DPW: public transportation is a pain in the rear
At a hearing Monday morning on how much the city spends on its fleet of vehicles (or what we're calling the Don't Pimp Your Ride hearing), D.C.'s director of the Department of Public Works revealed his disdain for getting around on public transit.
William Howland Jr., who often drives himself around in his city vehicle, said he needs a driver for days when he has back-to-back meetings downtown because "it's just difficult to get around to meetings just on public transportation." He'd drive himself but parking down by the John A. Wilson Building is nearly impossible and it's more practical to be dropped off. Such is the life, sometimes of an agency director, he said.
Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells, former chairman of the Committee on the Environment, Public Works and Transportation and a champion of public transit, quickly took offense. What kind of message does that send residents that city officials are being chauffeured everywhere, he asked.
"I’m not willing to hear that because you have a lot of meetings, you have to have a car and possibly a driver because you can’t park there," Wells said. "That’s just not the city we live in anymore. At least it shouldn't be."
http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/capital-land/2011/10/dpw-public-transportation-pain-rear
