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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is about to get a lot less car friendly. Bowser has already started the process to install speed cameras throughout the city. We have less than a year to dial it back.

Not sure "enforcing the speed limit" means "a lot less car friendly." If you don't speed by more than 5 mph, you won't get a ticket.

Oh please. Not a single one of us drives below 25 mph at all times. So save that holier than thou bs. Speed cameras are a nuisance that don't make traffic better. In fact they make it more dangerous because people slam on the brakes right before approaching one. This isn't about safety. It's about revenue and treating the citizenry as a resource to be plundered. It's a solution in search of a problem.

You don't even have to drive under 25. Just drive under 35 and you don't get a ticket in a 25mph zone. I have zero sympathy for you.

Not sure what sympathy has to do with this. I am just as adept at not getting a ticket as everyone else. I'm also not a speed demon. I'm a normal regular citizen that thinks mass speed cameras, what is being proposed by Bowser, are a bad idea that do nothing to make streets safer while exponentially increasing government harrassment of regular citizens. It says a lot that you are trying to slander me instead of providing a substantive reason why widespread speed cameras would be a good public policy choice.

Well I'd prefer to have structural changes, like narrowing roads, removing lanes, building hard barriers, and things like that to slow people down. You good with that instead?

If you want to have that conversation then have that conversation. I do not want those things. Im sure some people like yourself do but am confident that a large majority do not but if I'm wrong about that then I would accept it. Can you say the same?

So you don't want speed cameras and you don't want to structurally change the roads, so you're ok with the status quo of many people dying and being injured every year?

It doesn't have to be that way, it's a choice that you are making.

Yes. I am ok with the status quo. The amount of people "dying and being injured every year" is not many and is demonstrably less than it has been in recent decades past. I am happy to have that public conversation and follow the will of the people though. It appears however that you are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is about to get a lot less car friendly. Bowser has already started the process to install speed cameras throughout the city. We have less than a year to dial it back.

Not sure "enforcing the speed limit" means "a lot less car friendly." If you don't speed by more than 5 mph, you won't get a ticket.

Oh please. Not a single one of us drives below 25 mph at all times. So save that holier than thou bs. Speed cameras are a nuisance that don't make traffic better. In fact they make it more dangerous because people slam on the brakes right before approaching one. This isn't about safety. It's about revenue and treating the citizenry as a resource to be plundered. It's a solution in search of a problem.

You don't even have to drive under 25. Just drive under 35 and you don't get a ticket in a 25mph zone. I have zero sympathy for you.

Not sure what sympathy has to do with this. I am just as adept at not getting a ticket as everyone else. I'm also not a speed demon. I'm a normal regular citizen that thinks mass speed cameras, what is being proposed by Bowser, are a bad idea that do nothing to make streets safer while exponentially increasing government harrassment of regular citizens. It says a lot that you are trying to slander me instead of providing a substantive reason why widespread speed cameras would be a good public policy choice.

Well I'd prefer to have structural changes, like narrowing roads, removing lanes, building hard barriers, and things like that to slow people down. You good with that instead?

If you want to have that conversation then have that conversation. I do not want those things. Im sure some people like yourself do but am confident that a large majority do not but if I'm wrong about that then I would accept it. Can you say the same?

So you don't want speed cameras and you don't want to structurally change the roads, so you're ok with the status quo of many people dying and being injured every year?

It doesn't have to be that way, it's a choice that you are making.

Yes. I am ok with the status quo. The amount of people "dying and being injured every year" is not many and is demonstrably less than it has been in recent decades past. I am happy to have that public conversation and follow the will of the people though. It appears however that you are not.

That's a pretty cold statement and not backed up by facts.

[Anonymous]

What's this with "the will of the people"? Do you think you're arguing with the Mayor??

Or are you suggesting that people should only advocate for what's supported by "the will of the people"? Very weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's this with "the will of the people"? Do you think you're arguing with the Mayor??

Or are you suggesting that people should only advocate for what's supported by "the will of the people"? Very weird.

No. I think that speed camera advocates are loudmouths trying to astroturf support using bs like traffic safety concerns to implement them. I think things are alright now and dont want the second and third order reprecussions of them to happen. Living together requires a balance. It's a solution in search of a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Instead we pour all our resources into bike lanes that almost no one even uses.

wrong, DC has one of the highest rates of bike commuters in the entire country. when everyone was actually into offices, up to 6% of daily commuters were using bikes. that is sginificant.

