First: the plan to move DC’s intercity buses to the L’Enfant wasteland is on hold. I got the following in an email on Friday:
The District Department of Transportation as of July 3, 2008 has suspended the new intercity bus permit regulations to allow for additional evaluation and review of the program. Originally intended to begin in early July, the regulation seeks to better manage the use of public space and institute curbside management practices through new permitting requirements and by identifying specific locations for passenger drop off and pickup. [...]
Further details will be available as DDOT continues to evaluate the new policy.
Hilariously, the email’s author appears to have simply cc’ed everybody who wrote in about the issue. It looks like they got about 400 complaints.
On Friday Kriston and Matt tried to convince me that the whole bus terminal project was a sinister plot to legislate Greyhound’s competition out of existence, delivering yet another crooked victory to Big Bus. Key to this undertaking, they said, was a little-noticed but crucially important new rule forbidding the bus companies from selling tickets at curbside. Instead the companies must maintain a storefront — a requirement that, given the lack of available real estate at the new depot site, could not be met. Presto: no more intercity buses.
I was dubious, and after reading the text of the (now tabled) proposal, I’m even more so. Here, have a look yourself. Section 3307.8:
An intercity bus operator shall not:
(a) Vend tickets in the public space;
(b) Arrive sooner than thirty (30) minutes prior to scheduled departure in the intercity bus zone;
(c) Remain in the intercity bus zone for more than thirty (30) minutes after arrival; or
(d) Allow intercity bus passengers to obstruct the flow of pedestrian traffic in the public space and into adjacent buildings.
Obviously the curbside ticket-sale question would have hinged on what “public space” means. I am not a [etc.], but 3307.8(d) strongly implies to me that the interior of the bus isn’t considered a part of the public space — certainly it’s legally distinct in at least some ways, since the bus operators can charge admission to and eject people from it. And of course many of the intercity bus companies sell their tickets at the pickup site, but do so as their representative moves through the loaded bus checking tickets. Sometimes you pay as you get on, sometimes you pay once you’re seated. I can’t imagine mandating one or the other would dramatically disrupt these businesses’ operations.
Besides which, the proposal sidesteps more obvious ways to inconvenience Greyhound’s competitors. Fines for noncompliance are only $200 or $300 (depending on whether it’s a first offense); the fee for renting space for loading and unloading works out to less than $2.50/hr. This isn’t to say that moving these buses to L’Enfant is a good idea, but I don’t think it’s a conspiracy, either.
I actually think it’s a good idea to put the “Chinatown Bus” operators down in L’Enfant Plaza.
It’s the bus operators who are getting a free ride by using the public sidewalks and streets of Chinatown as a de facto bus depot, and a real drag if you live, have a business or want to use the sidewalks near one of the loud, smelly buses idling on the street for hours at a time. Not to mention the customers who use the sidewalk as a waiting room. How would you feel if a bus operator decided to use the area outside your apartment, place of work, or business?
The L’Enfant spot is a good compromise. It has fewer impacts on neighbors (because there aren’t as many) and is still centrally located and convenient.
I think you have to look at the specific bus drop-off locations to determine if they’re an unfair imposition. In many cases they’re not: the corner of 5th and H, for instance, has no businesses on it — the bus blocks the side wall of a restaurant, but that’s it. There’s no pedestrian traffic to speak of, and the sidewalk’s a good fifteen feet wide. Apex bus runs from a similarly desolate stretch of I Street, if I remember correctly.
It’s the newly-arrived companies that are causing problems, I think. Bolt Bus has a pickup spot in Dupont. Another line — DC2NY? — has people queueing directly in front of Matchbox.
We shouldn’t rule such locations out automatically, of course. Those buses’ riders are getting use out of those public spaces. The utility they’re deriving shouldn’t be ignored: the fact that someone has to say “excuse me” to get into Matchbox doesn’t automatically trump the fact that someone else is able to enjoy cheap, convenient transportation.
But it may be appropriate to look for more spots like the 5th and H location (where the company that takes me to Philly, New Century Travel, is based). There are plenty of underdeveloped blocks in Chinatown — it ought to be possible to acommodate everyone.