Reply to S/O What should MoCo do about parking in downtown Bethesda

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm not sure anyone thinks parking will be banned or substantially reduced.  But, based on the thread you mentioned, there are at least some people who think it should be because every should/will take the bus, bike, or walk.[/quote]

That thread went down a rabbit hole because one person wanted parking FOR METRO RIDERS because of her personal issues, and someone else pushed back against autocentrism in general.  I don't think either actually mentioned any particular policy proposals.

It is a fact that garage entrances across sidewalks are a deterrent to comfortable walking, and can be a real safety issue for bike lanes.  Its also certain that garages will exist for visitors (again, no policy to even ban them for new buildings in Bethesda, that I am aware of, much less getting rid of existing ones except as the market redevelops them) but better if they are not used by metro commuters. Not sure the policies to achieve that - municipal garages with good short term rates but no long term parking maybe?[/quote]

I don't think anyone was advocating for parking for metro riders specifically like the wmata lots further out.  Rather, she was saying there was nothing wrong with people driving into Bethesda to use the metro.  As is, there are lots of private lots people use, at least in part, for those purposes.[/quote]

OP of this thread here

I don't believe in shaming people for their personal choices, given the options made available to them.  I mean its great if someone chooses to do something personally inconvenient to save the planet, whether that is choosing an alternative means of travel even when handy and affordable parking is available, or choosing to grow vegetables in your garden when its not that easy, or going composting, or whatever. But I don't think that is how we change our communities much less save the planet - we do so by policy changes.

That is why I tried to make this about policy.  If there is no policy change at issue, there is not much more to say.  I thought maybe there is a question either about management of the County garages, or about parking minimums/maximums at private developments.

Also I wonder if there are initiatives to improve bus service into downtown Bethesda (I know about the Purple Line of course) - ISTR a BRT line on Rockville Pike as part of the County BRT plan?  But sounds like that wouldnt help the individual in question.  I mention because this is a spin off of a thread about Alexandria where there is more bus service, and consideration to increasing that. [/quote]

We are frying our planet right now, potentially impacting its ability to sustain the number of people living on it and we used to think these were year 2100 issues it now appears these maybe year 2050 issues.

[b]So I've got no trouble shaming people about how much carbon they are responsible for.[/b]

As to the question at hand Bethesda is very well served by buses.

The problem is the bus routes are not well thought or or efficient.

Most of the ride on buses run on convoluted routes through very congested areas instead of on more efficient direct routes.  It is great that some of these routes hit lots of corners and neighborhoods but when it takes 40 minutes to go from Bethesda to Wheaton in an affluent area the only people you are going to get taking these buses are lower income folks who have no alternatives.

So because they are slow, and also because the routes don't make a lot of sense (zigzagging on and off the main routes rather than running on them in a straight line) some people who would otherwise use the buses don't.

Something like what DC does with the circulator routes might make sense during the AM/PM rush hour - buses running reliably every 10 minutes along a logical route.  When you are transferring from Metrorail and you just miss a bus that runs every 20 minutes it just kills ridership, especially this time of year.

It would also help a great deal if all of the jurisdictions made the bus free when you are transferring to and from Metrorail instead of being an additional charge.

I also think Montgomery County needs to find some ways to enable the buses to not have to come off the main roads and loop through the stations - there are a number of routes that serve but don't begin or end at the Bethesda station but all of those buses have to go through the station which adds 4-5 minutes to each route - find a way for those buses to stay on Wisconsin Avenue and just pull in and out of the bus stops.  Same thing with the Medical Center Stop and Silver Spring.[/quote]

I do plenty to limit my carbon emissions and I contribute (monetarily and time) to organizations involved in related efforts.

But I feel absolutely zero guilt and will not be remotely shamed for my 8 minute drive into Bethesda rather than taking a bus that would add at least 20 minutes to my commute each way, often more if I miss the bus and have to wait for the next one.  (The app is helpful, but in addition to not always being accurate, I don't always have complete control over when I am able to be at the bus stop, so it doesn't solve all the problems of only every 30 minutes.)

The emissions from such a very short ride is negligible and I am sure there are many things that you do that have as much or impact on the environment.[/quote]

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