Why should 6 percent dictate things for the other 94 percent? The new lane patterns and lack of parking hurt downtown businesses plain and simple. Build more parking garages and take a page out of London's book with the commuter tax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is about to get a lot less car friendly. Bowser has already started the process to install speed cameras throughout the city. We have less than a year to dial it back.

The silent majority of non-bikers needs to support car-friendly candidates, particularly in the council. Bike lanes are not the only way to tackle environmental challenges. Drivers need to vote. Business owners need to vote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is about to get a lot less car friendly. Bowser has already started the process to install speed cameras throughout the city. We have less than a year to dial it back.

Not sure "enforcing the speed limit" means "a lot less car friendly." If you don't speed by more than 5 mph, you won't get a ticket.

Oh please. Not a single one of us drives below 25 mph at all times. So save that holier than thou bs. Speed cameras are a nuisance that don't make traffic better. In fact they make it more dangerous because people slam on the brakes right before approaching one. This isn't about safety. It's about revenue and treating the citizenry as a resource to be plundered. It's a solution in search of a problem.

You don't even have to drive under 25. Just drive under 35 and you don't get a ticket in a 25mph zone. I have zero sympathy for you.

Not sure what sympathy has to do with this. I am just as adept at not getting a ticket as everyone else. I'm also not a speed demon. I'm a normal regular citizen that thinks mass speed cameras, what is being proposed by Bowser, are a bad idea that do nothing to make streets safer while exponentially increasing government harrassment of regular citizens. It says a lot that you are trying to slander me instead of providing a substantive reason why widespread speed cameras would be a good public policy choice.

Well I'd prefer to have structural changes, like narrowing roads, removing lanes, building hard barriers, and things like that to slow people down. You good with that instead?

If you want to have that conversation then have that conversation. I do not want those things. Im sure some people like yourself do but am confident that a large majority do not but if I'm wrong about that then I would accept it. Can you say the same?

Agree. And what will happen when an ambulance or fire truck can't pass through the narrowed roads and hard barriers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Instead we pour all our resources into bike lanes that almost no one even uses.

wrong, DC has one of the highest rates of bike commuters in the entire country. when everyone was actually into offices, up to 6% of daily commuters were using bikes. that is sginificant.

Why should 6 percent dictate things for the other 94 percent? The new lane patterns and lack of parking hurt downtown businesses plain and simple. Build more parking garages and take a page out of London's book with the commuter tax.

What's the city doing that prevents the free market from producing an efficient quantity of garage parking?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is about to get a lot less car friendly. Bowser has already started the process to install speed cameras throughout the city. We have less than a year to dial it back.

Not sure "enforcing the speed limit" means "a lot less car friendly." If you don't speed by more than 5 mph, you won't get a ticket.

Oh please. Not a single one of us drives below 25 mph at all times. So save that holier than thou bs. Speed cameras are a nuisance that don't make traffic better. In fact they make it more dangerous because people slam on the brakes right before approaching one. This isn't about safety. It's about revenue and treating the citizenry as a resource to be plundered. It's a solution in search of a problem.

You don't even have to drive under 25. Just drive under 35 and you don't get a ticket in a 25mph zone. I have zero sympathy for you.

Not sure what sympathy has to do with this. I am just as adept at not getting a ticket as everyone else. I'm also not a speed demon. I'm a normal regular citizen that thinks mass speed cameras, what is being proposed by Bowser, are a bad idea that do nothing to make streets safer while exponentially increasing government harrassment of regular citizens. It says a lot that you are trying to slander me instead of providing a substantive reason why widespread speed cameras would be a good public policy choice.

Well I'd prefer to have structural changes, like narrowing roads, removing lanes, building hard barriers, and things like that to slow people down. You good with that instead?

If you want to have that conversation then have that conversation. I do not want those things. Im sure some people like yourself do but am confident that a large majority do not but if I'm wrong about that then I would accept it. Can you say the same?

So you don't want speed cameras and you don't want to structurally change the roads, so you're ok with the status quo of many people dying and being injured every year?

It doesn't have to be that way, it's a choice that you are making.

Yes. I am ok with the status quo. The amount of people "dying and being injured every year" is not many and is demonstrably less than it has been in recent decades past. I am happy to have that public conversation and follow the will of the people though. It appears however that you are not.

NP here. I agree drivers need to be safer and so do cyclists, quite frankly. I would support better enforcement of traffic rules in the form of police who actually pull people over and give them points on their license. Or pull over cyclists who commit traffic violations. Instead, we have robo cameras that don't change behavior apart from the two seconds people drive by one. How many people ever get pulled over for traffic violations?? Instead, we have a fleet of people dedicated to handing out parking tickets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Instead we pour all our resources into bike lanes that almost no one even uses.

wrong, DC has one of the highest rates of bike commuters in the entire country. when everyone was actually into offices, up to 6% of daily commuters were using bikes. that is sginificant.

