BRAC, Ft. Belvoir, and Northern Virginia Traffic
Virginia Congressman Jim Moran argues that the Defense Department ought to step up and pay for the increased traffic BRAC is about to bring to his district: The latest round of BRAC (Base Realignment and Closing) moves is poised to create a daytime nightmare of traffic congestion for Northern Virginia. Over the next two years, the on-base population at Fort Belvoir in ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on October 26, 2009 10:47
The Money Value of Time
Matt Yglesias points to a recent IBM study trying to map much people hate commuting to work and points to this interesting chart: From this, Matt concludes that all manner of government policies could be framed as a way of reducing the pain of commuting: higher gas taxes, congestion pricing, and so forth. I simply don't believe the numbers. Matt's commenter Paulie ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on September 11, 2009 13:24
Who’s Reading What
Matt Yglesias notes that bloggers and others who write for the Web lack a luxury of those who write for print: "nobody has any idea who’s reading them." Whereas there are detailed metrics about pageviews on the Web, all print has to go on is circulation figures. So they can blithely assume that their long features and hard news and ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 25, 2009 17:19
OTB Latenight – Traffic
Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 11, 2009 21:30
Bikes and Cars
John Cole points to a new law in Colorado making it illegal for motorists to throw objects at bicycles. Previously, it has only been a citable offense if one's aim was good. Cole wonders, "What kind of twisted jackass throws something out of a car at a biker?" and several of his commenters note the high degree of hostility bikers face ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 4, 2009 11:19
U.S. Life Expectancy: We’re Number 1
Tyler Cowen passes along a reader comment that, The difference in life expectancy between the US and Netherlands is often referred to as an example of how superior semi-socialized health care increases life expectancy. At birth, someone living in the Netherlands can expect to live 2.35 years longer than someone born in the US, but at age 65, the difference is ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 31, 2009 09:28
DC Most Dangerous Driving City
Aaron Brazell passes along word that DC and Baltimore are the most dangerous driving cities, as calculated by Allstate Insurance. Bengt Havorson has the list: The Safest Driving Top Ten 1. Sioux Falls, SD 2. Fort Collins, CO 3. Chattanooga, TN 4. Cedar Rapids, IA 5. Knoxville, TN 6. Fort Wayne, IN 7. Lexington-Fayette, KY 8. Eugene, OR 9. Boise, ID 10. Colorado Springs, CO Bottom of the List – Riskiest Driving ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 20, 2009 15:27
Four Day Week?
Over at his other digs, Dave Schuler muses, Is it my imagination or do things become very, very quiet on Fridays these days? I know that traffic at this blog drops sharply on Fridays which suggests to me that a lot of people read blogs from work and that they aren’t at work on Fridays. In the DC area, at least, it's ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 10, 2009 10:10
Michael Jackson Dies, Kills Internet
Not sure this is BREAKING NEWS, as CNN does, but it's amusing nonetheless: How many people does it take to break the Internet? On June 25, we found out it's just one -- if that one is Michael Jackson. The biggest showbiz story of the year saw the troubled star take a good slice of the Internet with him, as the ripples ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 26, 2009 11:00
They May Not Take Our Lives But They’ll Take Our Freedom
Richard Florida passes on this poster and statistics from Münster, Germany to illustrate "the different amounts of space taken up by different kinds of transit." Bicycle - 90 sq. m for 71 people to park their bikes. Car - 1000 sq. m for 72 people to park their care (avg. occupancy of 1.2 people per car). Bus - 30 sq m ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 21, 2009 13:54
Rubbernecking
Tom Vanderbilt passes on and summarizes a new study by researchers at the Delft University of Technology that estimates the effects of "rubbernecking" in adding to traffic congestion after an accident at about 50 percent of free-flow capacity. As pictured above, a light truck overturned near the city of Apeldoorn. One lane (in the ‘bottom section’ in the photo above) was ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 11, 2009 14:45
Cars vs. Pedestrians
People in Matt Yglesias' neighborhood have petitioned to increase the amount of time pedestrians get to cross New York Avenue at 5th St. NW from 20 to 45 seconds and they've been rejected. The rationale: DDOT is concerned that changing the walk time at this intersection may negatively impact pedestrian safety at this intersection further, in addition to negatively affecting traffic ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on February 19, 2009 14:01
Transportation Pricing
Matt Yglesias explains why public transit should be free through an analogy: Say there’s no road between Washington, DC and Frederick, Maryland. You can go from the one place to the other, but it involves going way out of your way even though it could be a pretty quick trip on a direct road. What you need to ask yourself about ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on February 11, 2009 12:07
DC Roads Close for Obama
[caption id="attachment_29679" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The Secret Service motorcade carrying 7-year-old Sasha Obama departs Sidwell Friends School after dropping off her sister Malia, on the first day of school on January 5, 2009 in Washington, DC. The incoming first family are staying at the luxury Hay-Adams Hotel, with a view of the White House before moving to the president's official guest ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on January 8, 2009 09:06
Can’t Peddle 55
Megan McArdle argues that drivers who exceed the speed limit in their cars have no right to get angry at bikers who run stop signs and red lights, weave in and out of traffic, and otherwise ignore traffic laws. Plus, because bikes are smaller and slower, they're not going to cause any harm: The reason cops don't ticket bikers when they ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 14, 2008 13:53
