Live Q&As

MARC sure could use some extra bucks to buy more engines and rail cars -- but wait, that's not what you mean, is it?

No, we're aware of the problems -- Dana Hedgpeth did a story after we got a wave of complaints from riders having trouble getting their bus passes properly loaded onto SmarTrip -- but we haven't heard from the SmarTrip folks about an actual fix for the autoload issue.

This is on the docket for discussion Thursday at the Metro board's customer service committee meeting.

The transit authority plans to cut its targets for "on time" performance of the trains and buses. I certainly want to hear this discussion. I'm not sure what difference it will make to riders, but it certainly sounds discouraging -- to have the transit authority seemingly saying, We can't meet our performance goals. Solution: Lower the goals.

Some of the stated reasons for the lowering: Metrobuses get caught in traffic, and the DC region has some of the worst traffic congestion in the nation. Metro trains are now under operator control, rather than automatic control. Operators need more time to stop the trains at the platforms and to open and close the doors.

If those are the issues, why not adjust the schedules to make the arrival times more realistic? That's what would have the most impact on riders.

This was the scheduled afternoon game against the Pirates. And you're right, an announcement would have been a swell thing.

My guess is that Metro simply has system for getting and distributing that information to riders. It has the technology:  the loudspeakers and the e-mail alerts. But I can't think of a time I've heard or read an announcement on something -- no matter how relevant -- that's going on outside the transit system.

First, I think it would be a swell idea to postpone the move to such a transit-unfriendly location. None of the significant traffic improvements will be in place by September when the Defense employees are scheduled to move into the Mark Center on Seminary Road, just off I-395.

There never was enough time to make the necessary improvements, including the HOV ramp. A federal study, released earlier this year, said as much. It criticized the base realignment process noting -- quite correctly in my experience -- that it takes at least a decade to plan, engineer and build a major transportation improvement. The base changes were announced in 2005.

If you're on vacation, I think White's Ferry would be a fun way to get started -- as long as the Potomac isn't at flood stage. It's certainly better than sitting in traffic on the Beltway and on I-95 in Northern Virginia.

That said, I think you'd be okay most mornings on I-270, the Beltway and 95 if you left at about 6 a.m. (I'd lean toward departing before the rush hour builds, rather than after the morning rush.)

One trend I notice among drivers is that they increasingly define driving at the speed limit as "driving slowly." That's now how Virginia State Police define it. I asked. There's no lane in which it's legal for drivers to exceed the speed limit.

Many drivers cite the Virginia law requiring drivers in the left lane to make way if someone wants to pass. But they never cite the accompanying rule: It's illegal to exceed the speed limit.

That said, I stay right. Speeders already are displaying a characteristic of aggressive driving. There's no point in encouraging them to display other characteristics.

The closing of four stations on the Orange and Blue lines from 10 p.m. Friday through midnight on Memorial Day should not effect your trip to and from Vienna, according to Metro's schedule. You'll be on the western side of Federal Center SW, where the trains will stop and turn around.

This is good news. The current phase of construction on the northbound span of the 14th Street Bridge -- the next to last phase -- has been a difficult one for drivers because of the location of the construction island. We've been trying to get the word out that drivers in the left-center lane shouldn't swerve right at the last moment before the construction island. (Well, they shouldn't do that anyway, but what I'm saying is that drivers in that left-center lane can either go ahead to 14th Street or bear right just after the construction island and head onto the Southeast-Southwest Freeway and I-395.)

I've heard from quite a few drivers upset that one of the two left turn lanes was removed from northbound Georgia Avenue at Route 28 (Norbeck Road). They think it's adding to traffic congestion there, just south of the entrance to the Intercounty Connector.

Maryland State Highway officials say they're monitoring what's going on at the intersection. (In my experience, it's routine for traffic engineers to study the impact of changes for a while before they make any further changes, even if it's just the adjustment of traffic signal times.)

One thing they correctly point out: That intersection has been failing drivers for quite some time. A solution is to rebuild it as an interchange, but there's no money right now for construction.

Bicyclists across the region are supposed to obey the traffic laws, and as I frequently point out, many don't. (I also point out that drivers at least slow down for stop signs.)

I've got a bunch of comments about cyclists. Is this because we just had Bike to Work Day on Friday? I'll publish some more.

I think it really depends on the circumstances. And in the circumstances you describe, I doubt I'd attempt to ride a bike in the middle of the lane.

When I hear cycling safety advocates urge bikers to take the lane, it's usually in this scenario: They're driving on city streets with cars parked along the sides, and they're hugging the curb, then pulling out to get around cars, then pulling back to the curb, then pulling out to get around cars.

That's not a safe situation. They're confusing the drivers -- sometimes they're there, and sometimes they're not. It would be better to remain in the drivers' field of vision at all times, rather than popping in and out.

I have pointed out the laws repeatedly. And they're quite similar everywhere around here. No excuses for cyclists not following the laws.

My experience is that many travelers don't follow any traffic law they don't absolutely have to. (Note other exchanges about speeding.)