JLG Has Big Plans for D.C. Transit

So it's, like, DC Week Without Cars, and one of the things I've been sort of collecting is all of these social media posts from local elected officials who are, like, using their social media to brag about how they're taking the buses and stuff, and it's like kids the first time they're allowed to, like, ride the bus without mom there.

They're very proud of themselves, it seems.

Yes.

I mean, this is a, this is a tradition, uh, that you certainly see.

You see a lot of the same council members doing it over and over again.

The, [laughs] the difference this time is that, um, the person who's gonna be the next mayor is doing it, uh, which happens a little less frequently.

I've been begging people to please narc if they see any of these electeds, uh, uh, in a car of any sort this week because, you know, it's one thing to ride the bus in the morning to work with reporters and supporters, but when you're heading out at night to a fundraiser, you know, this is not necessarily even now a city that's 100% built for that.

[laughs] Yeah, that's right.

You gotta check and see, uh, which ward council member's, uh, plates-

[laughs]

... are at the Wilson Building, especially on, uh, the day when they're meeting.

Speaking of all this, uh, we...

I did have a point, which is that you rode the D44 bus, uh, from Petworth to the Wilson Building with, uh, Ward 4 Council Member Janeese Lewis George, who's better known to, uh, the city now as presumptive mayor-elect Janeese Lewis George, and she was not alone.

You were there, but so were a bunch of pro-transit organizers, too.

W- How did this come about?

Yeah, it was Greater Greater Washington that put it all together.

Uh, you may or may not be familiar with them, longtime sort of urbanist focused on development and transit in the city organization, and they basically invited as many, uh, council members as they could, um, to sort of, you know, see what it's like for the average Washingtonian riding the bus.

So Elissa Silverman, just returned to the council, was there, and yeah, the, the big name was, uh, Janeese Lewis George, who is gonna have a say in how all these, you know, transit projects, transit funding comes together, uh, starting next year, so long as, uh, nothing shocking happens in November.

So you wrote about this ride and, you know, I hope I don't, uh, undersell your story because I would probably not be that interested in it if it was just I rode a bus with a person.

Um, but o- on this ride, um, some of the stuff she said to you sort of gave hints about stuff she's actually not talked a lot about, which are sort of the concrete plans for after the election in terms of transit.

And so she's sitting there and, uh, with a bunch of advocates and talking about things she would like to see, most prominently is installing dedicated bus lanes along Georgia Avenue.

That is to say, taking a lane that's currently for traffic or double parking or [laughs] whatever, whatever people do, um, and, uh, turning it to bus use.

Uh, talk about...

Like, what's the history of that, uh, project and that idea?

Yeah, and, and I, I share your, your skepticism.