DPW: public transportation is a pain in the rear

By: Liz Farmer | 10/17/11 4:03 PM
Examiner Staff Writer Follow Her @LizFarmerDC

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

Hang Up And Drive

For me the interesting statistic in this article is that tickets for cell phone use while driving dwarf the number of tickets given in DC to pedestrians and bicyclists. Traffic enforcement needs to be across the board. Pedestrians and bicyclists violations of simple traffic laws are rampant and this article shows, there is little consequence to the law breaker - unless they get hit. I am not saying that pedestrians and bicyclists are at fault when they are involved in an accident. I am saying that bicyclists and pedestrians have little to worry about from traffic enforcement - and that some enforcement would change the culture.

Also - the headline should be that ticketing for cell phone use while driving has gone down.

DC is doing a lot to promote bike riding but there is nothing said about the responsibilities to obey traffic laws by bike riders. Traffic enforcement needs to apply to all who use our streets - no one has the higher ground because of their method of transport.

D.C. issues over 10,000 tickets to chatty drivers

By: Kytja Weir | 09/26/11 8:05 PM
Examiner Staff Writer Follow Her @kytja

The District is netting more than $1 million a year nabbing drivers gabbing on their cell phones while driving.

More than 10,800 tickets for driving while using a cell phone have been issued this fiscal year, which ends Friday, according to the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles.

In the past four years, the city averaged about 11,980 tickets a year, or the equivalent of about 33 tickets a day.

The idea of the law is to get drivers to put their phones down and focus on the driving as part of a nationwide push against distracted driving. More than 30 states have banned texting while driving, while nine states plus D.C. have banned the use of handheld phones behind the wheel.

Distracted driving citations using a cell phone
Fiscal year			Tickets Issued	Revenue
2007			10,864	$794,285
2008			12,517	$976,754
2009			11,145	$995,438
2010			13,395	$1,104,659
2011*			10,800	$1,031,140
* Oct. 1, 2010 through Sept. 23, 2011
Source: D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles

The District enacted its ban in 2004 on drivers talking on cell phones unless they are using hands-free devices. D.C. was one of the first cities to pass such a ban; New York City passed its law in 2001.

School bus drivers and those with learner's permits in D.C. face tougher rules of no cell phones at all, earpiece or not, while driving. The city also has banned texting while driving.

And even though the District was early to adopt restrictions, its rules are still tougher than in neighboring Maryland and Virginia.

The city does have some loopholes, though. Drivers can call 911 or 311, hospitals or first-aid providers in an emergency without pulling over. And first-time offenders can have the $100 fine suspended if they provide proof of purchasing a hands-free device before the fine is imposed, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

The city has dismissed 1,576 tickets this year, according to DMV data.

That's far more than all the tickets typically issued to pedestrians and bicyclists combined. The District issued 628 citations to pedestrians last fiscal year for various offenses including failure to obey crossing signals, and issued tickets to 334 bicyclists.

AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman John Townsend credits the city as being "light years ahead" with its rules and praised D.C. for its high-profile ticketing of cell phone users. "It's the one ticket that can save your life," he said.

But even so, he said, officials should send a more complete message against distracted driving.

"Both the District and the drivers are lulled into believing it's the handheld device that's the problem," he said. "Whether you are hands-free or on a handheld device, you've still got a problem where you can be distracted and hit another motorist or pedestrians. And that's a problem."

kweir@washingtonexaminer.com

http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/2011/09/dc-issues-over-10000-tickets-chatty-drivers

For Those Who Have Not Been Paying Attention - Traffic In DC Metro Area Is Horrendous!

D.C. area is No. 1 nationwide in traffic congestion, study says

By Ashley Halsey III, Tuesday, September 27, 12:09 AM

Washington suffers from the worst traffic congestion in the nation, with drivers spending more than three days out of every 365 caught in traffic.

Helped along by a relatively robust economy, the Washington region forged well ahead of perennial rivals Chicago and Los Angeles, which ranked second and third in an extensive study conducted annually by a research group at Texas A&M University.

“This is one of those odd times when bad news is good news,” said Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean T. Connaughton. “The reason we have more congestion is that the Washington region has a very strong economy. I go to other parts of the state and they say they have no transportation problems.”

