April 21st, 2011 | by David Daddio | published in Bicycles, Politics
The College Park City Council seemed to be taken off guard Tuesday by $350-600,000 in city speed camera funds that must be committed to “public safety” projects (including pedestrian infrastructure). The money must be committed in the next two months or it will be returned to the state. The relatively large sum (equivalent to 10% [...]
February 21st, 2011 | by Fazlul Kabir | published in Bicycles
After at least two failed attempts to roll out bikes on city streets, the city of College Park is trying once again to secure funds for bikesharing—this time, on a much smaller scale. The city is planning to apply for the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority grant program, which is due on March 4, 2011. City staff [...]
February 7th, 2011 | by Colin Phillips | published in Purple Line, Transportation, Wallace Loh
I wasn’t able to attend last Tuesday’s Purple Line forum, as I was happily riding a crowded Amtrak train. But the university helpfully posted a high-quality video of the event online. You can watch it here. If you don’t have 2 hours to spare, here’s what you missed: This forum had a lot in common [...]
January 27th, 2011 | by Mark Noll | published in Bicycles, Downtown, Route 1, Transportation
Last night, I crossed Route 1 at Hartwick Road. Once again, I risked my life just to cross a street. We all know that Route 1 is an unpleasant experience for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians. But the line between unpleasant and unacceptable is crossed at this intersection. The intersection lies along College Park’s main retail [...]
January 27th, 2011 | by David Daddio | published in Purple Line, Transportation
From: President Wallace Loh Dear University of Maryland Community: Faculty, staff and students are invited to a town hall meeting, hosted by the President’s Office, to discuss the Purple Line light rail system. As you may know, the proposed transit line would run between Bethesda and New Carrollton, passing through Silver Spring, Takoma Park, the College Park campus, and Riverdale. [...]
January 4th, 2011 | by David Daddio | published in Purple Line, Transportation
UMD just released its much anticipated consultant study of Purple Line alternatives through campus. The study, produced by Hatch Mott MacDonald (HMM), a Canadian-based engineering firm, sheds light on UMD’s current feeling on a controversy that has consumed the campus for nearly four years. We reported a couple weeks back about our cautious optimism that [...]
December 21st, 2010 | by Colin Phillips | published in Purple Line, Wallace Loh
“This may be the most important decision of your presidency.” This is how new University of Maryland President Wallace Loh reports a piece of advice that he received from the federal Department of Transportation, when discussing the preferred alignment for the Purple Line. No pressure. The DOT only holds the keys to hundreds of millions [...]
December 14th, 2010 | by Fazlul Kabir | published in Transportation
A cash-strapped city that has been scrambling to recover thousands of dollars of lost revenue will probably get some relief through newly installed speed cameras. A recession-hit economy has cost the city a loss in state funds and a reduction of property taxes due to declining house prices. The city has been using means like [...]
