PlanItMetro

Metro will hold the grand opening event to launch its first “Bike & Ride” tomorrow – Tuesday, May 15 at 10:00am at the College Park-U of MD Metrorail station.  You are invited to join us that morning, where you can hear a few words from some elected officials and Metro leaders, take a few photos, and tour the facility.

Ready to get started? Sign up now for a $20 BikeLink card, read the brochure, and you’re on your way to secure bike parking.

Already tried out the facility? This first Bike & Ride is a pilot project to try a new kind of bike parking, so let us know what you think!  With the facility, Metro hopes to attract more bike commuters to rail by offering customers convenient, flexible, and secure bike parking.  Metro’s Parking Office will operate the facility, with help from BikeLink.  Metro hopes to learn from the design and continue to expand commuters’ access options as part of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Element of the Capital Investment Program. So, let BikeLink and us know what you think of the facility!

As you may have heard, the 2012 Metrorail survey is underway.  There has been quite a bit of discussion online about the survey, so we thought the survey team would use this opportunity to better explain the purposes of the survey

The primary purpose of the survey is to gather data to support operating and planning activities.  Metro reports ridership coming from each of the eight jurisdictions in the Metro service area, and the survey provides the most scientific approach to estimate ridership by jurisdiction.   In some areas, this is a bit complicated as many residences are technically located in a jurisdiction that is different than that listed on their mailing address, and zip codes don’t provide any help there either.  The survey results are “geocoded” using street address and zip code to determine the survey respondent’s jurisdiction of residence.

Additionally, we are asking about transit subsidies received by our riders.   The 2012 survey differentiates between fully subsidized and partially subsidized riders, expanding our understanding of how our riders make decisions related to fares.  And the survey asks if and where riders are transferring within the Metrorail system.  With the survey data we can develop a clear picture of true transfer volumes at key stations.  This information will help us better plan for future capacity enhancements at transfer stations, including Gallery Place and L’Enfant Plaza.

Below is a list of questions we’ve been asked, and our concise answers.  Below the FAQ are some results from the 2007 Metrorail Passenger Survey.  Feel free to ask any additional questions that we’ve missed in the comments section below and we will try to respond as best we can.

Read more…

Metro has been busy in February and March installing and upgrading bike racks, preparing for the upcoming bicycle season. Metro’s Plant Maintenance crews installed over 70 new racks, with space for 140 additional bikes at Braddock Road, Glenmont, Morgan Boulevard, Rockville, East Falls Church, Takoma, and Dupont Circle. We continue this work under Metro’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Element of 2012-2017 Capital Improvement Program.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) seeks energetic individuals to join its Department of Planning and Joint Development to advance the Authority’s vision of improved and expanded public transit services.

The Senior Planner position manages and conducts transit systems planning analyses, transit facility and corridor improvement projects, and other transportation planning studies.   In addition, the Senior Planner participates in regional planning activities that include coordination with federal, state, regional, and local agency representatives and other stakeholders. This is a highly responsible professional position involving technical planning, project management and advocacy work of a complex nature.

Candidates for the Senior Planner (ref.# 120350) should have experience with and knowledge of regional and corridor planning, transit project development, systems planning studies, quantitative analysis, and project management.  For more details or to submit an application online, visit http://www.wmata.com/careers/metro_jobs/

Closing date is April 12, 2012.

Metro is developing the Regional Transit System Plan (RTSP), a vision of a sustainable, integrated, multimodal, regional transit network for 2040.  Metro staff have recently completed the first phase, and presented a summary to the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) in January.  Phase II is underway, and the proposed approach and initial scenarios to evaluate were also presented to the TAG.

During the initial phase, Metro staff assessed future growth trends and travel-demand patterns throughout the region for the forecast year 2040.  Regional growth, reported by MWCOG Cooperative Forecasts Round 7.2a, shows significant population, household, and employment growth over the next several decades.  This growth has a direct impact on travel patterns around the region.  As a part of Phase I work, Metro staff identified the implications this has for transit.

Forecasts show that with the implementation of the projects included in the 2009 financially constrained long-range plan (CLRP) regional transit trips will grow by 30% by 2040.  Although the regional program of projects in the CLRP results in a transit mode share remaining at only 4% of total person trips, the region will see more than 350,000 new weekday transit trips.  Given the anticipated growth and dispersion of travel, the RTSP focuses on the following long-range issues:

• Increasing the capacity of the system to serve the region’s employment core;
• Improving multimodal access to high quality transit;
• Improving the efficiency and interoperability of the region’s surface transit;
• Improving connections to Regional Activity Centers;

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Metro’s Board of Directors will host six public hearings in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia beginning Feb. 27, where members of the public may provide formal testimony regarding the budget and fare proposals. Members of the public may provide formal testimony regarding the budget and fare proposals, which are included in the docket of budget actions. The proposed operating and capital budgets for the next fiscal year support the critical rebuilding of the Metro system, and improving safety and reliability. The budget also provides service enhancements such as additional rush hour rail service, improved escalator maintenance, enhanced bus corridor services, increased security and continued compliance with National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations.

