@janeese4dc.bsky.social is, indeed, a growth-knower, and I hope you will support her for mayor: janeesefordc.com

Opinion | Americans Spend Too Much Time Stuck in Traffic. There’s a Way to Get It Back.

NYT editorial board issues a full-throated endorsement of congestion pricing:

"Over its first 14 months, the [NYC] congestion pricing system has exceeded even the high hopes of many supporters. It has reduced traffic, improved the quality of life and even provided a boost for businesses."

Today marks 15 years since the magnitude 9 Great Tohoku Earthquake. I vividly remember the sound of the ground thundering beneath me for six long minutes and wondering if my family was safe from the ensuing tsunami. Grateful for earthquake-resilient building codes and early warning systems.

We forced Mayor Muriel Bowser to release a long-delayed report on road pricing View this post on ggwash.org

Mayor Bowser hid this report from you for more than four years, but now it's out in the world. Why? We fought to make it public — and we won.

NEWS: @mayorbowser.dc.gov has very unexpectedly released a report @ddotdc.bsky.social finished five years ago on what implementing congestion pricing in D.C. would look like. She had refused to make it public since it was done, but now calls congestion pricing "the wrong policy at the wrong time."

Five ways D.C.-area commutes have changed since the pandemic A new survey by the Metropolitan Council of Governments found that many people are still working from home part of the time -- but not federal workers.

Missed this story the other day: Since 2019, DC has added 50 miles of bike lanes and 11 miles of bus lanes. But commute times have not changed, sinking opponents' arguments that the new infrastructure would cause havoc.

The GGWash staff held an office book club. Here are our thoughts View this post on ggwash.org

The GGWash staff read and discussed Richard Schragger's City Power during our lunch breaks. Naturally, we all have takes to share on it.

It’s interesting to see how different countries/cities navigate preserving historic neighborhood character…

A brand new high school building sits less than 50 feet from a temple gate built in 1775 in Kamakura (the temple itself is 800+ y/o.) Personally, I love seeing old and new together.

5. Graphics to make your transfer seamless

At each station in the Tokyo Metro, they have these guides that let you know which car to enter to be closest to your exit at your destination station. (This is especially helpful when some stations have 30+ exits.)

4. Transit-oriented development (we just call it development)

This apartment building sits directly above the train station/bus hub. The entire station has everything you need: an easy train connection to Tokyo, a grocery store, a cafe, and dozens of other food and shopping options.

3. In denser neighborhoods, most people bike or walk to the grocery store.

Free bike parking at this store for 90 minutes. ¥100 for every two hours after. This place has a small car parking structure above the store, but the car entrance fronts the larger road on the other side of the block.

These two-way streets are barely wide enough to fit two cars side by side. The design reflects that pedestrians and cyclists have priority, even without sidewalks or bike lanes. Drivers have to negotiate space with each other and naturally drive slowly to navigate the tight spaces.

2. Climate-controlled waiting rooms on platforms.

If you’ve been to Japan in the summer, you know how brutal the heat can be. I often see older riders and families with young kids using these rooms as they wait for their train.

I commuted to school by foot via this street starting at age 7. Here are some other examples of streets kids rely on to walk to school in a nearby city. (Note the “School Zone” painted on the street in the first pic)

I’m visiting my family in Japan for the holidays. Sharing some observations about the places I grew up in around the Tokyo Metropolitan Area:

1. Human-scale streets…

Adams Morgan’s streateries are overwhelmingly popular. Forthcoming requirements put them and others at risk of vanishing View this post on ggwash.org

Pete’s on-the-street interviews find that streateries on 18th Street NW, which the District paid for but is, nonetheless, about to dismantle, are overwhelmingly popular. Alex ruminates on the connection between streateries and street closures.

Join Planners of Color at this GGWash Happy Hour Connect with a diverse community of planners, advocates, and planning-adjacent professionals. You also don't need to be an urban planner to attend.

our quarterly(ish) @ggwash.org planners of color happy hour is one of my favorite things we do, and our next one is next thursday, november 13! join me and @kaihall10.bsky.social at shanklin hall in adams morgan–and rsvp here: secure.everyaction.com/Ia18zMvDokeu...

The #WeekWithoutDriving is a great opportunity for local public officials to tout the benefits of the investments they've made to expand transportation options in DC and share how it can be better. I hope to see more leaders sign up! @councilofdc.bsky.social @mayorbowser.bsky.social @wmata.com

Washington, DC, belongs to the people, not to the president View this post on ggwash.org

The District isn't just a stage for a national show: people live here. And what happens here will set the scene for what happens in cities across the country.

How riders are adjusting to D.C.'s new bus network One month in, riders are still adjusting to the massive Metrobus overhaul.

absolutely stoked to see my colleague @kaihall10.bsky.social quoted in @51st.news about the "transportation time tax" and how we should think about the ways transit does or doesn't work for people 51st.news/metrobus-dc-...

M8.7 is the kind of magnitude that makes seismologists swear.

How, in 2016, we got less of Lanier Heights View this post on ggwash.org

While the District’s population went up by 15% between 2010 and 2020, Lanier Heights’ population increased only 3%. A downzoning is a big part of the reason the neighborhood hasn't grown.

The D.C. region is twice as deadly for pedestrians as a decade ago Pedestrians are far more likely to be killed in D.C., Maryland and Virginia than a decade ago.

"In D.C., no driver has been charged in any of the 15 fatal hit-and-run crashes of 2024."

💔

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Congratulations to the Office of Disability Rights for completing the new Olmstead Plan last month! 👏🏾

This plan sets a strategic vision for how we can make transportation in the District more accessible to seniors and people with disabilities.