I’ve really held back from responding to this one, but I feel that I’ll explode if I don’t say something about the situation Metro has found itself in at the Friendship Heights bus terminal. How in the world could the agency spend more than half a million dollars on a renovation and forget to take into account the height of the buses that might be using that facility?

Isn’t someone paying attention? Doesn’t one of those high-priced engineering specialists own a tape measure?

This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened. Remember a few years ago when a new Metro bus running on compressed natural gas tried to go under a bridge in Northeast? The bus was about a foot too tall, and the resulting gas leak forced the evacuation of homes and businesses within a radius of several blocks. Somebody somewhere didn’t think to check the clearance. Please tell me that the problems at Friendship Heights were caused by somebody different.

I’m sorry, but this all sounds like the Gang Who Couldn’t Shoot Straight. You go out and buy all of these nice new environmentally friendly buses which, as we all know, have much of the equipment on the roof and therefore require more clearance, THEN you discover that they won’t fit under some overpasses and inside some garages, including the ones that the agency renovated itself. Yikes.

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Here’s the solution: Let all of the air out of the tires of the buses every day as they pull into the Friendship Heights terminal. This should lower the height of the buses by the three or four inches necessary to get them inside. Then at the beginning of each shift, as the buses are ready to go back onto the streets, you have somebody waiting with an air hose to pump them back up. Yeah, it sounds pretty stupid, but so is renovating a garage without taking into account how tall the buses are.

Government ups tax-free transit money, by a bit

Beginning Monday the monthly tax-free transit benefit from the federal government will increase from $105 to $110. While this is certainly nice, it’s still substantially less than the subsidy for those who drive and park. Until the feds really understand that these policies make it more attractive to drive to work, we will continue to suffer with more and more congestion, especially in this city where so many employees work for Uncle Sam. Again, it’s nice to see some increase in this benefit, but there is so much more that can and should be done if the federal government is serious about reducing congestion and improving air quality.

Free cab home on New Year’s

One last time: If you are going out to party for New Year’s, please take this number with you: 800-200-TAXI. That’s the number for the SoberRide program. Calling that number will hook you up with a free cab ride home (up to a $50 fare). It’s a great way to keep yourself and the others on the road safe this holiday.