Car Strikes Pedestrians at 18th and U, Destroys Front of Restaurant

Via DCist, a car being driven at a high rate of speed careened out of control at the intersection of 18th and U last night, striking two female pedestrians and destroying the front of the Keren Restaurant.

One woman who was struck apparently had life-threatening injuries, although neither her condition, nor that of the other pedestrian, is known.

The driver of the vehicle, a female, was arrested at the scene after refusing treatment for her injuries. According to eyewitnesses, the driver approached the intersection of 18th and U and attempted to make a left turn while traveling at a very high rate of speed. The driver drove over the triangular median and struck the pedestrians before smashing into the front of Keren, an Eritrean (NOT Ethiopian, as has been reported elsewhere) restaurant. Fortunately, no one in the restaurant was injured in the crash. The building's structural integrity is being studied this morning.

According to TBD, as of approximately 4:30 this morning all roads around the area have been reopened.

Capital Bikeshare Bringing New Bike Stations to Logan and Shaw

The District is ready to move forward with plans to significantly upgrade its fledgling bike sharing program, and mid-city neighborhoods stand to benefit significantly.

Beginning this fall, the District will roll out the expanded program, now called Capital Bikeshare, which will replace the existing SmartBike program. SmartBike is currently a joint venture between the District and Clear Channel. As you may recall, last year the city announced plans to greatly expand the SmarkBike program, only to have Clear Channel express a less-than-enthusiastic reception. Seems that the 10 station/120 bike program was sufficient enough for them, thanks very much. But it wasn't for District transportation officials, who very much wanted to expand the program so that it mimicked programs in cities such as Paris, whose program features hundreds of stations and thousands of bikes (as well as significant amounts of theft and vandalism).

Undeterred, the District sought out a partner, and found one in Alta Bike Share, a Portland, Oregon-based firm that works with jurisdictions here and abroad to set up bike sharing programs. They recently launched a 600 bike program in Melbourne, Australia. And this fall, they will be implementing the expanded version of DC's program, which will feature 1100 bikes and 114 stations throughout the District and Arlington.

Predictably, most of the new stations are centered around the District's core, with the largest number of stations existing in the area bounded by the Mall, 25th Street, Florida Avenue and North Capitol. However, stations will be located in farther afield neighborhoods in all quadrants of the city, including Tenleytown, Petworth and 16th Street Heights in NW, Brookland and Deanwood in NE, and Fort Dupont and Barry Farms in SE, among others. Nearly 15 stations will also be located in Pentagon City and Crystal City in Arlington, with plans to expand into the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor as well.

Logan and Shaw both stand to benefit significantly from increased stations throughout the neighborhoods. Currently, the are is served by SmartBike stations at 14th and Rhode Island, 7th and T streets, and U and 14th Streets. To these existing stations, Capital Bike Share plans to add stations at 15th and P, 14th and R, 10th and U, 16th and U, 7th and M (Convention Center) and 13th and M. (See area map below for all neighborhood locations.)



According to a message I received this weekend, existing SmartBike users will be able to use Capital BikeShare at no additional cost through April 2011, at which time they must apply for Capital BikeShare membership. The Capital BikeShare membership registration will be available, according to DDOT, sometime this month.

As someone who has pined for the District to continue focusing on alternative methods of intercity transit, particularly with the likelihood of further Metro expansion likely placing somewhere between a Nationals World Series trophy and a Leo Alexander mayoral term, it's truly wonderful to see the city investing so heavily in such a program. With this program and DC's focus on the installation of bike lanes across many major corridors, and development requirements that mandate the placement of bike rails near the new development (and don't forget the recently opened Union Station Bike Center), DC is well on its way to becoming one of the country's most bike-friendly cities--and the more people who can be coaxed off of our traffic-clogged roads (and, increasingly, rider-clogged Metro)--the better off we'll all be in the long run.