The 74 hours the average commuter is stuck in traffic each years burn 37 gallons of fuel; the average cost per area driver at the pump and in lost wages comes to $1,495. Local drivers travel bumper to bumper more than twice the national average of 34 hours.

“The biggest change in the commute has been all the construction,” said Darryl Colbert, who has driven into the District from Bowie for 20 years. “A good example is Central Avenue. I used to take that to avoid a backup on Route 50, but now they’ve got steel plates there for the Addison Road construction, and that causes a backup because nobody wants to tear their car up.”

There are efforts underway to create some congestion relief — the Intercounty Connector in Maryland, the Beltway high-occupancy toll lanes and the Metro extension in Virginia and several smaller projects — but officials fear that none of it is enough.

Projections by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments suggest that without significant investment in highways and transit, congestion could stifle the region’s desire to grow. By 2030, the regional population is estimated to increase by 1.2 million, newcomers drawn by 874,000 new jobs.

Public transit, one possible source of relief, has its own issues. Washington’s deteriorating Metro system is in the midst of a $5 billion capital improvement effort just to increase safety and bring the system into good repair.

Highway advocates see another bridge across the Potomac as critical to improvement. Transit and smart-growth proponents see developing communities around rail and bus hubs that are near job centers as a better choice.

But the next great transportation project hasn’t made it off the drawing boards, given the dismal funding prospects, and nothing so grand as the $2.4 billion Wilson Bridge replacement is likely to come around again.

The annual Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) study of urban congestion shows that Washington drivers spent an average of 84 hours delayed in traffic in the three years prior to the opening of the new Wilson Bridge. The number has dropped to an average of 73 hours in the past three years.

“The problem with the commute is that it’s just so random,” said Jeff Lancaster, who says he’s never sure what to expect between his home in Annapolis and his job in downtown Washington. “I don’t think it’s changed so much. It’s just the same. ”

‘Smoke and mirrors’

Nationally, the prospects for congestion relief seem bleak as federal and state transportation revenue continue to shrivel, much of the current transportation system has outlived its life span and few bold new highway or transit projects are on the horizon.

The U.S. Chamber of Commercehas estimated that an outlay of $222 billion a year is necessary to maintain the surface transportation system. Two funding proposals under discussion in Congress would spend $35 billion or $55.4 billion a year.

“Members of Congress continue to delay action on a new multi-year bill as their constituents idle each day in mind-numbing traffic congestion,” said Pete Ruane, president of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. “It’s inexcusable.”

Ruane said robust new investment was needed to revive the 60-year-old interstate system, but he acknowledged that the federal gas tax revenues that built it no longer provide enough money to achieve that.

“Traffic congestion is one of the nation’s very real challenges that can’t be solved by budgetary smoke and mirrors,” he said. “To address the problem, the day is coming soon when Congress will have to take the hard vote on increasing the user fee.”

The federal gas tax, set at 18.4 cents a gallon since 1993, has for generations paid the nation’s transportation bills, but the improvement of gas mileage and introduction of hybrids and electric vehicles has cut into that revenue. Now, highway tolls — as evidenced locally by the ICC, HOT lanes and preliminary approval for Virginia to collect them on Interstate 95 — are being considered as an alternative.

The TTI study said that the annual number of hours wasted in traffic would increase to 77 by 2015 and to 81 by 2020.

“The solution mix may be different for each city, but the one thing they all share in common is urgency,” said Tim Lomax, one of the TTI study’s authors. “If we want a strong economy, doing nothing is not a productive option.”

Engines burn money

The TTI report concludes that congestion cost Americans more than $100 billion in 2010, up from $24 billion in 1982 when calculated in 2011 dollars. Engines idling in traffic burned $1.9 billion gallons of gasoline. The researchers projected that the number would increase to 2.5 billion gallons and delays would cost $133 billion by 2015.

Congestion cost the average commuter $750, up from $351 in 1982. And the average time lost to congestion nationwide was 34 hours, up from 14 hours in 1982. Additional delays would drive the cost to $900 by 2015.

