Codifying the complementary transit network improvements and planning initiatives recommended in the Purple Line writings
The previous entry, "Revisiting the Purple Line light rail project in Suburban Maryland | the tunnel in Bethesda for the Capital Crescent Trail," mentions the various recommendations from past Purple Line writings. It's useful to codify them into a single list.
-- Setting the stage for the Purple Line light rail line to be an overwhelming success: Part 1 | simultaneously introduce improvements to other elements of the transit network (2017)
-- Part 2 | the program (macro changes) (2017)
-- Part 3 | influences (2017)
-- Part 4 | Making over New Carrollton as a transit-centric urban center and Prince George's County's "New Downtown" (2017, originally 2014)
-- PL #5: Creating a Silver Spring "Sustainable Mobility District"
-- Part 6 | Creating a transportation development authority in Montgomery and Prince George's County to effectuate placemaking, retail development, and housing programs in association with the Purple Line (2017)
-- Part 7 | Using the Purple Line to rebrand Montgomery and Prince George's Counties as Design Forward (2017)
-- Revisiting the Purple Line article series after one year: Part 1 | a couple of baby steps (2018)
-- Revisiting the Purple Line (series) and a more complete program of complementary improvements to the transit network (2019)
Complementary Washington metropolitan area transit network improvement program in association with the construction of the Purple Line light rail line in Montgomery and Prince George's Counties, Maryland
1. Change the WMATA Metrorail map so that it includes the Purple Line and regional railroad services. (This is likely to happen without any recommendation from me.)
2. Integrate the Purple Line light rail line into the Metrorail fare system. (This is likely to happen without any recommendation from me.)
3. Integrate MARC fares into the SmarTrip/ CharmCard fare media system. I should have mentioned this for VRE too.
4. Introduce bi-directional passenger rail service between DC and Frederick on the MARC Brunswick Line.
5. Consider charging DC-Montgomery County trips on a bi-directional Brunswick Line using the Metrorail/Purple Line tolling/fare schedule. That would treat mileage from railroad trips in the context of a complete (linked) trip on railroad+subway+light rail as a single fare.
6. The White Flint Sector Plan calls for an infill MARC station. Plans to build that station should be accelerated as part of this proposal.
7. Build an infill train station in DC on the Penn Line, serving the New York Avenue corridor. [Note: this recommendation was added to this list on 8/2/2017, with the subsequent renumbering of the following entries.]
8. Provide integrated train arrival information screens at Metrorail, Light Rail, and MARC stations.
9. Provide integrated bus arrival and departure information screens at Metrorail, Light Rail, and MARC stations.
10. Bus service in certain corridors between DC and Maryland should be extended and/or frequency increased to better link these areas to the new light rail service.
11. Montgomery County bus system improvements with the launch of the Purple Line and bi-directional service on the MARC Brunswick Line should include launch of planned Bus Rapid Transit services.
12. Rearticulate, rebrand, and reposition-extend the Prince George's County TheBus bus transit service. Change the name of the service and the graphic design of the bus livery.
13. Consider a redesign and rebranding of the the metropolitan area's bus systems into an integrated framework, comparable to that of GoTransit in the Raleigh-Durham area. (I would drop #12 in favor of this item.)
14. Set the opening of the Purple Line as the deadline for the integration of the MARC Penn Line and VRE Fredericksburg Line into one combined railroad passenger service.
15. Set the opening of the Purple Line as the deadline for the implementation of a full-fledged integrated Night Owl bus network for the DC metropolitan area.
16. Create a cheap weekend pass to use the local transit network, especially Metrorail. (Ridership drops have forced WMATA to start doing this already. The model is Melbourne. But NYC Transit is introducing weekly fare capping, something London Underground has done for many years.)
17. Incorporate quantum improvements in bicycle facilities across the mobility network in association with the launch of the Purple Line. This should include the issue of how the Capital Crescent Trail crosses Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda ("Revisiting the Purple Line light rail project in Suburban Maryland | the tunnel in Bethesda for the Capital Crescent Trail").
