisory commission members and civic association 'community leaders' who will work to both market and facilitate the County Board's agenda with communities and advocacy groups. Members of the local media will be offered inducements like exclusive interviews with County Board members to increasingly censor negative news and information about work items on the County Board's agenda.

So, bottom line, if you are concerned about the County Bord throwing millions more into the Artisphere, don't, in the future, expect anyone on County Staff, advisory commissions, citizens associations, advocacy groups or the media to share your concerns.

2100

Streetcars Involved in Numerous Accidents with Vehicles and Bicycles in Phoenix, Portland, Seattle

Hello,

We heard from a resident of Portland Oregon, who is a summer intern living in Arlington, that there are 'lots of streetcar accidents in Portland'. So we did a Web search on 'streetcar accidents'. We found an investigative report that was published in the Arizona Star newspaper on February 19th. So here are the first few paragraphs.

Streetcar tracks heighten accident concerns here

"In addition to figuring out how to engineer, build and operate a $200 million new modern streetcar through the heart of town, Tuscon faces an additional challenge: how to prevent accidents with cars and bicycles.

Phoenix's new light rail experienced more than 100 accidents with cars and pedestrians in the first three years, causing more than $2.3 million in damages to the light rail forcing officials to launch a nearly $275,000 public education campaign. The Arizona Daily Star created a database of all 106 light-rail crashes at azstarnet.com/databases.

Meanwhile in Portland, the bicycle community has ramped up a campaign to get riders to report accidents because hundreds of cyclists have crashed on the tracks, mainly by getting their wheels stuck in the gap between the tracks and the street.

In Seattle, a group of six cyclists filed a class action lawsuit against the city, saying they crashed on the streetcar tracks and were injured.

Despite the fact only a miniscule portion of Tuscon's streetcar tracks have been installed, they have already contributed to a fatality - something that hasn't happened in Portland in its 10 years of operation."

Dennis M. McKinney, 47, was riding on East Congress Street near the Fourth Avenue Underpass when he lost control of his bike as it got caught up in the streetcar tracks, according to a police report of the July 2010 incident. He lost control of his vehicle and was struck by a truck in the next lane. He was pronounced dead at University Medical Center."


Cindy

County Board, County Manager, Chamber of Commerce Intimidating Local Media into Endorsing Pike Streetcar System

Hello,

Arlington County Board, Arlington County Manager, and Arlington Chamber of Commerce are pulling out all the stops to keep the local media, (including news blogs) from featuring, or even mentioning, articulated buses on the Pike and in Crystal City, which would save Arlington taxpayers at least $400 million versus the anticipated cost of the County Board's trolley folly.

Special recognition to County Board Member Chris Zimmerman, County Manager Barbara Donnellan, Arlington Public Information Director Diana Sun, and Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee Member Scott McCaffrey for intimidating the local media into profound silence regarding the real and only transit alternative for the Pike, articulated buses. Nothing like telling local media editors that they will lose ad revenue, lose access to elected VIPs, and lose advance information from elected VIPs if they provide ANY information about articulated buses, to ensure silence from the local media.

Cindy

Articulated Buses - the ONLY Transit Option for the Pike and Crystal City

Hello:

The more we look at the articulated bus option for the Pike and Crystal City the more we feel articulated buses are the ONLY transit option for the Pike and Crystal City. The Wright articulated buses, also known as 'Wright streetcars', that provide transit service for Las Vegas as the 'Ace Bus' would cost Arlington taxpayers $100 million versus $500 million for streetcar systems on the Pike and in Crystal City. The 'Ace Bus' uses clean energy, not mountaintop coal, for power. The 'Ace Bus' is flexible, it uses both regular traffic lanes in downtown Las Vegas and dedicated transit lanes in outlying areas. There are no tracks to cause accidents with bicycles and pedestrians. There are no overhead wires. The 'Ace Bus' is a big hit with tourists and residents in Las Vegas. You can see for yourself by Googling 'Las Vegas ACE Bus' and 'Wright streetcar'.

We are appalled by the Arlington County Board's 'dirty tricks' aimed at anyone who might oppose its trolley folly. These ranged from telling minority groups (who heavily use Pike transit) they would be arrested if they attended the June 6th and 7th Pike Transit meetings to cutting off the audio when County Board candidate Audrey Clement spoke against the trolley folly at last Saturday's County Board meeting.

We feel our only recourse is to write both the Federal Transit Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General detailing the outrageous manner in which the County Board has behaved.

We don't have financial interests in any corporation or organization that markets articulated buses. We need the $400 million that would be wasted on the County Board's trolley folly spent on new transit infrastructure to benefit all County residents. Therefore, the 'Ace' Wright streetcar articulated bus is the only real transit option for the Pike and Crystal City.

Cindy, and many others,
South Arlington

Meanwhile, Back In Dumb Growth America....Can You Find the Dollar Store?

Hey Yupette,

Thanks for your blog. Last week I was visiting my daughter and her family, who live in a typical in Dumb Growth suburb far away from Arlington. Here's a couple photos of the shopping plaza where she and her family shop. It's about 35 years old, same vintage as the Safeway on Wilson Blvd. Had a nice makeover about 4 years ago.

Can you find the Dollar Store in the photos?

L.K.

Arlington Fire Department Sets Off Explosives, Burns Junk Vehicles 200 Feet from Abingdon School

Hello,

We wondered what the loud explosions coming from the vicinity of the Arlington Trade Center are all about. One usually hears them weekdays between 10:30 and 11:00 AM. We venture to the Trades Center to recycle our old bills and bank statements once a month. So we asked the County employees who work at the Trades Center about the explosions. Also, we noticed a strong odor in Fairlington like burning garbage or tires on a number of occasions weekdays.

"Oh" they said, "That's the Fire Department doing its thing at the Fire Training Academy." So, we stopped at the Fire Training Academy on our way out of the Trades Center. (The Fire Training Academy is where voters who lived in Shirlington Precinct voted until a few years ago).

Surprise. Surprise. A parking lot full of burned out junk vehicles. Here's a photo. WHY are explosions being set off 200 feet from Abingdon Elementary School? WHY are junk vehicles being burned 200 feet from Abingdon Elementary School? WHY is this being done weekdays when children are attending Abingdon Elementary School?

Doesn't Fairlington resident, long-time School Board member, cancer survivor, and current County Board member Libby Garvey care about the health and safety of children in her own community? Appears not.

Cindy

Waste, Fraud, and Mismanagement - Pike Streetcar Planning Has Jumped the Tracks

Hello Yupette,

Didn't WMATA already conduct an alternatives analysis for the proposed Pike streetcar system? And didn't that alternatives analysis determine that articulated buses, also known as bus rapid transit, would cost taxpayers $50 million versus spending $250 million for a streetcar system? Why do we need any more meetings?

Know what these streetcars have turned into? A classic taxpayer rip-off. Not only is money being wasted on something we don't need or want, but state-of-the art bus service using double deck buses isn't being mentioned. Nor are safety and environmental issues involving construction and operation of streetcars. It's gotten so bad that Arlington County employees who don't live in Arlington are being ordered to post anonymous comments promoting streecars

to local blogs using material they are handed by County public information staff.

I don't know about anyone else, but I called and am sending an e-mail to the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General. The number to call to reach the DOT IG here in the D.C. area is 202-366-0377.

Pike Rider