By Stephen Repetski (Editorial Board Alum) • September 22, 2020
Metro protocols don’t ensure investigations that occur are fully independent from the employees involved, according to the newest report from the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission (WMSC). Internal Metro investigations don’t always rely on first-hand reports from staff directly involved in the incidents, but instead descriptions of the events passed up through management ranks which could be altered.
Contractors have stopped working on the 16 miles of Purple Line in preparation for the private construction companies to leave the Purple Line project. Their departure will add about two years of delays and an unknown amount of expenses to the rail line. Maryland, however, says it is still committed to finishing it. (Katherine Shaver / Post)
The DC Council unanimously passed Vision Zero legislation yesterday (Tuesday) to improve infrastructure for walking and biking and address disparities in transportation safety across the city in order to reduce traffic deaths (Luz Lazo / Post)
After a damning review of safety protocols in Metro’s Rail Operations Control Center, the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission has approved two training plans to directly address specific problems Metro has faced using ventilation fans and restoring power to the rails during a crash. (Justin George / Post)
Mayor Justin Wilson announced that consumption based tax revenues, like dining and hotel stays, were down 34% from February to July in Alexandria. (James Cullum / ALX Now)
The Montgomery County Planning Board recommended that the Council remove the blanket building moratorium designed to stop school overcrowding by preventing new development, and have it apply only to Clarksburg. County Executive Marc Elrich opposes the plan and supports the existing moratorium. (Briana Adhikusuma / Bethesda Beat)
Affordable housing developer AHC will redevelop the Fort Henry Garden apartments in Green Valley from an 82 unit to a 300 unit complex with a mix of one- two- and three-bedroom apartments. (ARL Now)
DC will run out of phone numbers with the 202 area code in the next few years, and the Public Service Commission announced the second area code for the city will be 771. (Urban Turf)
The appearance of “St. Louis Gun Couple” Mark and Patricia McCloskey at the Republican National Convention served as a reminder of the exclusionary history of single family zoning in America, which has long been used to keep Black and brown people out of well-resourced white neighborhoods. (Richard Kahlenberg / The Century Foundation)