One final brief transit note, for those who may have missed it: the infamous "Blue Bus" will soon be no more. Last week, the District announced what many had anticipated for some time: the Circulator will replace the Georgetown Metro Connection on its existing Dupont-Rosslyn route, which passes through Georgetown along the way. This move makes perfect sense, and will provide a roomier and, hopefully, more reliable form of transit into Georgetown. The K Street Circulator line had already replaced the Metro Connection on one route, from the Foggy Bottom Metro stop to Rosslyn. Additional information can be found at the Circulator's website.

Bad News for DC SmartBikers

Image courtesy of SmartBikeDC.

As a subscriber to DC's first-in-the-nation bike sharing program, SmartBike, I was delighted by the news that came out recently regarding a planned expansion for the system. The phrases coming out of DDOT--"hundreds of more bikes" "90 more kiosks" "expansion into Virginia and Maryland"--gave reassurance that the District was committed to not only preserving but expanding the system, which is in wide use in European cities such as Paris, but was launched here only on a trial basis.

Sure, the bikes are fugly, and no they don't ride very well...but for my morning commute from Logan to Penn Quarter, a bike has proven to be the fastest way from Point A to Point B. So the anticipated expansion by the end of the summer was certainly welcome news.

Courtesy of Georgetown Metropolitan, we learn that the expansion appears to be on indefinite hiatus following SmartBike operator ClearChannel's balking at operating an additional 90 kiosks. As part of their agreement to operate the program, ClearChannel received a monopoly on advertising at all District bus shelters. Since they've already gotten that, there really isn't much of a carrot left for the District to dangle in front of them in order to get them to bite on a 900% expansion of the program.

In addition, as is pointed out on Metropolitan, part of DDOT's planned expansion of the program involves opening kiosks in northern Virginia--and since bus shelter advertisements are banned in VA, ClearChannel has a less-than-zero interest in pursuing that.

The alternative at this point would be to remove ClearChannel as operator of the program and bring in someone else committed to its growth in the region. From the perspective of someone who thinks that SmartBike is a fabulous program, this is the most palatable solution. But it won't happen tomorrow, and in fact would likely take quite some time to work out such an arrangement.

So the end result is that SmartBike probably isn't going to be expanding anytime soon. Which is too bad. With the District's clogged roads, Metro's recent troubles, and a ridiculously low annual fee, SmartBike seemed poised to become an increasingly viable transportation option for those in and around the District. Guess we'll just have to wait awhile before we become a velo-clogged metropolis a la Paris.

Thunder 'n Lightnin'

So, how was your commute in this morning? In spite of some truly fantastic thunder amd lightning over our fair city, this dutiful corporate citizen was up and out the door by 8 AM, and had no troubles whatsoever catching the Metro to work. Of course, that's because I don't take the Orange Line, which by all accounts was a giant cluster.

The great thing about loud storms is the wonderful responses they tend to generate. For the "Storm Comment of the Day", we turn to DCist, where commenter AMDCer had this to say, with regards to traffic light outages:

All of the traffic lights around Dupont Circle were flashing red this morning due to the storm. Not surprisingly, traffic was moving much better than usual...

Hear, hear.

Pedestrian Struck and Killed at 15th and W Streets

A sad bit of information to pass along from an otherwise (rather) quiet weekend: the Washington Post is reporting that a woman who was attempting to cross W Street at 15th Street (near Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park) was struck and killed by a car that was turning right onto 15th from W W from 15th.

Although 15th and W streets was not an intersection named as one of the city's most dangerous (the runner-up to that title goes to our very own 14th and U Street), this intersection is a difficult one for pedestrians to traverse, what with Florida Avenue cutting through at an angle and 15th Street branching off into two directions. Couple that with confusing walk signals and times, and you can understand how such an accident could take place. (Conversely, the driver may simply not have been paying attention.)

The woman was one of two pedestrians killed yesterday (the other was a signaller who was struck on the Southeast/Southwest Expressway).

This Blog May Be Hazardous to the Health of Pedestrians

OK, perhaps our blog is rather benign when it comes to pedestrian safety, but our namesake intersection most certainly is not.

