DC Government

Proposed New Taxicab Smart Meters. New Meters Include Credit Card Readers; Will Be Installed by End of Year

By Prince Of Petworth


Photos courtesy of the Mayor’s office

From a press release:

Mayor Vincent C. Gray today announced that he is sending to the D.C. Council a proposed contract with VeriFone Systems, Inc., to install a Taxicab Smart Meter System in all of the District’s licensed cabs before the end of the year. The system will allow payment of fares by credit cards, driver verification, safety-response mechanisms, GPS tracking and other advanced features.

“The Taxicab Smart Meter System will make Washington’s taxicabs among the most advanced taxi fleets in the country,” said Mayor Gray. “It is another step toward bringing the District’s taxicab fleet into the 21st century. I ask the Council for a speedy approval of this contract, which will benefit drivers, riders and the general public.”

Under the $34.9 million contract, the District will lease the system for five years from VeriFone, which will install, maintain and operate it. Details of the system were developed by technical consultants for the D.C. Taxicab Commission.

The cost for installing the system as well as the operating costs of the D.C. Taxicab Commission will be paid for from a trust fund supported by a 50-cent-per-ride surcharge. The only cost to drivers will be a small installation fee. Under this user-fee system, general tax revenues will no longer be used for any Commission costs. This will save almost $4 million from the District’s general fund. It also means that the approximately 50 percent of riders who are not District residents will now be able to pay a share of the costs of administrating the taxicab industry and no longer ride on the pocketbooks of our residents.

The Mayor also pointed out that this is the second major step in the District’s comprehensive taxi-modernization program. The first was the adoption by the Taxicab Commission of a vehicle-modernization regulation to phase out all vehicles more than seven years old by 2018.

Additional changes to the District’s taxicab fleet to be phased in over the next few months include a one-color scheme and a substantial increase in the number of wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

“Mayor Gray and District Delegation Return from China Trade Mission, Highlight Investment in District Project”

By Prince Of Petworth


Market at O Street

From a press release:

This week, Mayor Vincent C. Gray and Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Victor L. Hoskins returned to the District of Columbia along with other members of the District delegation who participated in a seven-day economic development mission to the People’s Republic of China. The trip ended on Saturday in Shanghai with the announcement of a sizeable Chinese investment in the City Market at O Street project managed by District-based Roadside Development, LLC. A ceremonial check in the amount of $40 million was presented to Roadside’s co-founder Armond Spikell. The funding will support future phases of this important development.

“We are delighted to return home from China with the knowledge that our work is already proving successful,” said Mayor Gray. “I want to congratulate the Roadside Development team on securing a major funding component for City Market at O Street, which is a critical component of the revitalization of the District’s Shaw neighborhood. In order to remain the best real-estate market in the country, we must continue to attract, entice and support such investments in the District. By launching the D.C. China Center in Shanghai, we will do that work and more, bringing more business to D.C. and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with D.C. businesses as they compete in China and create good, high-paying jobs here at home. I also want to thank the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Suzhou for the spirit of hospitality and friendship with which we were received. The relationships we developed will increase economic opportunity for District residents and our Chinese partners.”

“Roadside Development was pleased and proud to be a part of the Washington, D.C.’s trade delegation to China,” said Richard Lake of Roadside Development. “We saw immediate opportunities to attract new capital sources and form new partnerships for future developments in the District. Through Mayor Gray’s leadership and vision, our City Market at O project is well under way. During this mission, City Market at O received an additional $40 million (through EB-5 financing) for future phases of this exciting project.”

DDOT Issues Request for Information (RFI) for 22-Mile Priority Streetcar System

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC

From DDOT:

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is exploring the potential of privatizing the District’s non-regional bus service and a 22-mile priority streetcar system as a means to accelerate delivery. As part of this process DDOT is asking for the private sector’s perspective and feedback in a Request for Information (RFI) issued this week. The RFI is an inquiry only, not a procurement, but the responses will help the District advance planning and development efforts for the project, which may result in the launch of a formal procurement.

The scope of the proposed project includes a combination of the following activities to support transit service within the District:

· Design, construction, financing, and on‐going operations and maintenance of a 22‐mile minimum priority streetcar network;

· Operations and maintenance of the DC Circulator bus system;

· Operations and maintenance of “non‐regional” bus service within the District currently operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (“WMATA”) ; and

· Purchase of vehicles as necessary to operate the above services.

The District anticipates a public-private partnership (PPP) could accelerate the delivery of the DC Streetcar system. Other potential benefits include allowing appropriate risk sharing; maximizing competition and leveraging available public funds; providing greater cost and schedule certainty for the District over the long‐term; and allowing for a more favorable payment profile for the District.

What the…?

By Prince Of Petworth

@TimmyShea sends the photo and asks:

“Do you know anything about this new development at Lauriol Plaza?”

I wonder if that means no half pitchers? Anyone know if they used to sell half glasses of margaritas?

Lauriol Plaza is located at 1835 18th Street, NW.

