Gordon Chaffin is a freelance journalist who focuses on infrastructure and traffic news and insights for Street Justice. You can support independent journalism by subscribing to Gordon’s StreetJustice newsletter: He’s offering a 20% discount to THIH readers. See more information below. –Maria Helena Carey
Mary Cheh Hosting Vision Zero Meetings
Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh is having three Vision Zero Working Group meetings on Aug 1, Aug 8, and Aug 15th. Members of the DC Bike Advisory, DC Pedestrian Advisory, and others — “established advocacy groups and agencies” in the works of her staff — are invited to attend. However, these meetings are not public.
I think the public has a right to know what’s being discussed, especially because many of the groups being invited must host public meetings for their official business. I would guess WABA and some others will attend as well.
If you’re planning to attend Cheh’s Working Group meetings, I would appreciate any information you’d like to share back with me. I’m happy to take anything/everything off the record, and would greatly appreciate multiple sources — so I can corroborate. Shoot me an email or Twitter direct message. [Full Story]
Progress Update on Florida Ave NE
DC’s Department of Transportation (DDOT) is adding new features on Florida Avenue NE to improve safety in a corridor with frequent crashes and road design that induces dangerous driver behavior. These interim safety changes include a protected, two-way cycletrack, improved pedestrian crossings, and narrower road width which, data suggest, will lower car speeds. On July 22nd, I rode the length of the project — 2nd to 14th Streets NE — to capture DDOT’s progress on installation. [Full Story]
Maps vs. UX in Bike & Scooter Share
The user experience of a transportation system is different than it may appear to folks at community meetings arguing about how many Bikeshare stations or bus stops we need, and where we need them. People often pull up Google Maps walking directions and show — as was true last night with me — that there was a station plenty close to my destination. But, I was in a hurry, in an unfamiliar neighborhood, and didn’t have the mental space to make that reasonable detour. [Full Story]
DC Road Danger Quieting Activists?
Alex Baca, current housing organizer for Greater Greater Washington and former WABA staffer wrote “When I moved back [to DC from Cleveland] last summer, more people than I was used to were telling me they don’t feel safe.” Baca continues, “Rather than working with them [to build confidence on a bike], I started saying ‘Yeah, I understand’ and dropping it.” Alex later writes that “any gains [on sustainability, resiliency, or equity-and-access-in-transportation] will have come entirely from people risking their own lives to meet a municipal goal that’s been pretty much abandoned.” Five percent of DC commutes by bike, and only a small percentage of those will get activated, organized, and advocate. How well can safe streets advocates loop in and energize people who know streets are unsafe and therefore bike and walk less? [Full Story]
Ward 8 Safety Advocate Joins Greater Greater Washington
Ronald Thompson Jr. is Greater Greater Washington’s new Transportation Equity Organizer. Ron is a Ward 8 resident who rose to prominence among DC street safety advocates this spring. He spoke eloquently at the April vigil for Abdul Seck, a pedestrian killed by motorist on 16th Street SE at the intersection with V St. Thompson continued his oratorical Tour de Force later that week with moving remarks at WABA’s Rally for Streets that Don’t Kill People. [Full Story]
This is a daily newsletter produced by Gordon Chaffin, a journalist in Washington DC. I cover transportation & urban planning in DC, MD, & VA to explain what’s happening in the street and why. Reports delivered every weekday afternoon for paid subscribers and Sunday mornings for free subscribers. Sign up for free. Please support my local journalism with $5/mo or $50/yr. The Hill is Home readers can subscribe to Street Justice for a 20% discount.