16th Street Bus Study: Dedicated Lane a Possibility

REVISED to add quote by former ANC Commissioner Kishan Putta -- see comments.

A new transit study that could result in dedicated bus lanes on 16th Street NW kicked off on March 31 at the Mt. Pleasant Library (3160 16th Street). Megan Kanagy of the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) addressed about 100 people who overflowed into the hallway outside the stuffy library meeting room.

Blow-up map of 16th Street at meeting

Kanagy said DDOT would first diagnose bus problems and then consider a number of solutions, including the following:

• all-door bus boarding 
• a pilot program of "off-board fare collection"
• equipping buses with equipment for "signal optimization", meaning, computer chips that will signal traffic lights so they will stay green longer when a bus is approaching and turn green faster when a bus is waiting
• a dedicated bus lane for 16th Street

About dedicated bus lanes, Kanagy said: "We want to make sure it's really enforced."

To emphasize the problem, she had a photograph of a open moving truck parked in a clearly-labelled bus lane. 

"Just painting it [the lane] white isn't enough," she said.

Kanagy said the level of public outreach on this study was going to be greater than it was on DDOT's 2013 and 2009 studies on the same subject. She also said the study would "drill down block by block" to address causes of bus delays.

The objectives of any changes, she said, would be to improve reliability and travels, to maintain operations, and to accommodate unmet demand.

Before Kanagy's presentation, and again after, attendees could go to a series of easels and displays and add their comments, often by writing on sticky notes or by putting colored dots in various categories to indicate perferences. In one case, there was a three-panel blow-up map of 16th Street (see photo) from the White House to Alaska Avenue and beyond. Participants were encouraged to put tabs on the problem intersections and bus stops. The tabs were color-coded to categories of transit problem -- orange for bunching of buses, blue for overcrowding on buses, and so on.

See the DDOT web page for the 16th Street NW Transit Priority Planning Study here. On this page, those interested can leave comments or sign up to receive additional information.

There is also a shortened URL to the same page: bit.ly/16thStreetBus

While campaigning for Mayor last year, Bowser said she was "not sure" about dedicated 16th Street bus lanes because, during rush hour, there was "not a lot of space to add buses" -- see SALM blog post of January 17, 2014. See a video of Bowser answering the question on bus lanes here.

The possibility of future public meetings about the 16th Street Bus study was mentioned, but no meetings are scheduled now -- perhaps in "early fall". The study was scheduled for completion in January 2016.

Long-Delayed Federal Money Funds 7th Street Repaving, Sidewalk Upgrade, New Bike Racks

At its regular monthly meeting May 6, Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6E/Shaw heard that the 7th Street NW corridor is about to be given a facelift with federal government money. If all goes as planned, streets will be repaved, street lighting will be given a elegant new look, sidewalks will be uniform, and bike racks will be installed on every block of 7th Street between N and Florida Avenue.

Coming soon on 7th Street

ANC6E Chair Alexander Padro (Commissioner for district 01) recalled that the project, which will cover the 1300 to 1700 blocks on 7th Street, has been in development for "the better part of a decade" and had been repeatedly delayed by "a number of missteps".

The project was originally part of the Howard Theatre renovation project, but it was detached so that the portion of the project near the Howard Theatre could go ahead using money from the D.C. budget. The Howard Theatre project was finished in 2012.

DDOT presentation

Richard Kenney and Adil Rizvi, program managers at the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), told the ANC that 7th Street will be resurfaced and renovated. But don't call the project a "resurfacing project".

"That's kind of misleading because we're including building-face-to-building-face streetscape improvements," Rizvi said.

Kenney and Rizvi told ANC6E the project would, in addition to road resurfacing, include street light and traffic signal upgrades, sidewalk replacement, the addition of green infrastructure, improvements to wheelchair ramps to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), and other changes.

The work will start in "late summer to early fall" and will continue for nine to twelve months, "weather permitting". Work will be done from 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday. There will be some Saturday work, but no Sunday work. The DDOT presenters said all blockage of traffic and detours would take place outside of rush hours.

The project will work to make the sidewalks uniform. Right now, there is a patchwork of brick and concrete, some of which is deteriorating, making the sidewalks unsafe. The sidewalks will be uniformly concrete. The areas around the trees will be given a uniform look as well, with low ornamental rails on three sides. DDOT assured the committee the ornamental rails will be well anchored and will not come up or fall over by themselves. However, these rails cannot withstand the impact of a vehicle.

Cobble pavers are green infrastructure

The tree space will also be given a uniform look, with cobble pavers to each side of the tree (see photo). These cobble pavers catch storm water and allow natural filtration to take place, which captures pollutants before they can become part of the storm water runoff.

