D.C. needs to get a lot more car friendly

[Anonymous]

If the subway is going to be unusable, and everyone is fine with that, then we need to accommodate people where they are -- in cars.

There are going to be far more people on the roads and that means we need a lot more parking, more emphasis on easing traffic, etc. Ridership on the subway is down 75 percent from pre-pandemic levels.

I didnt used to drive all that much, but now with the subway basically in moth balls, I drive everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Yep, nobody wants to take public trans anymore. I work with families in Ward 7 and can't give away Smartrip cards. The demand is for gas cards, or Uber/Lyft cards.

[Anonymous]

We need to make metro free, that’s its only hope.

[Anonymous]

Lol it doesn't work that way. There is literally no way to accommodate everyone in this area driving even with a major investment in roads and infrastructure. It is not possible. You'd have to build 20 story parking towers in all the commercial districts. You'd have to eliminate street parking because you'd need the road space for moving vehicles, and then you'd have to find somewhere to park all the cars. You'd have to turn the entire mall into a parking structure.

All this does is kick the can down the road. The only way to facilitate all these people is public transportation. Even extremely car-dependent cities like Los Angeles have extensive public transportation systems because you HAVE to have them. People like to pretend no one takes public transportation in LA because they don't know any working class people, but the bus system in LA is packed daily and it's the way many people commute to work and school.

Sorry, but you will never have an easy car commute in this area, with affordable parking. Unless everyone moves away. In which case your commute to your non-existent job will be a breeze.

[Anonymous]

I think we should do the opposite. Discourage car use. I am serious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we should do the opposite. Discourage car use. I am serious.

My lungs and I agree with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we should do the opposite. Discourage car use. I am serious.

100% agree
-- bike commuter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we should do the opposite. Discourage car use. I am serious.

100% agree
-- bike commuter

+1 also agree. Commuter tax to fund and improve Metro!

[Anonymous]

Because that has worked so well for LA and Houston.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think there’s *space* for more car friendliness. Do you want to replace the national mall with parking lots?

[Anonymous]

Especially if the freedom convoy is headed to DC.

[Anonymous]

What would more car friendliness look like, specifically? Where is the parking being built? What's being done to "ease traffic"?

[Anonymous]

D.C. used to be a lot more car-friendly, at least when it came to parking — tons of big surface parking lots downtown, especially in areas near where the 1968 riots left damage. The city was ... not necessarily better off that way.

I don't know how you'd propose to add all that parking back now without tearing down buildings, which doesn't seem like a particularly good plan.

The best way to ease traffic is to make less of it. And in terms of bang for the buck, you'd do a lot better taking whatever money you're suggesting here should go toward making an already car-friendly city more car-friendly and instead putting into improving Metro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lol it doesn't work that way. There is literally no way to accommodate everyone in this area driving even with a major investment in roads and infrastructure. It is not possible. You'd have to build 20 story parking towers in all the commercial districts. You'd have to eliminate street parking because you'd need the road space for moving vehicles, and then you'd have to find somewhere to park all the cars. You'd have to turn the entire mall into a parking structure.

All this does is kick the can down the road. The only way to facilitate all these people is public transportation. Even extremely car-dependent cities like Los Angeles have extensive public transportation systems because you HAVE to have them. People like to pretend no one takes public transportation in LA because they don't know any working class people, but the bus system in LA is packed daily and it's the way many people commute to work and school.

Sorry, but you will never have an easy car commute in this area, with affordable parking. Unless everyone moves away. In which case your commute to your non-existent job will be a breeze.

+1 well said

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we should do the opposite. Discourage car use. I am serious.

100% agree
-- bike commuter

+1 also agree. Commuter tax to fund and improve Metro!

Absolutely. Along with cutting off all but non-emergency/non-disabled private cars on downtown arteries, a la Slow Streets in San Francisco.