Preceding each of the formal public hearings, Metro will host an hour-long Open Forum with multimedia stations to engage stakeholders and solicit public input. The Open Forum will include a video presentation on Metro’s rebuilding program, tables staffed by senior Metrobus, Metrorail, MetroAccess, SmarTrip and police officials who will be available to talk with participants and answer individual questions, and a third station where computers will be made available to take an online survey regarding Metro’s priorities, as well as to submit written comments for the record.

Details and directions for transit travel to the public sessions are available on Metro’s website or via the hyperlinks below. Open forums begin at 6 p.m., followed by the public hearings at 7 p.m. The hearings will take place as follows:

Monday, Feb. 27
Bethesda Chevy Chase Regional Services Center – Hearing 569
4805 Edgemoor Lane
Bethesda, MD

Wednesday, Feb. 29
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School Cafeteria – Hearing 570
7130 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, VA

Thursday, March 1
Matthews Memorial Baptist Church – Hearing 571
John H. Kearney, Sr. Fellowship Hall
2616 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., SE
Washington, DC

Monday, March 5
Washington Lee High School Cafeteria – Hearing 572
1301 N Stafford St
Arlington, VA

Tuesday, March 6
St. Columba’s Episcopal Church – Hearing 573
4201 Albemarle Street, NW
Washington, DC

Wednesday, March 7
First United Methodist Church – Hearing 574
6201 Belcrest Road
Hyattsville, MD

Written statements and exhibits may be sent to the Office of the Secretary, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 600 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001, or e-mailed to writtentestimony@wmata.com. Statements also may be faxed to 202-962-1133. Please reference the hearing number. Submissions must be received by 5 p.m. on Monday, March 12. A survey on possible options to balance the budget will be available on Metro’s website from 5p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 22 until 5 p.m. on Monday, March 12.

Additional information can be found in the press release.

Since our last update, Metro’s Plant Maintenance crews have installed new bike racks with additional space for over 140 bicycles at 7 more stations in January.  New racks have been installed under existing overhangs and other spaces at Capitol Heights, Stadium-Armory, Rhode Island Ave-Brentwood, Potomac Ave, Largo Town Center, Van Ness-UDC, and Glenmont as part of “Implementation Strategy 1″ in Metro’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Element of 2012-2017 Capital Improvement Program.

We’ve been taking pictures along the way! We took these right after installation, sometimes in the cold or rain, so there aren’t many bikes on them yet, but we hope to be all ready for the biking season to begin in the spring.  Glenmont pictures coming soon.

Metro is working with the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) on the Super NoVa project to identify travel needs, evaluate current gaps in transit and TDM programs, and identify a vision to improve mobility. DRPT will be hosting a set of four public meetings through northern Virginia to gather your comments/ideas on bus, rail, carpooling, and vanpooling. The Super NoVa region considers the needs of commuters in northern Virginia as well as those from Washington D.C., Maryland, and West Virginia.

Citizens are invited to learn more about the study and provide feedback by attending any one of the following identical meetings. For special assistance or information, call 804-786-4440 or TDD 711 at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting date.

Other mechanisms to participate include:

Written comments also may be sent to: Super NoVa Transit/TDM Vision Plan, 11400 Commerce Park Drive, Suite 400, Reston, VA 20191.

Si usted necesita servicios de traducción a participar, por favor manda un email: espanol@kimley-horn.com

New staircase at Rhode Island Ave-Brentwood station, including bike stairchannel

Metro completed work retro-fitting a staircase at the Rhode Island Ave-Brentwood station last week, and the new stairs include channels to make it easier to bring a bicycle up to, or down from, the station.  Metro’s Parking Office included this work as part of the transit-oriented development that is nearing completion at the station, as well as Metro’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Element of 2012-2017 Capital Improvement Program.

The staircase reopens a pedestrian connection from the station to the south side of Rhode Island Avenue, and makes it easier for customers to bring a bicycle as well.  The stairs had closed late last fall for a retrofit.  Pedestrians can once again connect from the bus loop area to the surrounding neighborhood.  To bring your bike on the stairs, put both wheels into the channel along the side, tilt the bike inwards a little, and push/hold your bike so it rolls alongside as you walk.

New staircase at Rhode Island Ave-Brentwood

The stairchannel, sometimes called a runnel, is a new kind of facility for Metro that we hope can help accommodate bikes in difficult areas with steep grade changes.  We welcome your feedback to help guide potential future installations!  Have you seen or tried the stairs? What do you think of them?

State of the Commute Survey Results

Last summer, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) posted the results from the 2010 State of the Commute (SOC) Survey. Metro planners are reviewing the results now in support of our Regional Transit System Plan, which is looking to better connect areas of concentrated growth, such as the regional activity centers, and increase core capacity through 2040. The survey is conducted every three years to help MWCOG’s Transportation Planning Board better understand commuting trends and evaluate the effectiveness of its Commuter Connections program, which provides information about and benefits for commuting by transit and carpooling instead of single-occupancy vehicles (SOV).

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