Author | Lightnews

Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · 22d

That's what I'm sayin

Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · 22d

someone should do a story on why the TRAIN commission and DMVMoves (two efforts to figure out how to fund WMATA properly) have both been huge failures @bannermoco.bsky.social

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · 22d

Literally why is the heat on in Wheaton Metro station 😭 or is it simply hotter because it's so much closer to the Earth's core

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 20

No that's a fair point to be made — the politics of these decisions are often discounted. It's not just about numbers.

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 20

I doubt it's perfect anywhere, but there are plenty of places able to go into their capital infrastructure projects much more clear-eyed about whether the costs are worth the benefit than the U.S. does

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 20

I think it's possible to have a much more perfect CBA of transit projects. Plenty of other countries are able to budget for a project and then deliver it on-budget. This is the goal, and I hope the Purple Line will help the U.S. figure out what's currently broken so that we can someday get there.

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 19

of course there's a price threshold at which the Purple Line wouldn't have been worth it. but the question is when did the public know that it was going to reach that point, and could the project even be stopped at that point anyways

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 19

*BRT

Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 19

given what we know about how successful it's been versus the projected costs, I think a much better course of action would be frequent express bus service on all planned BRR routes and, in certain places, conversion of existing lanes to bus lanes rather than try to acquire so much land

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 19

I think a better set of projects to look at is the Montgomery County bus rapid transit plan. because that's a larger set of projects, we can look at how successful it's been so far and then adjust whether we think it's correct to continue that course in the future. personally, I don't think it is

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 19

every time I walk across the ped bridge to Metro, I dream that the bridge directly connected with the platform instead of making people walk down and then back up again. It's not a great design to say the least

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 19

and that question is one that there wasn't a lot of information to use to answer. the opportunity for advocates to get involved at that point was not very clear.

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 19

I'm not saying that it's priceless. I'm saying that there was no way for advocates to adjust their support of the project because it was already so far underway. It was not a question of whether to support the project at that point, but how to deal with the situation we found ourselves in.

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 19

Do you mean the stairs up to the pedestrian bridge?

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 19

We know that we need to build (a lot) more projects like the Purple Line if we are going to beat traffic in growing places and fight climate change. But we need to figure out how to do it in a way that is fiscally responsible and delivers projects fast.

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 19

How can we better understand transportation projects' costs before awarding contracts? (which is a problem w/ both highways & transit btw) How can we improve the process to reduce cost overruns? How do we create processes so that projects that will bring good do not cost us so much?

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 19

Even if the true cost would have changed Purple Line supporters' minds back before it started, what does that matter now? They didn't know, and the og merits of the project still stand.

The real question now is, how does this experience affect future transit projects?

I Hate Politics Podcast @ihppod.bsky.social · Sep 19

when the cost of the project was $3 billion have over these long years and cost escalations, not abandoned their original support for the project. The latest price-tag $12b. Does this suggest that for support for large infrastructure projects is not cost-sensitive? But is driven by other factors?

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Reposted by Jane Lyons-Raeder

The Banner Montgomery @bannermoco.bsky.social · Sep 17

Montgomery County residents want more leadership on housing, Banner poll suggests

Poll: Montgomery County residents want more leadership on housing

In a poll commissioned by The Banner, more than eight in 10 respondents said that the county’s lack of affordable housing is a problem.

buff.ly

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 16

decompressed from an awesome first time at @yimbytown.bsky.social by reprising last night's dinner, the life-changing flank steak pad see ew at Noa

I may not be a pizza person, but New Haven delivers on multiple fronts

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 16

Yes, lots of research! The best way to have fewer cars out and about is to not have anywhere for them to go. That's a super unpopular way to put it messaging-wise, but demonstrably true.

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 16

In my head, this would be similar to the YIMBY movement leaning into the undeniability of supply and demand in the housing market

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 16

I wonder how effective it would be for the transit movement to lean more into the 1) efficiency of transit to move people, 2) parking reform, and 3) congestion pricing as the only proven ways to get cars off the road and actually relieve traffic. But headline always being: GET RID OF TRAFFIC

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 16

Stephanie rightly identified that traffic is the #1 NIMBY concern. As much as I wish they did, people don't care about sustainability, access means nothing when most ppl have a car, and choice doesn't matter when ppl think the other choices are bad. But people HATE traffic. (I hate traffic.)

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 16

"What do we want an abundance of in transportation?" is the right question but I'm not sure "access" or "choice" is the right answer, bc what do those things really mean?

More trains, buses & bikes is concrete, faster to grasp. What would be interesting to me is leaning into eliminating TRAFFIC.

Jenny Schuetz @jennyschuetz.bsky.social · Sep 16

Last morning of @yimbytown.bsky.social , Stephanie Pollock laying down truths about transportation systems. What we want in abundance is *not* transit. It’s getting people where they want to go. Some houses for people also need houses for cars - but not all of them.

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Jane Lyons-Raeder @jlyonsraeder.bsky.social · Sep 16

That's great to hear! My impression was that a lot of the same housing folks are here, just not the wider network of the public to also sway

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