18. Rearticulate transportation demand management programming and services in conjunction with the PL launch, including a single network of "customer information centers." (Also see "LimeBike and "scooter lifestyle stores" as an example of forward marketing for sustainable mobility," 2018).
19. WMATA should upgrade its bus shelters at Metrorail stations. (I think this is happening a bit.)
20. Create "sustainable mobility" corridors in Silver Spring (and other places), complementing the new PL. Fenton and Wayne Avenue in Silver Spring were mentioned. New Hampshire Avenue should have been mentioned, and definitely University Boulevard, among others.
Ideas added in 2019:
21. Create intra-district shuttle services within the catchment area of the individual light rail stations to get people to and from light rail stations without having to drive.
22. Create an inter-city bus waiting station through an extension to the ground level of the Silver Spring Transit Center.
Community Development Planning
1. Create a transportation development authority in Montgomery and Prince George's County to effectuate placemaking, retail development, and housing programs in association with the Purple Line.
2. Reposition Silver Spring as an innovation and sustainable mobility district. (The separate series of articles on Silver Spring fleshes this out.)
3. Reposition New Carrollton as a transit-centric urban center and Prince George's County's "New Downtown". (The separate article on New Carrollton fleshes this out.)
4. Use the Purple Line as an opportunity to rebrand Montgomery and Prince George's Counties as Design Forward. (The separate article fleshes this out.)
5. The opportunity to build broader hubs is likely missed | New Carrollton as an example of falling flat on leveraging transit infrastructure to drive broader improvements. #4 in the series, "Making over New Carrollton as a transit-centric urban center and Prince George's County's "New Downtown"," is but a slight revision of a piece I first wrote in 2014. (2019)
I just happened across a January 2019 piece, "Missing a great chance to create a transit hub: New Carrollton," by Alex Block/City Block, which addresses this in a more detailed way in terms of the connections between the different modes, as well as leveraging the urban design elements.
Transportation Planning
1. Expansion planning for the Purple Line on the south. (2019)
2. Expansion planning for the Purple Line on the north. (2019)
The idea behind the original Purple Line series was coming up with a list of complementary transit network improvements that are rider facing. Longer range transportation planning type recommendations were outside of that framework. But should be included in an overall list.
3. New vehicles for Baltimore Light Rail. Similarly, why not use new light rail vehicles for the Purple Line as a way to upgrade light rail in Baltimore. (2019)
4. Baltimore should do transit expansion planning too ("Transit agenda for Greater Baltimore," 2021).
5. Adding a new MARC service to the I-270 corridor. ("Washington Post letter to the editor on repair-related closure of Rockville and Shady Grove Stations and corridor management," 2021).
Silver Spring recommendations
-- PL #5: Creating a Silver Spring "Sustainable Mobility District"
- Part 1: Setting the stage
- Part 2: Program items 1- 9
- Part 3: Program items 10-18
- Part 4: Conclusion
- Map for the Silver Spring Sustainable Mobility District
- (Big Hairy) Projects Action Plan(s) as an element of Comprehensive/Master Plans
- Creating the Silver Spring/Montgomery County Arena and Recreation Center
1. Make Fenton Street the primary "east side" sustainable mobility corridor -- a "Signature Street" -- in Downtown Silver Spring/Silver Spring Triangle.
Note that in the 2019 update, I realized that I should have suggested some pedestrianizing (but still with transit) of Fenton Street, at a minimum from Colesville Road to Wayne Avenue. Bus access would still be maintained.
2. Make East-West Highway the primary sustainable mobility corridor on the "west side" of the Silver Spring Triangle.
3. Create a cycletrack network on Fenton Street and East-West Highway. (Separately, MCDOT has created a set of ring road cycletracks, but I think they are misguided. "Revisiting the cycletrack element of my Silver Spring mobility and innovation district concept," 2017.)
4. Create a network of pedestrian scramble intersections, where one designated signal phase is exclusively for pedestrians.
5. Rearticulate parking services on Fenton Street/across the Silver Spring Triangle to accommodate cycletracks/removal of street parking.
