The Doctor is Out -- Dr. Gridlock and the Washington Post

Center cities are dependent on solid public transportation to increase mobility and reduce congestion. Transit provides to cities a competitive advantage and uniqueness not usually available in Sprawlworld.

That !#$%^&*( unmentionable Dr. Gridlock in the Washington Post had a column last Thursday that absolutely infuriated me.

Here's what was there:

____________________________________________________
A Developing Squeeze

Dear Dr. Gridlock:

I ride Metro's Orange Line to work from the Vienna station. Since Vienna is an end of the line, I'm able to get a seat. The train is often too full to pick up passengers at stations closer to Washington.

Heading home from Foggy Bottom in the evenings, I'm one of many left standing on the platform, hopelessly watching packed trains leave without me.

Recently, I had to wait 35 minutes on a platform, watching full train after full train pass until I was finally able to squeeze onto one. Sometimes I've been so frustrated that I'll backtrack to a station deeper in the city to find a less crowded Orange Line train to Vienna.

What will happen if zoning is approved for a dozen high-rise condominiums next to Interstate 66 and the Vienna station?

And what about the development proposals for Tysons Corner, Reston and Springfield? With only one tunnel under the Potomac, there's no way the Metro system can handle all of people the condos will bring. Traffic will reach a crisis point, too.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors needs to do the math. Before approving all of this new development, massive improvements must be made to the roads and Metro's infrastructure.

Ann Tobin
Fairfax

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is on the verge of precipitating a transportation catastrophe for its constituents. The Orange Line is crowded as you describe it, Ms. Tobin, yet the board considers adding thousands of residential units at the Vienna and Dunn Loring Metro stations. This would not have a major impact on area roads, the board says, because most of the residents would take Metro.

That's not good news for Metro riders trying to sandwich themselves aboard the line now. Imagine the dilemma in Arlington.

Metro is several years away from expanding to eight-car trains, and even then for only a third of the fleet. Which line gets them? Although Orange Line riders are complaining, I also get equally exasperated letters from Green Line and Red Line riders.

I recently appeared before a meeting of the Providence District Council in Fairfax County. A large margin of the approximately 60 souls in attendance did not want this added development. They feel ignored by the Board of Supervisors.

I suggest they start recruiting candidates to oppose the supervisors and get behind their campaigns.
_________________________________

The writer, Ann Tobin, gets part of it as she writes: "massive improvements must be made to the roads and Metro's infrastructure. "

But I feel that Dr. Gridlock dropped the ball when he responded in part with this: "Metro is several years away from expanding to eight-car trains, and even then for only a third of the fleet. Which line gets them? Although Orange Line riders are complaining, I also get equally exasperated letters from Green Line and Red Line riders."

Dr. Gridlock should be advocating BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY for the expansion to eight-car trains, not in several years, but now!

I recognize that this is easier said than done, that it takes a long time to construct railcars, but the fact of the matter is, if the "commuting" columnist for the Washington Post isn't pointing out to the region forcefully that the region must invest in its public transportation infrastructure, then we have the wrong person writing this column.

About 15 years ago I wrote a long letter to Dr. Gridlock. Lamentably I don't have a copy of it. It was in response to his call for an automobile lobby (isn't the local AAA chapter doing a pretty effective job as it is?), although that wasn't what he called it.

I stated that an automobile lobby would ignore many things, from the fact that Metro wasn't planning for expansion beyond the original system, to bicycling, parking subsidies for drivers, etc.

Almost three years ago, Kevin Palmer, the expecting (along with wife Erin) webmaster of www.hstreetdc.com, wrote a wonderful screed to Dr. Gridlock that was actually published:

_________________From www.capitolhillstudios.com
The following letter appeared in the May 14, 2001, edition of the Washington Post's "Dr. Gridlock" column, under the banner "'There Are Better Ways': A Prescription for Drivers—and the Doctor." It apparently has drawn more response than any other submission in the 20 years that the columnist has written it.

Dear Dr. Gridlock: Okay. I've had enough. I've read your column for years, first as a suburbanite who dealt with the headaches of this plowed-over cow pasture region we call metropolitan Washington, and now as a city resident.

