Gabe Klein Drops Some (Very Good) Hints
Reported by Chris
Photo: WashCycle
DC Mud posted an interview with District Department of Transportation (DDOT) Director Gabe Klein last Thursday, chock full of tantalizing hints about DDOT’s new priorities and upcoming projects. According to Klein, he’s “gotten his feet under him” during his first 6 months as Director, and has led DDOT in assembling a strategic vision that they’ll be able to execute over the next 24 months. Here’s some of the more interesting items Klein mentioned:
Streetcars
Photo: Streetcars4DC
DDOT is working closely with NCPC on a compromise on the overhead wire ban to protect their interests and DDOT’s interests.
One possible solution is alternative technologies including electric, battery powered vehicles that can drop the wire in places where the viewshed is important.
Future streetcars may be purchased from the brand new United Streetcar in Portland, OR, which is the only streetcar manufacturing company in the United States.
DDOT is challenging themselves (and being challenged by the Mayor) to make the H Street/Benning road portion operational at the same time that the Anacostia portion is ready.
The current date set is 2012, but there may be an announcement in the next 6 months that will indicate a closer date. (Lets hope!)
Much more after the jump!
Pedestrian Improvements
DDOT’s priority is making the city as safe as possible for pedestrians. Klein recognizes that more people are opting to stay in the city to raise children, and notes that 40% of District residents don’t even own cars.
DDOT is currently looking at the fifty worst intersections in the city and will be making improvements to them.
Bike Sharing
DDOT is looking into significantly expanding the system, with around 100 stations. There will be an announcement with details soon.
Its possible that the new stations will be mobile, allowing them to be repositioned “seasonally or periodically.”
Klein draws inspiration from Montreal’s new bike sharing system, which introduced 3,000 shared bikes, all at once.
Klein considers DC’s fledgling bike sharing system to be a “new transit system.”
Bike Intrastructure Improvements
Photo: Copenhagenize
Klein sees room for improvement in current striped bike lanes, suggesting the possibility of painting the entire lanes.
Klein wants to make cycling safe enough in the city that it goes beyond early adopters, and its truly “brought to the masses”, -75 year olds included.
He also mentions separated bike lanes and contra-flow bike lanes.
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Its hard not to get excited about our the future of transportation in DC after reading the interview, as its clear that Klein “gets it”, and is pushing the agency in the right direction. Whether he and DDOT and deliver or are just filling us with false hope, only time will tell.
Comments & Trackbacks
I’ll venture to H st NE if they put this in.
jonfreeze said at 5:16 PM on October 19th, 2009
I’m with my buddy Jon here. We need to be a shining beacon for the country in terms of viable, safe and clean public transit. I’ve been over that way but imagine riding a street car? Amazing.
Justin Schuck said at 7:32 PM on October 19th, 2009
haha…good news on bikeshare, except that people tend to forget that DDOTDC had promised at least 50 stations by 1 July 2009. And this wasn’t a promise made like five years ago, this was around late March of this year:
(from WTOP, via TreeHugger)
“By summer, the D.C. Department of Transportation will have expanded the current Smartbike system from 10 racks to 50 racks.”
“The goal is to get Smartbike running in all eight Wards of the District. The upcoming expansion will not touch all eight Wards, but there will be numerous neighborhoods that get the bikes, including Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, Capitol Hill, Anacostia and Georgetown.
“You want the bike stations to be relatively close together so that if a rack is full, you can ride to another one and drop it off,” says DDOT spokesperson John Lisle. “We will fan out from the center of the city in concentric circles.”
DDOT has set aside about $3 million in stimulus money to fund the upcoming expansion.”
So…I’m not holding my breath. I love Mr. Klein and think his heart’s in the right place, but the working with the DC Government is like trying to pry open a cinder block with your fingernails.
JTS said at 11:10 PM on October 19th, 2009
This is true, but from what I understand its not strictly DDOT’s fault. The current bike sharing system came out of a deal with ClearChannel. Clearchannel paid for bike sharing stations, runs the system, and also paid for DC’s new bus shelters. In exchange, they’ve been granted the rights to sell the ad space on the shelters. Seemed like a good arrangement, until DDOT expressed interest in expanding the program to more stations, and ClearChannel refused.
Now, DDOT is considering dropping ClearChannel completely and teaming up with a real bike sharing operator; one that is interested in seeing the program expand. So its going to take longer than DDOT originally promised, but we’ll be better for it in the long run. ClearChannel never had any interest in seeing the bike sharing system flourish…their only interest is in selling ads.
Chris said at 10:27 AM on October 20th, 2009