Moronic beliefs

Moran addresses press conference with Washington regional delegation to announce $150 million for Metro in the FY10 Transportation Appropriations bill. Pictured from left to right: Rep. Gerry Connolly, D.C. Councilman Jim Graham, Rep. Frank Wolf, Rep. Jim Moran, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Rep. Donna Edwards. From the Congressman Moran website.

I try not to say bad things about the Congresspeople representing Virginia and Maryland districts because we need them to be kind to DC. And I've met Congressman James Moran, who represents Alexandria and Arlington, although it was years ago, and he wouldn't remember me.

But it is moronic to suggest that DC add lanes to the 14th Street bridge or tear down 14th Street buildings in order to add lanes so that more Virginians can drive into the city. See the WTOP interview with Congressman Moran by Mark Segraves, "Va. congressman upset at D.C.'s lack of communication." From the article:

As Virginia works to add hot lanes to I-95 and 395, Virginia Congressman Jim Moran says HOT lanes wont end the rush hour congestion if the District doesn't do its part.

"Once they get to D.C. it stops, so what D.C. should do is widen 14th Street Bridge, widen 14th Street and get some of the revenue that's coming from these HOT lanes," he said. "We've suggested it time and time again and they just won't listen, let alone act on it."

Now HOT lanes don't really reduce congestion, it is a financing mechanism to build new lanes of highways given limited budgets. Also see "Arlington Sues to Stop HOT Lanes on I-395/95" from the Post. And of course, writings on the concept of induced demand, that when more highway lanes are added, people take more trips, quickly "using up" the increase in capacity, negating substantive congestion reductions. (HOT lanes, or high occupancy toll lanes are popular amongst people advocating for privatization of roadways and other public infrastructure.)

This is a troublesome sentiment similar to that expressed by Post Metro columnist Robert McCartney in his inaugural column, when he wrote that one of the biggest problems in the region is that DC and Maryland aren't building more freeway lanes:

Of course, traffic congestion is the top example of this problem. Political gridlock leads to the highway variety. Consider this: Starting in three years, parts of the Beltway and I-395 in Virginia will be widened with the opening of newfangled toll lanes where you pay more when traffic is heaviest. Maryland and the District, however, aren't yet planning to add similar lanes on their sides of the American Legion and 14th Street bridges. Sound like a recipe for more bottlenecks?

The real problem is a lack of basic mathematical comprehension. The optimal capacity for one mile lane of freeway is 1,600 vehicles (more can be accommodated but with a greater likelihood of failure). No matter how many lanes you build for cars, it's a very inefficient way to move around.

Why is it that Virginia legislators believe in WMATA expansion in the suburbs to reduce congestion (see "Prince William Democrats Push Proposal to Extend Metro to Traffic-Snarled Area: Lawmakers Push Transit Extension" from the Post) while advocating not for transit expansion in DC to reduce congestion, but for more roadways?

This reminds me of the saying about Mexico: "Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States."

DC has it bad enough with its own lack of leadership, let alone all the "help" it gets from various Congresspeople whether they are from Virginia or Maryland, or elsewhere in the country.

I joke that DC has 537 mayors: the elected Mayor of DC; the President of the United States; 435 members of the House of Representatives; and 100 Senators.

Collectively they are "the gang that can't govern straight."

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But given that Arlington County is so progressive on transportation policy, maybe they need to step up and have someone run against Congressman Moran, in order to better represent their perspective on transportation policy at the national level, and within the policy agenda of their own Congressman.