Last year, the intersection of 14th and U Streets was named as the second most dangerous intersection in the city. As frequenters of that pedestri-auto free-for-all, such a revelation doesn't surprise us in the least. Between the checked-out drivers scrambling to get through the intersection, pedestrians who ignore the crosswalk signals and a density that rivals that of any in the District, it's a miracle there aren't more injuries and fatalities there.

Well yesterday, DC mayor Adrian Fenty unveiled his plan for increased pedestrian safety, targeting the ten most dangerous intersections in the District. Dr. Gridlock has a pretty good summation of the master plan, which includes the following points:

• Ensure all transportation and real estate development projects include safe and convenient pedestrian facilities.
• Construct new sidewalks where missing on streets in the District.
• Improve pedestrian access and safety at uncontrolled crossings and intersections.
• Improve pedestrian access and safety at bus stops.
• Revise the DDOT Design and Engineering Manual to better address pedestrian safety and accessibility.
• Train roadway planners and designers to make sure they understand these new safety policies and practices.
• Increase penalties for motorists for infractions that impact pedestrian safety.
• Expand the speed camera enforcement program.
• Teach people the rules of the road and the benefits of walking.

Many of those points aren't really that debatable, and some make you wonder why the District hasn't been doing it already (it seems that teaching drivers the "rules of the road" would be pretty standard stuff, no?) But there are a couple of issues worth pointing out.

One, all of the plans and ideas in the world won't matter if it's not supported by enforcement. I can't even begin to recount the number of times I have been practically mowed down by a driver on 14th Street as I try to cross at Corcoran--one of those "uncontrolled crossings and intersections" mentioned above. Several times, this has happened while a police car was also in the vicinity. So long as drivers can routinely behave this way without repercussion, it will continue to happen.

Secondly, jaywalking is a tremendous problem in this city. And I don't just mean people diving out into the intersection with 2 seconds left on the countdown clock either. I'm talking about people who just step off the curb in the middle of the street and begin a slow amble across to the other side, all the while cars are forced to come to screeching stops to avoid hitting the person. U Street and 14th Street are infamous for this kind of behavior, but in truth I've seen it everywhere. I've heard it argued that the police should have better things to do with their time than enforce jaywalking laws, and I'm sympathetic to that. Yet, along busy commercial corridors at peak traffic times, persistent jaywalking becomes both a nuisance and a safety issue--and it should be enforced.

As both a pedestrian and a driver in this city, I'm sympathetic to the arguments from both sides, but what's apparent to me is that lax enforcement, coupled with outright idiotic traffic planning measures on the part of DDOT, have contributed mightily towards this problem of pedestrian safety that we're now witnessing. With regards to the utility of the mayor's plan, to quote one of the commenters responding to the Dr. Gridlock piece: I'll believe it when I see it.

1200 Block of U St. to be Closed Tomorrow

Apparently, some greasy spoon that serves chili dogs is having some sort of celebration for being around for 50 years. This event is expected to attract a fair number of people, and as such DDOT is taking the (unusual?) step of closing a block of U St. to traffic throughout the day on Friday.

Fortunately, the street will only be closed during the daytime, reopening at 4 PM. So all you Virginia and Maryland U St. party-types can still drive into the city on Friday night, become confused at the DC street layout, and end up parking in front of our building and blocking a fire hydrant. Hooray!

(If you decide to hit up Ben's to celebrate their 50th, make sure you bring your Rolaids.)

The full release is below.

***TRAFFIC ADVISORY***

U Street Closure for 50th Anniversary of Ben’s Chili Bowl

One Block will be Shutdown for August 22 Celebration

Media Contact: John Lisle at (202) 671-2004

WASHINGTON, DC — One block of U Street, NW, between 12th and 13th Streets, will be closed on Friday, August 22nd, for the 50th anniversary celebration of Ben’s Chili Bowl.

The roadway is scheduled to be blocked off beginning at 7am and reopened to traffic at 4pm. Parking restrictions will be in effect 1200 block of U Street and the 1200 block of Florida Avenue.

Ben’s Chili Bowl, located at 1213 U Street, NW, opened on August 22, 1958.