6. Incorporate greenspace improvements on Wayne Avenue between Fenton Street and Sligo Creek Parkway, treating Wayne Avenue as a "Parkway."
7. Extension of the public realm network through a small "road diet" program.
8. Create and implement a complementary set of urban design treatments.
9. Create and implement a more wide ranging set of programming (in the area's public spaces, also see "The layering effect: how the building blocks of an integrated public realm set the stage for community building and Silver Spring, Maryland as an example," 2012, and "Planning programming by daypart, month, season: and Boston Winter Garden, DC's Holiday Market, etc.," 2016).
10. Create a digital community and transit information network for Silver Spring, employing kiosks and mobile applications. (This should be extended across the Purple Line network, just as Kansas City used the streetcar as a way to leverage the creation of "Smart City" elements.)
11. Creating the Silver Spring/Montgomery County Arena and Recreation Center. (This is also subject of a separate entry, "Creating the Silver Spring/Montgomery County Arena and Recreation Center").
12. Developing the Silver Spring Triangle as a "Bike Friendly Community District.
13. Designate Silver Spring as a pilot node in the development of a DC-area "Parkiteer" secure bike parking network. (#12 and #13 are more focused examples of general recommendation #17 Incorporate quantum improvements in bicycle facilities across the mobility network in association with the launch of the Purple Line).
14. Bring Car2Go one way car sharing to Silver Spring. (This service no longer exists, but Free2Move does, so the recommendation still pertains).
15. Create a district-wide retail development and recruitment program. (Separately they're creating a business improvement district, but it's underpowered compared to this set of recommendations. I am not as big as Montgomery County is on outsourcing to the private sector economic development programming.)
16. Positioning Silver Spring as an innovation district and/or an Ecodistrict. Montgomery County could pioneer the concept of "Smart Suburbs." (There are 16,400 hits on a Google search with that term.)
17. Expand business innovation, through expanded start up support and development activities, and a larger scale makerspace.
18. Assess branding-identity and retune marketing. (This is related to the issues raised in "Part 7 | Using the Purple Line to rebrand Montgomery and Prince George's Counties as Design Forward").
Ideas added in 2019
19. Extend the Ellsworth Avenue Pedestrian Mall to the Metrorail Station ("Making "Downtown Silver Spring" a true open air shopping district by adding department stores, 2018").
20. Add an Upper level exit from the Silver Spring Metrorail Platform.
21. Add at least one children's playground to the urban core. (This is related to #9, but separate.)
22. Create an inter-city bus waiting station through an extension to the ground level of the Silver Spring Transit Center. (This is also #22 in the general list.)
Labels: bicycle and pedestrian planning, suburban revitalization, transit networks, transportation infrastructure, transportation planning, urban design/placemaking, urban revitalization
posted by Richard Layman @ 3:28 PM&Permanent Link
11 Comments:
I think this piece is a great example of "systems thinking" as applied to a local problem.
No question on on the expert level, no a popular approach. Lots of siloed thinking.
On a political side-- in the broadest sense -- it is hard to get people thinking something like the Purple line will change their lives. I'm guilty of that as well. I hear purple line and don't care as I never will do to any of those areas on a regular basis. The only change I really see is the indian grocery stores in Langely park might close and move.
COG should be doing system think.
I guess I think about this as:
the average person isn't going to think like this so it is the job of planners and elected officials to think like this. (And I think like this anyway.)
But elected officials really don't think like this, so planners aren't empowered to do so. (Suzanne got me to realize that elected officials don't think about the future, but about the here and now. And a former elected official said to me once -- "it's not a seminar. People got elected and think that means they know everything already.")
COG planners (not TPB) do dome of this but it's pretty esoteric, hard for people to relate to, and certainly it doesn't impact the elected officials.
Mendelson was a vice chair of COG. Was Bowser? Bowser was on the WMATA Board. They're no more enlightened seemingly, but maybe they're just resigned? (But I don't think that's it. My experience is that elected officials tend to not be drawn from people who think in systems terms.)
