County Board majority (except for Walter Tejada) finally came to its senses. Columbia Pike and Crystal City streetcars cost way too much for way too little benefit. The long-term costs would have included hundreds of injuries every year from pedestrians, bicyclists, and motor vehicles encountering streetcars and streetcar tracks.
Now it's time for EVERYONE to become involved in bottom-up planning for a state-of-the-art transit system that serves all Arlingtonians and seamlessly connects with other local transit systems across the region. We don't need any more major decisions (transit or otherwise) made for us behind closed doors at 2100 Clarendon Boulevard.
No way I and tens of thousands of other Arlington residents are going to ride bicycles in Winter, meaning from mid-November to mid-April. Tens of thousands more Arlingtonians won't and/or can't ride bicycles. There has to be a modern transit system for everyone. The County can start with new ART bus routes (not merely lengthening current routes) to provide ART bus service to every neighborhood. Time to evaluate state-of-the-art bus rapid transit vehicles (also known as articulated buses) rather than ignoring them.
So, we're looking for more and better local bus service soon, now that County Government has a dedicated revenue stream for transit improvements unencumbered with having to fund two streetcar systems..
Cindy
30 comments:
AMEN !! Please don't expect me to ride a bicycle to work in winter. ART Bus for everyone !!
Fisette, Hynes, and Tejada should retire from the County Board. Enough Taj Mahal swimming pools, luxury dog parks, million dollar dedicated soccer fields replacing neighborhood parks, taxpayer subsidized live theater groups, bars, restaurants, and pub crawls.
I will not vote for any of them again.
You forgot bicycle cult members behaving anyway they please on Arlington's streets, roads, sidewalks, and trails.
We can have a great transit system and money left over for great schools. Let's do it!
I can tell you are not a bicycle commuter. Any bicyclist commuter knows that winter commuting is preferable to summer commuting when you sweat a great deal.
Art transit is still a good investment.
Personally, I think the Taj Mahal is quite attractive.
I want to see bicycles licensed with license plates, tags, decals. I have had enough of biketards running stop signs, running traffic lights, and running pedestrians off sidewalks.
Ask Audrey Clement who bicycles everywhere about riding on streets and trails during the winter.
You ain't seen nothing yet...the alcoholics who have had their motor vehicle licenses revoked for multiple DWI have not (yet) appeared on Arlington's sidewalks in any numbers.
Nor have the drug dealers who deliver to upscale condos and apartments on bicycles...as is common in Alexandria.
Bicycles suck...we have enough bicycles. Bring an ART route to my neighborhood.
You know the Arlington Police are corrupt when they respond with EMS to pedestrians struck by bicyclists but there is never any enforcement directed toward the bikesters.
The Harley owners groups and Harley dealers want everyone to ride a Harley. Does that mean I'm gonna ride a Harley?
Just another special interest aka cult the pols cater to in return for votes.
What does that do for me? Nothing except the biketards scare me half to death when they dress in black from head-to-toe and run stop signs and traffic lights at night.
HELL yes !!! Let's get on with building a modern bus transit system.
We moved from Arlington in 2008 to streetcar crazy Portland, OR. I am so happy to learn that Arlington came to its senses. If only Portland could be convinced to do the same. The City is losing almost $9 million a year on a $300 million dollar system that moves more slowly than walking. On the subject of bicycles--although a pain in places like Amsterdam, at least that City doesn't have any hills. We have 1000 ft hills in Portland and there is nothing worse than being on a narrow, two lane winding road behind a biking enthusiast traveling at 2 mph.
Too many steep slopes in winter weather. Please County Board, ART Bus service for everyone,
Arlngton VA has 100-to-400 foot steep hills. No problem for Arlington's Urban Hipster-Bikester Elite. Big problem for everyone else.
Where are the photos of double deck buses, articulated buses, and high capacity city buses on the County's Web site and in the media?
I want a statewide law that stipulates that biketards have to stay 4 feet or more away from pedestrians.
ART BUSES FOR EVERYONE !!!
I will support any and all fiscally responsible Democrats who run for County Board and School Board as Independents next year.
Did the New Urbanist Wash Post really expect residents of the B-R corridor to vote for a $550 million streetcar system when our streets and sidewalks have been crumbling for years and our neighborhoods have third world street lighting?
Wash Post may be owned by Jeff Bezos but the New Urbanist Graham Family still run the paper.
I want the bicyclists off the sidewalks. Put the police on bicycles instead of providing security for malls and convenience stores....which seems to be their primary function.
Information about BRT, double deck buses, and high capacity city buses...please!
So, those of us who fought the streetcar on the basis of cost, safety, and efficiency are racists according to the Post?
How about the Post (which is still controlled by the Graham Family) fessing up about how many minority students have been ripped off by Kaplan U. and how many minorities Graham Family Redevelopment, Inc. is gentrifying out of middle class D.C. neighborhoods?
Call the County Board and ask when info about alternatives to streetcars will be on the County's Web site and on AVN ---703-228-3130.
Urban Village Idiots on bicycles sharing sidewalks with the disabled and parents pushing strollers ...completely unacceptable.
How many alcoholics who are 3 times over the limit for DWI and have lost their driver's licenses as a consequence are riding on bicycles on sidewalks?
Anyone on a bicycle who is 3 times over the limit and riding recklessly on sidewalks has nothing to fear from the Arlington PD.
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