An inauguration usually brings lots of visitors and about $3 million in sales tax revenue to DC businesses and hotels. This year shops and restaurants are closed and boarded up due to a massive security perimeter and bans on indoor dining. (DCist)
WMATA and Montgomery County’s RideOn were among the transit systems that got grants from the Federal Transit Administration to pilot pandemic-related programs. Metro will install air filtration systems in train cars, and RideOn will share real-time bus crowding information. (Justin George / Post)
An environmental impact statement on the proposed Maglev train between DC and Baltimore estimates that the route would carry 18 million people and run every 8 minutes during peak hours if it is able to open in 2030. (Nena Perry-Brown / Urban Turf)
A new Virginia Railway Express station is planned on Crystal Drive, about a quarter mile from the smaller existing one. The station is designed to host other trains, and Amtrak is considering expanding regional service to Crystal City. (Matt Blitz / ARL Now)
Post reporter and author Scott Higham is suing the Purple Line construction consortium, saying that they punctured a sewer line and flooded his basement, destroying book materials and research. (Jonathan Capriel / Business Journal)
With over 21,000 national guard troops in DC, residents are concerned that some may have asymptomatic COVID-19. But it may be hard to link a future rise in cases to the inauguration, given that case numbers are rising across the nation and region. (Margaret Barthel / DCist)
DC, Maryland and Virginia are all struggling with vaccine rollout as demand exceeds the available doses and people struggle to book appointments. In Maryland, people have been able to book appointments in neighboring counties and some Virginia counties say they got only a fraction of the doses they need from the state. (Post)
DC is set to break ground soon on a renovation of the bike path that runs along Rock Creek. Improvements will include widening the path and improving sight lines, paving an unofficial dirt path east of the park, and constructing a pedestrian bridge south of the zoo. (Jacob Fenston / DCist)
A small group of homophobic conspiracy theorists protested outside Comet Ping Pong in DC last night while loud music from the restaurant overwhelmed their chants. The pizza place became the target of a conspiracy theory just before Trump took office. (Washingtonian)
By Caitlin Rogger (Interim Executive Director) • January 19, 2021
By most accounts, DC and federal authorities responded with the gravity needed to stop further pre-inauguration violence after Jan. 6. But the problem of political violence will not go away that quickly. How do we prevent political violence in the long term while preserving our access to public space?
By George Kevin Jordan (Managing Editor) • January 19, 2021
How can we create more car-free transportation options throughout the region? Discover how race intersects with housing policy in DC. Learn about Georgetown University’s Master’s in Urban & Regional Planning program, and more in this week’s virtual urbanist events.
By Wyatt Gordon (The Virginia Mercury) • January 19, 2021
When Del. Tony Wilt, R-Rockingham, introduced a budget amendment funding a study on creating a new 43-mile long rail trail in the Shenandoah Valley, the odds of the proposal making it into the final budget for the governor to sign looked slim. However, thanks to the efforts of his regional ally, Sen. Emmet Hanger, R-Augusta, the measure made it into the Senate’s budget to be adopted by the two bodies’ conference committee last week. Now, a longshot proposal with broad popularity is set to take its first official step towards becoming a reality.