I asked a DC planner once why the people at DCOP didn't seem particularly oriented to better practice. He said after frequent rebuffs people stop trying. (But even so, I can't say as I became more knowledgeable that I was ever blown away by something proposed by DC planners at any agency.)
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Wrt Langley Park and Indian stores -- I never really went, but regularly frequented MegaMart (and miss it, it's cheaper than Rancho here, but Rancho does also carry Mediterranean foods) ...
This is a big omission. I kinda take for granted that there need to be business retention programs.
But it should have been listed as a point, except it's not transit. So it should have been a standalone piece.
(When I first started blogging I read a piece in the Seattle Times about how they were thinking about this because of the coming of light rail, and it was years before.
https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive?date=20050729&slug=pacificpmlking31
)
The other reason I let it slide is because the "CDC" there (in " because it is a CDC in name, not in capacity) always lamented/said the property owners were satisfied with the way things are because everything is 100% leased and that's why the stakeholders could never get traction for improvements. ***
But I should have been smarter than that, given the impact of transit on proximate land. Union Market is a perfect example. H Street and the streetcar too.
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*** David Milder writes about business recruitment in commercial districts targeting low income consumers. Prince Gweorge's Plaza is a perfect example of this. I joked -- H Street has changed a lot since -- that it was an enclosed, air conditioned H Street.
https://www.ndavidmilder.com/downtown-revitalization/business-recruitment-book
Milder is great!
I almost did an engagement with him. He wanted to bid on the Golden Triangle business development plan. BUT he wanted to do it also with Dan Biederman !!!!!! (who runs Bryant Park but is allowed to do side consulting), but Dan ended up not being able to commit, so David dropped the bid.
Damn.
offtopic:
I am just blown away by the richness of the grocery scene here. I don't understand it.
SLC is a bit more than 2/7 of the population of DC. SL County is less than 2/3 of the population of DC + Montgomery County, and maybe the same size as what we might consider the most relevant population, that is DC + MoCO + PGC but within the Beltway and just outside of it.
There are at least 3 major Asian markets within about 5 miles. Not like H Mart, sure, smaller, but still pretty good. A bunch of Indian markets (although I don't really go to them). Two Middle Eastern markets, although that's more like 7 miles, although we've only been to one of them.
Smiths and 3 Associated Food Stores banners (3 stores within 2ish miles, all different banners--Dan's, Fresh Market, Macey's) -- both like Safeway or Giant.
Harmons an upscale grocer with no equivalent in the DC area. There are three within 5 miles, all of different sizes (another a couple miles further, and again, a smaller upscale store).
Rancho for Latino foods. Sprouts and Natural Grocer -- health chains, Sprouts in particular is great priced for produce.
Sure TJ and Whole Foods, Walmart, Target (don't go there for food, except if we're in there for something else, and that's rare, except their the only place that sells the particular brand of laundry detergent we buy). A foodservice store open to the public that I go to roughly monthly (don't need to pay a membership). A small scale specialty store like Glen's (he knows Danielle, the proprietor of Glen's), where we get bagels from Brooklyn, maybe 1.5 miles away (I'm still not good at estimating how far things are because the blocks are so big).
your point about Langley Park, for different reasons is extendable to Wheaton. As the county pours resources into it and the commercial core intensifies, the independent businesses will go away as the independently properties that once housed them are bought, consolidated, and redeveloped.
Maybe 17-18 years ago the UMD planning program studio class did a study on this as it related to Silver Spring. It's not been online for a long time and the last time I tried to track it down I wasn't able to.
Ahh, but this time I found it:
https://web.archive.org/web/20070418121119/http://www.arch.umd.edu/URSP/Research/student/Small_Business_in_Silver_Spring.pdf
"MINIMIZING SMALL BUSINESS DISPLACEMENT
IN A REVITALIZATION ZONE"
It's too bad that I didn't learn earlier enough that it was always good to include a full URL in an entry, so as to be able to do archive.org tracking in the future if the page was no longer maintained.
https://www.ocregister.com/2022/02/09/santa-ana-merchants-protest-the-fallout-from-trolley-construction/
Again, off topic, did you see a nonprofit is looking to buy Shaker Square. I hadn't kept up since the previous revitalization proposal.
https://www.cleveland.com/community/2022/02/local-nonprofits-bid-to-acquire-shaker-square-back-on-table-with-meter-running.html
Interesting.
