Head down 9th Street NW south of the convention center, and there’s those damn dedicated bus lanes. I’m all for supporting public transit and such, but riddle me this: How are you supposed to make a right turn from a street on which there’s a bus lane on the right?

If the lane’s lines are dashed, ignore the dirty looks from bus drivers and bicyclists and get into their lane and make the turn. As long as you’re only in the lane for only one block, it’s perfectly legal.

In fact, to do otherwise—such as trying to make a turn from the lane next to the marked lane—can net you a ticket. You’ll also likely end up with a ticket if you attempt to cross a solid white line into the bus lane, or if you travel multiple blocks in a bus lane.

So how do you know when you can make the turn? Pay heed to the standard dashed street markings—they’re common national practice, according to transportation department spokesperson Erik Linden.

Every Monday, the ‘Huh?’ Bub takes your questions. Got one?

Why is the new Metro lady’s spiel so wordy? By the time she gets done telling us “Step back to allow the doors to close” the doors could have closed, and we could have been at the next station.

Verbosity equals authoritativeness, at least according to Metro spokesperson Taryn McNeil.

While the old announcements were direct and to-the-point with such statements as “Doors closing” or “Doors opening,” the new voice adds phrases like “Step back to allow the doors to close.” The additional changes have helped Metro better maintain its schedule, says McNeil.

“With the old voice, we observed people treating the announcements and chime like a yellow light on a traffic signal,” she says. “We believe the change has gotten people’s attention and may change their behavior, which will result in a smoother, faster trip for everyone.”

McNeil also credits the new announcements with improved customer safety and less crowding near the doors. Moreover, although there are no quantitative studies to suggest any relationship to the new announcements, McNeil points out that Metro has seen a 5 percent ridership increase throughout the past year.

Every Monday, the ‘Huh?’ Bub takes your questions. Got one?

Why are D.C.’s fire hydrants green? Doesn’t it make harder for firefighters to find them? It certainly makes it harder for me to notice them when I’m trying to find a parking spot.

The majority of the District’s fire hydrants have been the same shade of green for more than 100 years, according to Louis Jarvis, director of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority.

The reasoning? While green is harder to see than the more common red or yellow, it sure is pretty. “Although they’re less visible than other colors, they are aesthetically pleasing,” he says.

The reason that aesthetics can rule over practicality is that District firefighters are supposed to know where the hydrants are. The “layout” firefighter in a given unit, who is in charge of attaching the fire hose to the hydrant—as well as numerous backup layout firefighters—knows the location of a significant portion of the District’s more than 8,700 hydrants—including every hydrant in their service area.

Interestingly, within the past five years, the District’s fire department pondered changing the color of the hydrants, but decided against it rather than change the look of the District’s tree-box areas.

In case you’re wondering, there’s no significance to the occasional yellow and red hydrants that dot the city. That’s just the way they’ve always been, says Jarvis.

Every Monday, the ‘Huh?’ Bub takes your questions. Got one?

A few weeks ago I was transferring from the Green Line to the Red Line at Gallery Place. The sign on the train said its final destination was Silver Spring, but when I got on the operator said the next stop was Metro Center. Sure enough, the next stop was Judiciary Square. Why doesn’t Metro use automated recordings to announce stops on trains like they do on Metrobuses? It’s easier to understand and isn’t prone to human error.

The Americans With Disabilities Act requires public transportation systems to announce all stops. But rather than have coldly artificial automated messages make those announcements, Metro requires train operators to announce their stops so that passengers feel the comfort of a human voice, says system spokesperson Taryn McNeil. Making announcements, she says, also helps operators pay attention–aside from an occasional lapse, like not knowing which direction the train is running. The announcements “reinforce to our operators their operating stats, such as approach speed, station name, and station configuration (side platform or center platform),” McNeil says.

Metrobuses use an automated system to ensure that disabled passengers’ needs are met because bus lines have more stops than rail lines, says McNeil.

But what about the problems that result from that human voice, like incorrect or indecipherable announcements?

Metro operates training programs that instruct operators on “proper elocution and how to correctly speak into the microphone,” McNeil says, but some muddled announcements are not due to the operator at all, but rather are the result of Metro cars’ old voice systems. (They’re built differently from the doors’ voice systems.) And the errors that are the result of the operator are worth the tradeoff, McNeil says.