Why should 6 percent dictate things for the other 94 percent? The new lane patterns and lack of parking hurt downtown businesses plain and simple. Build more parking garages and take a page out of London's book with the commuter tax.

The other 94% are not driving though. Not sure those statistics are from but there is no way that 94% of commuters drive because thousands of people take metro, bus, and walk. I take the bus and metro frequently and support road diets that reduce car volumes since it makes it safer for pedestrians and road diets can include bus lanes that speed up commutes for bus riders. As a pedestrian I am safer crossing a street with fewer car lanes and will get to my destination faster because light cycle can be shorter and better timed for pedestrians.

iOW it isn’t some weird bikes vs cars thing. Cities should be focusing on getting the most amount of people possible safety to their jobs and activities and everyone being in a car jus isn’t it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is about to get a lot less car friendly. Bowser has already started the process to install speed cameras throughout the city. We have less than a year to dial it back.

Not sure "enforcing the speed limit" means "a lot less car friendly." If you don't speed by more than 5 mph, you won't get a ticket.

Oh please. Not a single one of us drives below 25 mph at all times. So save that holier than thou bs. Speed cameras are a nuisance that don't make traffic better. In fact they make it more dangerous because people slam on the brakes right before approaching one. This isn't about safety. It's about revenue and treating the citizenry as a resource to be plundered. It's a solution in search of a problem.

You don't even have to drive under 25. Just drive under 35 and you don't get a ticket in a 25mph zone. I have zero sympathy for you.

Not sure what sympathy has to do with this. I am just as adept at not getting a ticket as everyone else. I'm also not a speed demon. I'm a normal regular citizen that thinks mass speed cameras, what is being proposed by Bowser, are a bad idea that do nothing to make streets safer while exponentially increasing government harrassment of regular citizens. It says a lot that you are trying to slander me instead of providing a substantive reason why widespread speed cameras would be a good public policy choice.

Well I'd prefer to have structural changes, like narrowing roads, removing lanes, building hard barriers, and things like that to slow people down. You good with that instead?

If you want to have that conversation then have that conversation. I do not want those things. Im sure some people like yourself do but am confident that a large majority do not but if I'm wrong about that then I would accept it. Can you say the same?

So you don't want speed cameras and you don't want to structurally change the roads, so you're ok with the status quo of many people dying and being injured every year?

It doesn't have to be that way, it's a choice that you are making.

Yes. I am ok with the status quo. The amount of people "dying and being injured every year" is not many and is demonstrably less than it has been in recent decades past. I am happy to have that public conversation and follow the will of the people though. It appears however that you are not.

That's a pretty cold statement and not backed up by facts.

Then you should have no problem pointing to sudden or recent increases in these statistics compared to the 80s and 90s on a population adjusted basis.

There is no groundswell of public support for street narrowing, speed bumps and speed cameras. The fact that these measures are being implemented behind people's backs shoud give everyone pause. In almost all these cases there's a small coterie of outspoken self-appointed busybodies trying to force their will on the majority through the backdoor while pretending that there is widespread support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is about to get a lot less car friendly. Bowser has already started the process to install speed cameras throughout the city. We have less than a year to dial it back.

Not sure "enforcing the speed limit" means "a lot less car friendly." If you don't speed by more than 5 mph, you won't get a ticket.

Oh please. Not a single one of us drives below 25 mph at all times. So save that holier than thou bs. Speed cameras are a nuisance that don't make traffic better. In fact they make it more dangerous because people slam on the brakes right before approaching one. This isn't about safety. It's about revenue and treating the citizenry as a resource to be plundered. It's a solution in search of a problem.

You don't even have to drive under 25. Just drive under 35 and you don't get a ticket in a 25mph zone. I have zero sympathy for you.

Not sure what sympathy has to do with this. I am just as adept at not getting a ticket as everyone else. I'm also not a speed demon. I'm a normal regular citizen that thinks mass speed cameras, what is being proposed by Bowser, are a bad idea that do nothing to make streets safer while exponentially increasing government harrassment of regular citizens. It says a lot that you are trying to slander me instead of providing a substantive reason why widespread speed cameras would be a good public policy choice.

Well I'd prefer to have structural changes, like narrowing roads, removing lanes, building hard barriers, and things like that to slow people down. You good with that instead?