Until last year, TTI researchers used traffic volume data provided by the states to calculate congestion in major urban areas. Now they use data compiled by a private firm, INRIX, that places data-gathering devices on millions of trucks, taxis, fleet vehicles and delivery vans. It also offers an iPhone application that provides users with real-time travel information in return for anonymous tracking of the users’ travel.

The other cities on the top 10 most congested list, and the annual number of hours drivers spend caught in traffic are Chicago (71), Los Angeles (64), Houston (57), New York (54), Baltimore (52), San Francisco (50), Denver (49), Boston (47) and Dallas (45).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-area-is-no-1-nationwide-in-traffic-congestion-study-says/2011/09/26/gIQAtzij0K_story.html

HPV Immunization - Bachmann Got It Right - Who Else Does Merck Have In It's Pocket?

Lot of press about HPV today due to Michelle Bachmann's questioning of Rick Perry. The Washington Post did an article about Perry's connections to Merck, the manufacturer of the HPV immunization drug Gardasil. This is the link to the article - http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/perry-has-deep-financial-ties-to-maker-of-hpv-vaccine/2011/09/13/gIQAVKKqPK_story.html?hpid=z1&sub=AR
Following are comments I left on the article -


While I adamantly disagree with Michelle Bachmann on most things when she refers to crony capitalism, she is on to something.
I live in DC which requires this immunization unless parents opt out. On the strong advice of my daughter's pediatrician (female), we have opted out. Dangerous might ruffle some sensibilities but anyway you stack it up, there have been very serious side effects from this drug and the overall benefit / protection is at best questionable.
This immunization is first about profits for Merck. Somewhere down the line it might be about women's health but if you think that is the driving factor, I have a bridge to sell you. As I follow it in DC, by being required by government, Merck is absolved of liability. Pretty good deal for Merck, bad deal for for girls.
This immunization was approved by the FDA barely 5 years ago in 2006. Within a couple of years, Merck had succeeded in getting it required for school entry in countless jurisdictions. There was no great public out cry for this - it took Merck a lot of lobbying and yes MONEY to get it required. If Merck thought this drug was so needed, why would they need it required by government and thus relieve them of liability? If it is so good, why wouldn't people seek it out? Because it isn't so good.
By having the vaccine required by law it guarantees Merck a paying market and no liability - wow! I'd spend a lot of money too if I could have a business model like that!
Further, here in DC, the language is less than clear. After filling out the opt out, we still received a notice from the school nurse yesterday (how ironic) about our daughter not having it. Nowhere in the language of the letter does it say parents can opt out just because they want to - it refers to opting out for religious and/or medical reasons. Not exactly full disclosure.
In DC, David Catania is the man who pushed this requirement through the City Council. I would love the Post to do an article about his ties to Merck. This is crony capitalism at it's best.

Tighten Test Security, Scores Fall

Perhaps there is a pattern here...........

Scores fall for some D.C. schools amid test security questions

By Nick Anderson, Published: August 2

Reading and math scores on citywide tests fell this year in several D.C. schools that came under scrutiny for potential security breaches in the previous year’s exams, according to data made public Tuesday.

In a few cases, the plunge recorded through the D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System was especially stark.

At Noyes Education Campus in Northeast Washington, the pass rate in reading dropped more than 25 percentage points, to 32 percent, and the pass rate in math dropped more than 20 points, to 28 percent.

Noyes was one of three schools for which some 2010 scores were invalidated in May after an investigation found evidence or strong suspicion of cheating.

The two others were Leckie Elementary in Southwest and C.W. Harris Elementary in Southeast. At Leckie, pass rates slid slightly this year in both subjects. At C.W. Harris, there was a two-point uptick in the reading pass rate, to 21 percent, and an eight-point drop in math, to 8 percent.

Test scores can rise and fall from year to year for various reasons, including teacher and student turnover. What is unclear is whether heightened test security this year played a role in changing results at those three schools or others where student answer sheets from years past have shown unusually high rates of erasures. Experts track erasure rates to flag classrooms and schools where cheating may have occurred, with adults switching or helping to switch answers from wrong to right.

Questions about test security have arisen this year in Atlanta, Washington, Baltimore and elsewhere. D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson, who has repeatedly expressed confidence in the city’s testing program, was not available Tuesday to comment.

