[RP TownTalk] [TownTalk] traffic concerns

Tue Apr 25 02:45:28 UTC 2006

I just wanted to add my two bits about bus service and about 
transportation in Riverdale Park in general.

In my opinion, we need to have more transit options, not less. This 
means increased, regular bus service to both Metro stations--PG Plaza 
AND College Park. The College Park Metro is underutilized by our town, 
in part because it is hard to get to. I don't think we shift the 
Queensbury bus line to 410 for three reasons: it will make bus service 
even slower on an ever-more clogged highway, the utter lack of 
sidewalks and limited pedestrian access to 410 will make it an 
absolutely less appealing option for riders (and thus shriveling 
ridership), and it will make the Town Center a less appealing location 
for business. If the bus is crowded to capacity during the rush hours 
then surely we have some leverage with WMATA and The Bus to get better 
buses and more frequent service. I take the Alexandria DASH bus service 
every day and it runs pretty well. That should be our model. And, I'd 
bet that one full bus on our streets causes a lot less damage than if 
each rider were to drive separate cars or SUVs.

More transit options means more frequent MARC service. More transit 
options means tying Metro, MARC, and bus services together, making them 
an efficient, viable alternative to cars. If our mass transit options 
are more efficient, timely and frequent, then perhaps car traffic will 
lessen, maybe not completely, but perceptibly. The only way to ease 
traffic is to get people out of their cars by giving them other 
options. We cannot build our way out of congestion. In Montgomery 
County they widened I-270 to as many as eight lanes (I think), does 
anyone here think that lessened traffic? Most studies of sprawl 
indicate that widening roads, etc, relieves congestion only temporarily 
until additional development leads to increased traffic and congestion.

Another way to ease congestion would be to make Riverdale Park a more 
walkable community. Our town is chopped up into far too many bits by 
410, Rte 1, the railroad, and the Anacostia. Pedestrians have few 
options if they want to walk from one part of town to another. 
Footbridges across these dividing lines and sidewalks along all town 
streets would help reconnect our splintered town and make it easier for 
each of us to get out of our cars to visit our neighbors or (God 
forbid) shop. It would be healthier for us too.

None of this is easy or cheap and none of this will stop those who use 
our town as a short cut (although setting up a speed trap on River Road 
would slow them down and bring in much-needed revenue). However, we 
need to make this town more walkable and more transit oriented, because 
development will occur here and all around us. Let us provide options 
for all who live, work, or travel in Riverdale Park other options than 
hopping in their car and further clogging our streets. Other towns have 
done this, we can too.

Steve Glaros

On Apr 24, 2006, at 3:40 PM, Maureen E. Farrington wrote:

>
> I got my driver's license about a week before I graduated from 
> college.  I
> rode the bus a lot.
>
> The 83 (runs along Rte 1 from the Rhode Island Ave Metro to Cherry Hill
> Road) is the bus that I most often see as a natural gas model, so they 
> are
> around the county.
>
> I like that the buses on Queensbury slow traffic down.  There's no 
> reason
> to go faster than 25-30 mph on my street.
>
> -Maureen
>
> On Mon, 24 Apr 2006, ickyfoot wrote:
>
>> "Poking around on wmata.com, I saw a claim that PG county is getting
>> more than our share of the hybrids, because we had more than our share
>> of the very oldest model of diesels.  If you saw three, then maybe
>> that really is the case."
>>
>> Wow.
>>
>> I'll believe that they are actually delivering more to our county 
>> when I
>> start to see more. The F4 route is in DESPERATE need of upgrading, yet
>> over the period of time from late October through mid April I rode on
>> one hybrid bus and only one or two natural gas ones (which have been 
>> out
>> for over a year now). I hope the triple sighting this weekend bodes 
>> well
>> for the immediate future. Many of the buses currently running the 
>> route
>> are shaking piles of metal strapped together with duct tape and 
>> hangers
>> (or may as well be).
>>
>> And I can tell you from direct experience (i.e. riding on a bike
>> directly behind buses) that the hybrids and especially the natural gas
>> buses are just so much cleaner. You can't even smell them, really. 
>> They
>> are still fairly loud compared with a car, but they are much more
>> tolerable than the regular diesel buses.
>>
>> -E
>>
>>
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