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Washington DC Wages War on Commuters

It's War!

Mayor Fenty’s administration has recently been increasing punitive measures against cars in a misguided attempt to relieve DC’s horrible traffic congestion. Washington DC has the 4th worst traffic congestion in the nation, and the city has been instituting various measures to reduce traffic on city roads.

The city has changed parts of Constitution Avenue NE from a reversible commuter artery back to a quiet side street and is considering removing the reversible lane on 16th Street NW, a key commuting route from Montgomery County.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s administration also is studying closing the section of the Interstate 395 tunnel that connects with New York Avenue NW, expanding the use of speed cameras and increasing parking fees and enforcement. Fees for encroaching on a crosswalk would increase from $50 to $500 under a pedestrian safety proposal.

For those unfamiliar with the DC commute:

The city’s population practically doubles on workdays because of the influx of federal and other workers. And about 15 million visitors a year come to the city, almost 75 percent by auto, according to AAA.

So we have tons of people who commute into the city, and we want to take away one of the main forms of transit. Only about 42% of the people who work in the city currently take mass transit.

“This is not about being anti-car, but increasing vehicles into the District is not a sustainable strategy for the city,” said Emeka C. Moneme, director of the District Department of Transportation. “We want to encourage transit use, biking and walking.”

Last time I checked, trying to shoehorn 58% of the commuters onto a system that can barely handle the current demand isn’t really “sustainable” either. There are already times on Metro when I have to wait three or four trains before I can even get on one – where are all of these new people going to go?

City officials say that the moves are part of a policy of putting the needs of its residents and businesses before those of suburban commuters and that they are trying to create a walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented metropolis.

What part of making it hard for workers to get to work, or depriving local businesses dependant on the lunch crowd or tourist dollars caters to the needs of residents and businesses.

Like New York, London, Stockholm and Portland, Ore., District officials said, the city is reclaiming its streets for the people who live there. With billions of dollars invested in the Metro system, there are plenty of ways for commuters to get into the city without bringing exhaust-spewing vehicles with them, officials said.

Ah, the true reason revealed – environmentalism driven by NIMBY elitists who don’t like cars. Never mind that those exhaust spewing vehicles allow this city to exist, and when commuters have trouble getting to work, they leave the businesses. When people can’t get to the business, it also loses money. That causes businesses to move away.

Moneme said the city will continue — and increase — the use of market pricing when it comes to allocating such scarce resources as on-street parking.

“Putting the real price of driving out there allows people to make better decisions,” Moneme said, not a subsidized rate of $1 an hour.

Since we’re worried about subsidies distorting choice, how about we put the real price of all of our modes of transportation out there. Seventy four percent of Metro’s budget is subsidized – fares and parking only cover 26%. Bicycles don’t pay for anything, so why don’t we start charging them for parking and make them resister their bicycles to cover some of the costs?

How about instead of penalizing people while we don’t have the capacity to accommodate them otherwise, we spend our time figuring out how to reasonably expand all of our transportation infrastructure in a way that makes sense?