“Mayor Gray & Health Officials Release 2011 Annual Report Showing Progress on Addressing HIV/AIDS, STDs, Hepatitis and TB in the District”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo via @MayorVinceGray

From a press release:

Today, Mayor Vincent C. Gray and officials from the D.C. Department of Health (DOH) released the 2011 District of Columbia HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD and TB Epidemiology Annual Report. Additionally, DOH officials released a new study on heterosexuals and HIV infection rates in the District and announced new recommendations for medical providers to start treatment immediately for all persons newly diagnosed with HIV.

The report found that 14,465 residents of the District of Columbia – equal to 2.7 percent of the population – are living with HIV. The 2.7 percent exceeds the World Health Organization definition of 1 percent as a generalized epidemic.

Additionally, the report found that:

· The HIV infection rate in all racial/ethnic groups in the District exceeded 1 percent of their respective populations, with African Americans disproportionately impacted at 4.3 percent.

· The number of deaths among persons with HIV in the District decreased by almost half in four years – from 399 deaths in 2006 to 207 in 2010.

· Men having sex with men and heterosexual contact are the two leading transmission modes of new HIV cases.

· Among STDs, there were 5,592 new cases of chlamydia, 2,104 new cases of gonorrhea and 134 new cases of primary and secondary syphilis reported.

· There were 3,127 cases of hepatitis B and 13,236 cases of hepatitis C diagnosed between 2006 and 2010.

· 43 new cases of TB were reported.

In line with the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, the report highlights progress the District has made to reduce the burden of the disease on District residents:

Increasing Access to Care and Improving Health Outcomes

· The number of new AIDS cases decreased by 32 percent, from 700 in 2006 to 477 in 2010.

· Between 2005 and 2009, 4,879 HIV cases were diagnosed.

· In approximately 89 percent (4,347) of cases diagnosed between 2005 and 2009, the patients were linked to HIV medical care by the end of 2010.

· Of diagnosed cases, 2,730 HIV cases (60 percent) achieved viral suppression.

· Average CD4 count at diagnosis jumped from 355 in 2009 to 391 in 2010. Overall, the average count has nearly doubled from 191 in 2006.

· The number of deaths among persons with HIV decreased by almost half, from 339 in 2006 to 207 in 2010.

Reducing New Infections

· The number of newly diagnosed HIV cases in the District decreased slightly, from 853 cases in 2009 to 835 cases in 2010. However, there has been a 24 percent reduction from the 1,103 cases diagnosed in 2006.

· There have been no children born with HIV in the District since 2009.

· There was a 72 percent decrease in the number of newly diagnosed HIV cases attributable to injection-drug use from 150 in 2007 – prior to significant investment in the District’s needle-exchange program – to 42 in 2010.

· STD rates dropped between 2009 and 2010: chlamydia cases by 15 percent (from 6,568 in 2009 to 5,592 in 2010); gonorrhea cases by 18 percent (from 2,567 in 2009 to 2,104 to 2010); and primary and secondary syphilis by 17 percent (from 162 in 2009 to 134 in 2010).

Continues after the jump. (more…)

Dear PoPville – Converting Blighted Community Library Kiosks

By Prince Of Petworth


1300 H St, NE

Dear PoPville,

I’m sure you’ve noticed the District’s “Community Libraries” or Kiosks before. There was one on the 1300 block of H St. NE, called The R. L. Christian Community Library, which was repurposed, at least temporarily, into some sort of pop-up laboratory… There are a handful of these blighted buildings still around the District, and the Department of General Services is hoping to sign license agreements with groups for the “use and reactivation of the properties.” I know personally that the Sursum Corda Kiosk (135 New York Ave., NW) is especially dilapidated, and unfortunately, is adjacent to a newly refurbished playground and community center. Maybe PoPville can spread the word and spark interest in these properties, so they can stop contributing to urban decay:

DGS request for Short Term Property Use

Ed. Note: The H Street NE location was previously used as a Temporium.


135 New York Ave., NW

Marion Barry Wants to Block or Slow Down the H St Streetcar

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC

Last week we learned that DDOT had selected a team to complete H Street/Benning Road streetcar line. Thanks to all who sent in links to the Washington Post article:

D.C. Council member Marion Barry has launched a last ditch effort to slow or derail the city’s planned street car line on H Street, arguing it’s not been well-thought out and is too expensive for the number of riders it will serve.

Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), chairwoman of the Committee on the Environment, Public Works and Transportation, said Barry’s resolution could delay council approval by at least 45 days. Cheh warns that could increase the price of the contract.

Another Scandal for the District

By Prince Of Petworth

From WJLA:

“The man who Mayor Vincent Gray appointed to the head of the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development apparently resigned in the midst of a sex scandal in Philadelphia, according to reports.”

From WPVI:

“PHA staffers had complained to HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) officials that Kelly was having a consensual affair with a woman he had appointed to a senior staff position and, that despite having little or no credentials for the post, he was approving her for large pay increases.”

So I guess we don’t have the most rigorous vetting process…

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