... and, I just got appointed to the board of the Sugar House Park Authority. They have some really interesting capital planning, fundraising, and programming issues. And incredible views (but bext to I 80). Nonprofit owned, funded by city and county, so both can ignore it. Operated by the county on contract.
Glad you are getting more involved in SLC.
in the DC area, Safeway/Giant were so entrenched that I think they kept of lot of competition out Starting cracking 20 years ago with Harris Teeter.
But there is a tie into quality of food store and local control/ownership. WFM has tanked under Amazon.
off topic:
https://www.slowboring.com/p/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and?r=cfj8
Did not know about the Shaker Square thing.
I'm not muring losing Indian stores in Langely will be the much of a loss. Likewise losing all the Vietnamese restaurants in Clarendon. I think the issue is when you get a new building and a new loan the bank requires certain classes of tenant and low cost immigrant storefronts are not included.
Yep. And that's a loss that should be addressed. Just like with housing. Which is why I'll do a post. The Silver Spring entry mentions this although I said recruitment and development but not retention. It should be extended across the corridor. But the mix will change as the residents will change. And as the type of property owner changes. Just as it did on H Street.
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2022/06/15/larry-hogan-purple-line-fiasco/
"No Way to Build a Railroad: Maryland’s outgoing GOP Governor Larry Hogan is eyeing a 2024 run for president. He is also leaving behind a mass transit mess"
12. Rearticulate, rebrand, and reposition-extend the Prince George's County TheBus bus transit service. Change the name of the service and the graphic design of the bus livery.
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Prince George's County is improving their bus system.
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/greater-reliability-changes-coming-to-prince-georges-county-bus-system/3456917/
10/30/23
Including electric buses, the PGC Connect app, with real time information on bus arrival, amenities on the buses including USB charging and digital screens communicating information, and changes to routes and scheduling to improve efficiency.
https://www.princegeorgescountymd.gov/departments-offices/news-events/news/prince-georges-county-celebrates-official-launch-transit-transformation-proud-priority-event
Transit Vision Plan (TVP): Aims to comprehensively review the current transit system (paratransit, T-transit, and bus network) and provide recommendations to improve transit service throughout Prince George’s County over the next five years. The plan will be completed by Summer 2024.
Transit Forward: A new and innovative approach analyzing the quality, effectiveness, and delivery of TheBus services. Using data and community feedback, the County is moving transit forward by prioritizing the performance of the services we provide. The approach is designed to evaluate operational processes, transit facilities and amenities, and the customer experience.
Zero-Emission Bus (ZEB): Prince Georgians deserve cleaner air, quieter buses, and improved energy infrastructure. The County is excited to transition nearly 70% of the fleet to zero emissions by 2035 and 100% by 2040. Transitioning to zero-emission requires the County to invest in green, resilient energy resources while updating facilities and infrastructure. ZEB ties into core values of equity and sustainability.
Service Changes: The service change process allows DPW&T to assess transit services bi-annually. Following a data-focused approach and a deep look at transit operations, the Department will implement a major fall service change in December 2023. The transit service changes include maximized travel time savings and improved quality of service for customers.
https://pgc-transit-transformation-princegeorges.hub.arcgis.com/
12. Rearticulate, rebrand, and reposition-extend the Prince George's County TheBus bus transit service. Change the name of the service and the graphic design of the bus livery.
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Prince George's County is improving their bus system.
https://ggwash.org/view/93148/prince-georges-has-ambitious-transit-plans-but-theyre-threatened-by-a-lack-of-funding
Prince George’s has ambitious transit plans, but they’re threatened by a lack of funding
4/2/24
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