DDOT Director and alternative transportation guru Gabe Klein just announced he will not be welcome in the Gray administration, and will be leaving. Klein has been a major champion of streetcars and especially bicycling projects in the city, so his departure will be a major loss for progressive transportation policy. It is also a significant warning sign that mayor-elect Gray doesn’t intend to continue pushing forward as vigorously on transportation as did his predecessor.

This decision makes Gray 1 out of 3 on supporting a progressive DDOT. He kept streetcars in the budget, but fired Klein and eliminated the ‘Unified Fund’, which was used by DOT for quick fixes to a variety of issues. Taken together there is a clear pattern: Gray will continue policies that have been on the books for a long time, but will obstruct DDOT from moving quickly on just about anything.

Washington, DC has taken a step backwards. It’s not a good day.