The Library of Congress is often said to have the 2 most most beautiful rooms in Washington. Unfortunately they’re notoriously hard to photograph, because the Library doesn’t allow photography during reading hours.

But a couple of weekends ago they hosted an open house, during which cameras were allowed. I took the opportunity and ended up with these pictures.

By the way, after the library my vote for next most beautiful room in DC goes to Saint Matthew’s Cathedral. I’m a sucker for red marble.

The best curbside bus stop in the region opened yesterday, at Columbia Pike and Walter Reed Drive in Arlington. The “super stop” has an expanded shelter area, a platform strip, maps, and an electronic real-time information screen. It’s the first of 24 planned super stops on Columbia Pike. When Arlington’s planned streetcar opens, the super stops will become rail stations, and off-board fare payment will be added.

Here are some quick photos.

Potential WMATA BRT brands.

The Washington region’s first BRT line will open in 2014, running from Crystal City to Alexandria. It will have a dedicated transitway, stations rather than stops, and other amenities above and beyond any other bus line in the region. It will need a fresh brand; WMATA’s MetroExtra look won’t do, since MetroExtra is a much more limited service than BRT.

Thus, WMATA has proposed 2 potential names, and 8 possible paint schemes.

All the paint schemes are vivid and colorful, which is a good thing. High quality services should stand out, so a bright bus livery is appropriate.

My favorite is the blue arrowhead option. The forward-facing arrowheads impart speed, and the blue ties back to MetroExtra, relating WMATA’s 2 premium bus brands under a similar banner.

I’m not a huge fan of either proposed name. Both MetroWay and MetroBeat seem forced, and arbitrary. MetroBeat especially runs the risk of being read as Beat Metro, an unfortunate pun sure to be used mockingly any time something goes wrong.

I’d prefer MetroRapid, a brand Los Angeles uses for a premium (but non-BRT) service that’s similar to WMATA’s MetroExtra.

WMATA also proposes 4 potential pylon options for use at stations. I prefer the options without the large capital M, which I think look a little too similar to Metrorail pylons. But all 4 are good.

If you want to share your opinion about these proposals, WMATA has a survey.

What’s the best vacation for an urbanist? Exploring a new city, of course. So here’s a slideshow of 42 pictures of Albany, New York, taken from a visit last summer.

Albany is a unique city. Since it’s the capital of New York and core city to a metro area of nearly a million people, it has some big city amenities, including some skyscrapers. But it’s deceptively small; that metro area includes Troy and Schenectady, which are sizable urban cores on their own. Albany the city has fewer than 100, 000 people, and although downtown is nice, it’s tiny.

I expected Albany to be a peer to Richmond, VA, but in reality I found it to be much more similar to Harrisburg, PA. All nice cities with strong cores, but in different size classes.

Albany does have some truly beautiful historic architecture. Unfortunately much of it was destroyed by the awful urban renewal era state capitol complex, but much of what survives is extremely high quality.

The Purple Line won’t happen without more money. Image from Maryland MTA.

Yesterday, Maryland governor Martin O’Malley released his proposal to restructure Maryland’s gas taxes to raise $3.4 billion for transportation over 5 years. The plan is superficially similar to the recent Virginia transportation funding bill, but improves upon it in several ways.

Maryland needs new revenue this year. Without it, the Purple Line, the Corridor Cities Transitway, and the Baltimore Red Line could all stop moving forward.

The key to the bill is a new 2% wholesale tax on gasoline. Wholesale taxes differ from normal gas taxes in that the gas distributor pays them rather than the consumer. The distributor then usually passes the tax along to consumers via higher prices.

The plan partially offsets this wholesale tax by reducing the normal gas tax, from 23.5¢ per gallon to 18.5¢ per gallon. But the plan would also index the new lower gas tax to inflation, so it would increase slightly each year.

Taken together, overall tax revenue from gas would go up by about 2¢ per gallon as soon as the bill takes effect. In 2014 the 2% wholesale tax will increase to 4%, increasing gas tax revenue by another 9¢.

Maryland’s bill versus Virginia’s bill

Both bills reduce the normal gas tax but add new wholesale gas taxes. But while Virginia plans to reduce its total gas tax and subsidize highway building with revenue from other sources, Maryland’s proposal sticks to the principle of transportation user fees.

Unlike Virginia’s bill, Maryland’s does not include new fees on hybrid car owners, increases to the sales tax, nor any taxes on land or hotel visits.

Like Virginia’s bill, Maryland’s specifies that if Congress allows states to raise internet sales taxes, Maryland will do so, and will allocate some of it to transportation. If Congress doesn’t allow an internet sales tax by 2015 then Maryland’s wholesale gas tax will increase from 4% to 6%.

One thing Maryland’s proposed bill does that Virginia’s does not is to index transit fares on MTA buses and trains to inflation. That will put more burden on transit riders, but will also provide MTA with a more predictable budget.

Since Maryland cannot impose rules on WMATA without agreement from DC and Virginia, WMATA fares will not be indexed to inflation.

Smart Growth advocates are generally more supportive of O’Malley’s proposal than the Virginia bill. Montgomery County councilmember Hans Riemer says the bill “appears to be a very strong plan and just what Maryland needs to get big infrastructure projects going.”

The bill will undoubtedly face stiff opposition from Maryland Republicans, so its passage is no sure thing. But O’Malley’s proposal is co-sponsored by Senate President Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael Busch, so it is clearly a serious initiative with a real chance of becoming law.

 Cross-posted at Greater Greater Washington.
 
 
 

On April 13, Trolley Pub Arlington will begin operating a bicycle bar. In case anyone wonders how much one of these 17-seat bikes costs, or wants to buy one for their own use, here’s the manufacturer.

It’s $40, 000, by the way.

The BeyondDC home page has been long overdue for some housekeeping. I’ve moved things around a little bit, taken out some obsolete links, and rethought the navigation bar at the top of the page (nobody ever used that anyway). You may continue to see additional minor changes in the coming days.