Tamara Reavis, director of assessment and accountability for the office of the state superintendent of education, said D.C. officials are still analyzing the results. But she added that test security was strengthened this year. “We do feel the security for 2011 was superior,” she said, “and we stand by the validity of these results.”

Last month, D.C. officials released citywide summaries of test results that showed mostly flat achievement trends compared with 2010 in much of the school system, while scores for independent public charter schools showed modest gains. Tuesday’s release from the state superintendent’s office provided a detailed look at scores for each school.

Results are used to rate schools and are a factor in teacher evaluations.

A Washington Post review of data on 11 schools in which some classrooms were flagged for high erasure rates on 2010 tests found that scores declined this year in several. There were double-digit drops in pass rates for reading and math at J.O. Wilson Elementary and LaSalle-Backus Education Campus, both in Northeast Washington, and at Whittier Education Campus in Northwest.

But the trend was not uniform. Among the 11 schools, pass rates in math rose nine points at Plummer Elementary in Southeast, to 36 percent, and five points at Truesdell Education Campus in Northwest, to 42 percent.

Staff writer Bill Turque contributed to this report.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/scores-fall-for-some-dc-schools-amid-test-security-questions/2011/08/02/gIQA8KSArI_print.html

Trash Tickets

About time........

D.C.'s trash police getting picky on ticketing

By: Freeman Klopott | Examiner Staff Writer Follow Him @FKlopott | 08/01/11 8:05 PM

Residents and business owners in some of the District's wealthiest neighborhoods are outraged over tickets they've received for up to $1,000 by the city's trash police for having a recyclable item as small as a soda can mixed in with their trash.

For more than a decade, the District's Department of Public Works inspectors have ticketed residents and businesses for mixing recyclable goods with regular trash, not picking up leaves or leaving items too large for a garbage truck on the curb. But over the past several months residents and business owners - many in downtown's Ward 2 - say the Solid Waste Education and Enforcement Program has been hitting them harder than ever before.

"We were issued a $200 citation for not recycling a single can," said Gina Schaefer, owner of Logan Hardware near P and 14th streets, Northwest. "People always dump trash in our [trash bin], we can't control it."

A copy of the citation obtained by The Washington Examiner clearly shows an image of a single aluminum can surrounded by a mess of garbage. A month after Schaefer was ticketed for the can in March, the hardware store was hit with a $150 fine when a neighbor left a couch by the store's trash.

It seems the ticket writers aren't following the laws they're supposed to enforce. District law allows for up to 30 percent of trash to be mixed with recyclable materials.

A DPW spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

Some residents say the fines they've been dealt were unfair. Dupont Circle resident Daniel Lyons said his condominium building was recently fined $1,000 for not having trash in a proper receptacle.

"It came as a surprise," Lyons said. "We didn't know the city had any intention of doing this."

Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans said his office has been "bombarded" with complaints from constituents, all of them saying the city appears to have stepped up its enforcement measures without any notice. Some, like Schaefer, are turning to Evans for help in fighting the citations.

Evans said he believes his ward is being unfairly targeted.

"I spoke with [DPW Director] Bill Howland and he assured me that's not the case," Evans said. "It certainly appears to be the case to me, though."

Evans said he "agrees with enforcing the law, but they can't be overzealous and issue someone a $200 ticket for having a can" in their trash.

If Schaefer doesn't pay the tickets, she said the city can hold up various business licenses she needs to operate.

"I employ 140 people and would like to be thought of as a good business owner, and not someone who needs to be fined," she said.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/2011/08/dcs-trash-police-getting-picky-ticketing

Curb Alert: Illegal Dumping of Toxic Waste

Somebody left a TV in the tree box of a house near mine. I left the following note on it:

TO WHOEVER LEFT THIS TV HERE:

PLEASE REMOVE IT!!! It is illegal dumping – littering.

Take responsibility for your own garbage! If it works there are countless ways to get it to someone who wants an old tv. This TV has 5+ lbs of lead in it – before someone breaks it and spreads toxic waste, REMOVE IT!!!!

And be glad you didn’t get a ticket for illegal dumping!!!!!!!!

Called DC 311, #237552 is the number they gave me - we will see who gets it first - the Public Works Department crew or someone who breaks it.