Bike racks for all

The DDOT presenters asked for ANC and public opinion on bike racks. Members of the public spoke strongly in favor. Commissioner Padro said he had asked for bike racks along 7th Street many times but was told they should wait for the long-delayed repaving project.

"It seems like the biggest comment we have for you is: We certainly do want to see bike racks installed," Padro said. "A number of businesses have requested them."

Padro volunteered to walk the route of the project along with Shaw resident and Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) Vice-President Michael Moulton to suggest placement of the bike racks. Moulton was present at the meeting and advocated for bike racks as part of the project.

ANC6E voted unanimously to support the project and recommend bike racks be installed on every block.

About 2/3rds of the area of the renovation falls with the borders of ANC6E. The other third is in ANC 1B/U Street.

ANC6E videos its meetings and posts them, in their entirety, on their Youtube channel. This discussion can be viewed on video number 00047 here, starting at time 11:05.

(Photo credits: details from hard copies of the DDOT presentation to ANC6E)

ANCs Push for 16th Street Bus Lanes

An effort is underway to have local Advisory Neigbhorhood Commissions (ANCs) pass nearly identical resolutions urging more progress on proposed dedicated bus lanes on 16th Street NW.

16th Street looking South from S on a quiet morning

ANC 2B/Dupont Circle passed the resolution (available here) at its last meeting on February 17th, by a vote of 6-0 with one abstention. On February 20th, the Transportation Committee of ANC 1B/U Street voted to recommend the full ANC approve a similar resolution. The recommendation was passed by a voice vote with no audible objections. ANC1B will probably vote on the resolution at its next meeting, scheduled for Thursday, March 6, at the Reeves Center (14th and U Streets).

ANC2B Commissioner Kishan Putta (district 04) and Cheryl Cort, Policy Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, appeared before the ANC1B Transportation Committee to urge they endorse the resolution. Cort said the purpose of the resolution was to urge the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) to move forward on the long series of public consultations and studies (e.g., air quality approval, environmental assessment) necessary before the lanes can become a reality.

"We'd like them to go through the whole process," Cort said.

The committee discussed the exact definition of a dedicated bus lane. Such a lane, in this case, would also allow bicycles and right-turning cars and taxis.  If not turning right, taxis would be forbidden from the bus lanes.

ANC1B Chair James Turner (district 09), although not a member of the Transportation Committee, was present at the meeting. He said he wouldn't support the resolution, because it does nothing to address the congestion problems of buses that pass through his district, for example, buses that travel on 14th Street, 11th Street, and Georgia Avenue. Cort replied improved 16th Street service would draw off riders currently taking 14th Street buses, relieving congestion.

The ANC1B version of the resolution will have some additional language in it pointing out that bus demand has exceeded capacity on both 14th Street and Georgia Avenue buses as well.

Putta has been campaigning vigorously to get the bus lanes moving forward, most recently testifying at a D.C. Council hearing on February 20.

He has also been working hard to inject the issue into the April 1 D.C. primary elections, often asking candidates for their views at public events.

Putta says D.C. Councilmember Muriel Bowser (Ward Four) has declared herself in favor of the bus lanes, after initially expressing skepticism about the proposal. Other candidates from the city council -- Jack Evans (Ward Two) and Tommy Wells (Ward Six) -- have also expressed their support. In addition, both candidates in the Ward One City Council primary -- Jim Graham and Brianne Nadeau -- have told Putta they support the proposal.

"DDOT itself did a study last year recommending a rush-hour bus lane.  Now they need to make it formal and implement it," Putta said.

The 2013 DDOT study found that bus lanes could reduce commute time by 30%, Putta said.  They could also increase total bus capacity by 10% because buses could be reused faster.

(Photo credit: Google Street View)

Muriel Bowser on local Dupont/Logan/U Street Issues

Ward 4 City Councilmember and mayoral candidate Muriel Bowser spoke last night (January 16) to a group of approximately 60 potential voters in the ballroom of the Chastleton Cooperative (1701 16th Street NW). The event was co-hosted by several Commissioners from midcity Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) and by the Bowser campaign.

Bowser spoke to the crowd about her biography, accomplishments, and vision for the future. See a one-minute YouTube sample of the beginning of Bowser's address below.

If video will not display, see it on YouTube here.

 

Here is what Bowser said about some of the issues of purely local interest, posed at a subsequent question-and-answer session.

