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DDOT halts plan to restrict loading sites
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WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The District Department of Transportation has decided to scrap a program that would have forced many of D.C.’s low-cost regional buses to load passengers at a designated location near L’Enfant Plaza after news of the change was met with hostility.
“We have opted to suspend the rulemaking until we’ve had an option to review the locations and other options of the program,” DDOT spokeswoman Karyn LeBlanc said.
Bus operators and customers have said current pickup locations, which are scattered around Chinatown and other downtown hubs, are more convenient for customers and in safer, more active areas.
DDOT officials and some Chinatown residents have said the buses are loud, idle endlessly, and block entrances and street lanes.
DDOT published the new rule last month under an emergency rulemaking process that allowed them to skip the public comment process.
Bus operators said DDOT did not notify them about the change.
Richard Green, one of the owners of DC2NY, a popular service that runs between the District and New York City and picks up at Dupont Circle and 14th and I streets Northwest, said he learned of the rule by reading about it in The Examiner last month.
“We’ve heard nothing from them,” Green said.
He said his customers have copied him on more than 1,000 e-mails to District officials since DC2NY sent a blast e-mail Wednesday morning asking customers to help them lobby against the rule.
Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham said he asked DDOT officials to slow down the process and give the public a chance to weigh in on the change.
“There are merits on both sides of this question,” Graham said. “I think we’re moving a bit too fast.”
tluntz@dcexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
10:23 AM MST on Thu., Jul. 3, 2008 re: "DDOT halts plan to restrict loading sites"
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7:45 PM MST on Tue., Jun. 10, 2008
re: "$3.1 million shortfall projected for District’s road construction fund"
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8:20 PM MST on Fri., May. 9, 2008
re: "Top priorities for DDOT don’t top everyone’s list"
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10:44 AM MST on Thu., May. 8, 2008
re: "Top priorities for DDOT don’t top everyone’s list"
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Anonymous reader said:
2? Really!! I hate DDOT.
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Scott said:
This is a COMPLETE non-story. Honestly, by fiscal 2010, the city's revenues will increase dramatically because the tax base will be so much higher. All the rich people and businesses moving in will ensure that... And $3.9 million is chump change in a 5.4 BILLION annual budget.
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Brian said:
The top priority of DDOT should involve plans to convert 16th Street into an expressway that moves east just north of Mt. Pleasant to eventually connect with 295. Plans to construct a major highway running east to west in the city should also be in their plans. Major urban areas comparable to this region have major freeways running through them. Why can't this area have them?
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david said:
am i alone in being wholly tired of old washingtonians feigning offense when no one consults them ("no one consulted me!") half the squawk over schools and repairs and any number of issues come down to people who are a little too full of themselves taking offense to someone whose job it is to make decisions, making decisions. i would rather a system based on number of complaints and length of time in the system than one based on patronage to city counsel ANY DAY. squeaky wheels get grease. there's nothing sinister in that. and don't harass the city on minor issues--only major ones. and if you can fix it faster than them (like tightening the loose bolt on a street sign), do it yourself.
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