If you want to have that conversation then have that conversation. I do not want those things. Im sure some people like yourself do but am confident that a large majority do not but if I'm wrong about that then I would accept it. Can you say the same?

So you don't want speed cameras and you don't want to structurally change the roads, so you're ok with the status quo of many people dying and being injured every year?

It doesn't have to be that way, it's a choice that you are making.

Yes. I am ok with the status quo. The amount of people "dying and being injured every year" is not many and is demonstrably less than it has been in recent decades past. I am happy to have that public conversation and follow the will of the people though. It appears however that you are not.

That's a pretty cold statement and not backed up by facts.

Then you should have no problem pointing to sudden or recent increases in these statistics compared to the 80s and 90s on a population adjusted basis.

There is no groundswell of public support for street narrowing, speed bumps and speed cameras. The fact that these measures are being implemented behind people's backs shoud give everyone pause. In almost all these cases there's a small coterie of outspoken self-appointed busybodies trying to force their will on the majority through the backdoor while pretending that there is widespread support.

If a majority of people don’t like what elected officials are doing, I’m sure they’ll be voted out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is about to get a lot less car friendly. Bowser has already started the process to install speed cameras throughout the city. We have less than a year to dial it back.

Not sure "enforcing the speed limit" means "a lot less car friendly." If you don't speed by more than 5 mph, you won't get a ticket.

Oh please. Not a single one of us drives below 25 mph at all times. So save that holier than thou bs. Speed cameras are a nuisance that don't make traffic better. In fact they make it more dangerous because people slam on the brakes right before approaching one. This isn't about safety. It's about revenue and treating the citizenry as a resource to be plundered. It's a solution in search of a problem.

You don't even have to drive under 25. Just drive under 35 and you don't get a ticket in a 25mph zone. I have zero sympathy for you.

Not sure what sympathy has to do with this. I am just as adept at not getting a ticket as everyone else. I'm also not a speed demon. I'm a normal regular citizen that thinks mass speed cameras, what is being proposed by Bowser, are a bad idea that do nothing to make streets safer while exponentially increasing government harrassment of regular citizens. It says a lot that you are trying to slander me instead of providing a substantive reason why widespread speed cameras would be a good public policy choice.

Well I'd prefer to have structural changes, like narrowing roads, removing lanes, building hard barriers, and things like that to slow people down. You good with that instead?

If you want to have that conversation then have that conversation. I do not want those things. Im sure some people like yourself do but am confident that a large majority do not but if I'm wrong about that then I would accept it. Can you say the same?

So you don't want speed cameras and you don't want to structurally change the roads, so you're ok with the status quo of many people dying and being injured every year?

It doesn't have to be that way, it's a choice that you are making.

Yes. I am ok with the status quo. The amount of people "dying and being injured every year" is not many and is demonstrably less than it has been in recent decades past. I am happy to have that public conversation and follow the will of the people though. It appears however that you are not.

That's a pretty cold statement and not backed up by facts.

Then you should have no problem pointing to sudden or recent increases in these statistics compared to the 80s and 90s on a population adjusted basis.

There is no groundswell of public support for street narrowing, speed bumps and speed cameras. The fact that these measures are being implemented behind people's backs shoud give everyone pause. In almost all these cases there's a small coterie of outspoken self-appointed busybodies trying to force their will on the majority through the backdoor while pretending that there is widespread support.

If a majority of people don’t like what elected officials are doing, I’m sure they’ll be voted out.

It's not being done in public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Instead we pour all our resources into bike lanes that almost no one even uses.

wrong, DC has one of the highest rates of bike commuters in the entire country. when everyone was actually into offices, up to 6% of daily commuters were using bikes. that is sginificant.

Why should 6 percent dictate things for the other 94 percent? The new lane patterns and lack of parking hurt downtown businesses plain and simple. Build more parking garages and take a page out of London's book with the commuter tax.

The other 94 percent are not all driving personal cars to work -- and besides, even if you think bikes are silly, on-street parking is a terribly inefficient use of space, since by definition each parking space can only be used for one car at a time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Instead we pour all our resources into bike lanes that almost no one even uses.

wrong, DC has one of the highest rates of bike commuters in the entire country. when everyone was actually into offices, up to 6% of daily commuters were using bikes. that is sginificant.

Why should 6 percent dictate things for the other 94 percent? The new lane patterns and lack of parking hurt downtown businesses plain and simple. Build more parking garages and take a page out of London's book with the commuter tax.

Maybe there are people who are part of what you are calling the 94% who feel that way because they don't perceive biking as a safe alternative. Imagine how much smoother YOUR driving and parkign would be if instead of 94% it was 85% or 70%