16th Street Bus Traffic

ANC 2B/Dupont Circle Commissioner Kishan Putta (district 04) began the question-and-answer portion of the evening by asking Bowser about the difficulties that riders in his district were experiencing on the 16th Street bus (S1, 2, and 4). Putta told Bowser the buses were often full by the time they descended from Columbia Heights down to the area below U Street. Putta solicited another member of the audience to testify to the severity of the problem. The other member of the audience said on some mornings ten city buses pass by without stopping.

"We made some adjustments in the last year," Bowser said. "It sounds like we need to do more."

Bowser went on to say there was not a lot of extra space to add buses on 16th Street during rush hour, and special lanes were really not an option. However, Bowser said there could be improvements in "bus prioritization". Federal money had gone to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) for this purpose. WMATA had in turn transferred to funds to the District Department of Transportation (DDOT).

"But DDOT hasn't done anything about it," Bowser said.

Bowser also mentioned "bus signalization". This would enable approaching buses to send signals to traffic lights, which would help keep buses moving more smoothly through congested areas.

Reeves Center Land Swap

Bowser touched on the state of the proposed land swap that would trade the Reeves Center (14th and U Streets) for a parcel of land in Southwest Washington, in order to allow the construction of a stadium for the D.C. United soccer club. (See SALM blog post of January 7.)

"With the soccer stadium, it's not a fait accompli," Bowser said. "There are many moving parts to that."

Bowser called D.C. United "good neighbors" in D.C. and said they had approached the land swap deal thoughtfully. However, she was not enthusiastic about the land swap deal.

"It's not perfect. A land swap is a bad idea because we don't know the true value of the Reeves Center," Bowser said.

Bowser concluded that the $150 million that D.C. is putting into this deal would be better spent rebuilding the District's middle schools.

"What we should be doing now is challenging all the council members not to rubberstamp a deal that they haven't seen," Bowser said. "That's number one: let's get a good deal for the residents."

Charter Schools vs. Community Schools

An audience member objected to the way charter schools were developing, especially the way the students with the most involved parents ended up in charter schools, and the rest ended up in community schools.

"This is the problem of not being able to put the toothpaste back in the tube," Bowser said.

Bowser said she expected to continue to see a lot of charter schools attempt to open, but not always serving the people who needed them.

"We ought to be able to limit the number of charters that open and be able to direct what part of the city they open in," she said.

She continued: "You also probably know I have the unpopular idea that charter schools have to educate kids in their neighborhoods."

Bowser recalled that she had a big argument with journalist Tom Sherwood on this issue on WAMU's "Kojo Nnamdi Show". However, her opinion was unchanged.

"I do think we have to have a neighborhood preference for charter schools," Bowser said.

At the end of the question-and-answer session, ANC2B Commissioner Stephanie Maltz (district 03) thanked Bowser for coming to speak.

Also attending were ANC2A Commissioner Jackson Carnes (district 07), ANC2F Commissioner Chris Linn (district 03), ANC2B Commissioner Mike Silverstein (district 06), and Jack Jacobson, Ward 2 representative on the DC State Board of Education.

Initiative to Change O Street Traffic Pattern

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle heard a proposal last night to change the direction of O Street NW between 9th and 11th Streets. The proposal was made at ANC2F's regular monthly meeting last night (December 4).

Intersection of 10th and O Streets (Google Street View)

Paul Harrison, a resident of the 1000 block of O Street, came before ANC2F to announce the initiative of a group of concerned citizens. Harrison reported that most of the people on that block had signed a petition to D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans (Ward 2), requesting the change in traffic pattern.

If the change went through as request, O Street would turn one-way westbound between 10th and 11th Streets, and one way eastbound between 9th and 10th Streets. To put it another way, O Street traffic would diverge from 10th Street.

Harrison said the block had many families with young children who were concerned their street was no longer safe. O Street is currently a two-way street. Traffic had increased dramatically on it due to activity around the future site of City Market at O at the corner of O and 7th Streets. Many trucks have started using O Street as a regular route.

The proposal was supported by Sheri Kimball, constituent services director for Evans. Kimball told ANC2F she lived on the block. Of the residents of the block, only three had not signed the petition for the change, she said.

"The truck traffic down O Street is outrageous," she said.

In the ensuing discussion, it was asked why there were not signs banning trucks from the block. It turns out that there are, but the ban is not enforced.

Kimball told ANC2F that changing the traffic pattern on this stretch of O Street was just a matter of appropriate signage. It would be easy to remove the signs back again if the traffic pattern change turned out to be problematic.

"It would take about five minutes to undo," she said. "If it causes all kinds of problems, it won't be the first thing we've have to undo in this city."

ANC2F did not vote on the proposal.