In the years that I have followed your column, I have never seen you advise people to start taking responsibility for their commuting choices. As a respected voice in the region, you have the potential to help people make intelligent decisions.

Case in point: In a March 15 column, you responded to a woman from Leesburg who complained about the lack of parking at the Falls Church Metro station.

Instead of questioning the logic behind living in Leesburg and commuting to the District, you lament that, "It's a shame when people want to get out of their cars and onto mass transit but can't because there is nowhere to put their car."

There are other options. This woman could take a bus to the Metro station and continue her ridiculous commute from there. And by the way, she hasn't taken her car off the road by driving to the Metro station -- she still drove almost 25 miles to get to that point. I won't even comment on the guy who has a 100-mile commute from Southern Maryland.

Never once have you advocated to the fools who insist on making these kinds of commutes that they make a choice: Either give up their desire to live in the deep suburbs or give up their jobs in the city/inner suburbs. You simply can't have both.

It's people like these that make our dependence on gasoline what it is. Never once have you suggested that someone consider living in the city (a choice which you obviously haven't made either).

Another case in point was the column last year in which a woman inquired about the best route to get from her home in Calvert County to Sibley Hospital in upper Northwest Washington. You gave her a route in which she could avoid as much of the city as possible and get to her job. I was appalled that you did not even question her sensibility in wanting to make this commute, but rather took pity on her.

I don't have pity for people who make poor decisions.

I made a choice to live in the city and have taken commuting out of the equation. I no longer have to listen to traffic reports. I made a choice to do the right thing and now enjoy a pleasant walk to work with my wife each day.

The only thing that ruins my enjoyment is the slew of suburban Marylanders who snake their way through my neighborhood each morning, racing through red lights at Stanton Park and ignoring pedestrian crossings. These people could be joining me in walking to work, if they work in the city.

But the real point is that people should live where they work. If they can't find a job in their bedroom community, then they should live closer in, or, at a minimum, they should take public transportation for the entire commute. At the very least, if they must drive, they should commute with their neighbors in a carpool. That is, if they even know their neighbors.

It's shameful that our region wastes so much money on providing bus service in the suburbs and so few take advantage of it. When I do have to venture out into the sprawl, I am disheartened by the lack of riders on buses and trains.

It's a mentality that could be shifted if people like yourself actually started advocating change. Part of your job should be to suggest alternatives to people who may not be able to see beyond their own reasoning, not just to help patch a wound wrought by faulty logic.

One of my friends, who lives in Fairfax, recently came downtown for a hockey game. When he complained about trying to find parking near the MCI Center, I asked why he didn't take the Metro. His logic was that it was too cumbersome to drive to the station, find a parking place and take the long train ride into town.

The kicker, though, was that his biggest reason was that he enjoys listening to music while he drives. This mentality is what this region suffers from most: drivers who are married to their cars and unwilling to change. This, coupled with an explosion in the population, has led to the road rage that we hear about every week in your column.

The worst part is that there are better ways. There's so much of the city that could benefit from new residents with the means to help bring about real change. People who left for the suburbs could make a real difference in our urban core, increasing the demand for retail, city services and housing. It disgusts me that we have to fight for basic retail in the city such as grocery stores, when in the suburbs, the minute a town house development is approved, they line up to build the next strip mall.

If you continue to reward people for their commuting choices, Dr. Gridlock, and not suggest alternatives, then you are part of the problem.

Kevin M. Palmer
Washington

Dr. Gridlock responds:

It would be nifty if every wage-earner could walk to work. I heartily recommend it and salute you for achieving it, Mr. Palmer. And certainly some commuters could take a second look at public transit. (They no doubt will as our traffic congestion worsens). But instructing homeowners to move close to their work can mean hardships: Some can't afford to live inside the Beltway; some have two wage-earners and periodically change jobs— they can't afford to keep moving. The children form attachments to their schools. The farther out, the safer some feel. For me to suggest to the ladies in Leesburg and Calvert County to simply move closer to their jobs seems a bit too flip. Dr. Gridlock would like to hear from other commuters on this subject.
________________________

The more things don't change, the more they remain the same.