A Well Connected Transportation Network
Many Ward 1 residents do not own cars - because they don’t want one or they can’t afford one. Ward 1 needs transportation policies and structures that prioritize pedestrians and cyclists and public transit over cars — Rashida believes that roads will never be able to keep up with increasing car traffic if we don’t find alternative modes of travel. Rashida has already worked on these issues as Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for 10 years.
WHAT RASHIDA’S DONE
Advocated and worked with the District Department of Transportation to add protected bike lanes along Kenyon and Warder streets and Park Place — even getting DDOT to expand the scope of the project to connect the crosstown lanes to 11th Street and extend protected bike lanes all the way down Park Road.
Made sure that WMATA incorporated resident concerns and suggestions in its bus network redesign.
Championed the Georgia Avenue and Columbia Heights Crosstown bus priority projects.
Worked tenaciously with DDOT’s Vision Zero team on traffic calming measures such as more signage, crosswalks, flexi posts, bulbouts, speed bumps and redlight camera throughout her ANC boundaries but most notably along the Park Place and Michigan Avenue near Wangari Park and the Washington Hospital Centers to reduce speed and improve the traffic pattern and flow along the street grid.
Worked with Georgia Avenue Thrive and the ANC for DDOT to implement the pedestrian light at Georgia Avenue and Lamont St.
WHAT RASHIDA WILL DO
Ward 1 already has tremendous assets- mixed-use, dense, and walkable neighborhoods, access to frequent transit, robust pedestrian infrastructure, and an increasingly-connected bike network. Still, Rashida knows there is more to be done and will be a champion for more transportation improvements on the Council. She will:
Improve the bus network. Rashida was closely involved in WMATA’s bus network redesign, which reflects some of her ANC’s feedback. But she believes there is still much work to be done to build out a more extensive transit network. WMATA pursued a revenue-neutral redesign which resulted in disruption to residents’ travel patterns and 20-minute headways on the D74, one of the highest-ridership new routes.
She’ll champion ambitious bus priority projects - bold solutions like a dedicated transit mall through central Columbia Heights and a center-running transitway on Georgia Avenue. She’ll identify funding to make sure that the bus priority network is paired with service improvements, including much faster headways and an expanded 24-hour network. WMATA’s definition of “high frequency” as 12 minutes or better is inadequate. Bus lines through Ward 1 like the D40s and C50s have ridership that match train lines in other cities, and should have the 5-8 minute headways to match.
Build more bus priority lanes. As an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, Rashida has consistently championed the Georgia Avenue and Columbia Heights Crosstown bus priority projects, arguably the top two most critical projects improving transit service in the District right now. Both projects will repurpose either travel or parking lanes, and Rashida has worked with fellow commissioners to make sure it’s clearly communicated to DDOT that those tradeoffs are understood and embraced. She also knows that a bus priority lane will increase travel times by car, unless we get more commuters on public transit, and she is not scared by that reality.
Build more bike lanes, especially protected bike lanes. As an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, Rashida worked with the District Department of Transportation to extend the protected bike lanes along Kenyon and Warder streets and Park Avenue — even getting DDOT to expand the scope of the project to connect the crosstown lanes to 11th Street and extend protected bike lanes all the way down Park Road. She brought the community together to implement a project that added bike infrastructure, provided a road diet and traffic calming. Community feedback is often seen as synonymous with opposition, but Rashida knows that the right leadership can take resident feedback and make projects even better, because that’s what she’s done already.
Fund fare-free buses. The Council did this once already and even with the funds in place, WMATA refused to implement fare-free buses in the District. Rashida will work to change the dynamic on the WMATA board, which is often biased against D.C., to give the District more authority to pursue bold transit policy.
Fund more sidewalk repairs. Rashida will fight for more funding for sidewalk repairs and filling sidewalk gaps, and flip the current budget that prioritizes resurfacing asphalt on streets over ensuring safe and high-quality sidewalks. She finds it unacceptable that residents are told to wait months for dangerous sidewalk conditions to be repaired, when their same government promises to fill a pothole in a matter of days. She will work to prioritize completing our pedestrian network, which does not get as much attention as it deserves. While Ward 1 has few places with no sidewalks at all, it has plenty of streets with sidewalks that are inaccessible due to obstructions or being too narrow and she is committed to finding and fighting for more resources to make sure every sidewalk is safe and accessible.
Implement road-pricing. Passenger cars come with a high price to the District, paid for by taxpayers - many of whom do not own a car or commute by car regularly. Rashida will work to make sure that car usage is not subsidized by residents who don’t use cars. But it’s not just the financial cost - out-of-control traffic creates pollution, results in pedestrian, bicyclist and vehicle operator injuries and deaths, and contributes to less pleasant neighborhoods. Rashida supports increasing the price of Residential Parking Permits (that’s practically free parking on city-owned property!), removing minimum parking requirements in new developments near transit, implementing road diets on arterial streets, making some streets car-free, pursuing regional reciprocity for automated traffic enforcement, building more housing and affordable housing in the District near transit and job centers, creating more bus and bike lanes.