If you notice a problem with the audio system, McNeil suggests you jot down the train number and time and let Metro know.

Every Monday, the ‘Huh?’ Bub takes your questions. Got one?

The other day I was following directions that directed me to take Argonne Street NW to Harvard Street NW. The only problem was that when I got to the end of Argonne I found myself at the intersection of Harvard Street NW and Harvard Street NW. What gives? How can a street intersect with itself?

According to the map in the District’s January 2002 Comprehensive Plan, Harvard Street NW doesn’t intersect with itself—the street running east-west is the continuation of Harvard Street while the street running north-south is Harvard Court.

However, for at least the past three years, Harvard Court has ceased to exist—at least at the actual intersection, despite a suggestion by District Department of Transportation (DDOT) spokesman Erik Linden that “There is currently a sign that reads ‘Harvard Court’ at the intersection of Harvard Street and Harvard Court, but it’s faded.”

But the situation will change sometime this week when DDOT staff installs two new signs reading “Harvard Court”, one at Harvard Street and one at Columbia Road. So hopefully the next time you need to follow Harvard Street, you won’t turn down the wrong Harvard and end up at Columbia Road.

Every Monday, the ‘Huh?’ Bub takes your questions. Got one?

Why do D.C. police cruisers have “running” flashing lights? Doesn’t that just give them away? And why are they white in the front and blue and red in the back?

A few years ago, D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey visited Israel. After he landed, one of the first things he noticed was that the Israeli police cruisers patrolled with running flashing lights to increase their visibility and make residents feel safer.

“In a place with car bombings and other terrorist attacks putting people in a near-constant state of fear, the police lights provided people a sense that the police presence was felt,” says Assistant Chief Brian Jordan.

So when Ramsey returned to the District he initiated a policy that encourages every marked police car to patrol with their flashing lights in order to make District residents feel safer, as well as to counter District residents’ gripes that “We never see the police,” says Jordan.

Exceptions to the policy do exist, including when making their presence known could jeopardize an arrest.

The policy did require some tweaking, Jordan says, since most newcomers to the District are unaccustomed to police patrolling with their lights on. That’s why the police removed the colored bars from the front of their lights.

“We needed to make sure people knew that a police car patrolling was not an emergency,” says Jordan, noting that at first, residents were often confused and pulled over whenever they saw a cruiser with its lights on.

Whether the policy actually makes a difference is debatable, says one officer who declined to be named. “If the chief wants it done, we’ve got to do it—he feels that it’s working,” he says.

Every Monday, the ‘Huh?’ Bub takes your questions. Got one?

Whenever I watch a Nats game it’s hard not to notice that the entire outfield wall is covered in what appear to be fans that are not powered, but spin whenever there’s a breeze—what the hell are those and why are they there?

The fans lackadaisically spinning behind Nats outfielder Alfonso Soriano’s back are a relic from a bygone era, when the paint, engineering, and other trade shops housed below RFK’s bleachers were not air conditioned and needed fresh air circulation.

However, even with the fans—which are not powered and are only used to promote circulation—the shops were undoubtedly hot and humid, says RFK Stadium Manager Troy Scott.

“Years ago, it must have been very rough down there,” says Scott.

So why stick fans in plain sight when there must be countless other places to put them? The fans are located in the shops’ only openings and are invisible beneath the stands when RFK is in its soccer or football configuration, says Scott.

And the more than $15 million in renovations to RFK included no plans to get rid of the fans, according to D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission spokesperson Tony Robinson.

“It never ceases to amaze me that no matter how much money we put into it, this place is still a dump,” Robinson says, as he passes the renovated Terrace Food Court.

Every Monday, the ‘Huh?’ Bub takes your questions. Got one?

Why is the Iwo Jima Memorial in Virginia? And why is there a copyright at the bottom of the statue? If copyrights are necessary for memorials, why don’t they all have them?

The “monumental” view of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol is why the National Parks Service decided on the Virginia location for the memorial, according to National Parks Service spokesman Bill Line, who notes that the memorial is actually called the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial since it is dedicated to all Marines who have died since 1775. Moreover, before construction began on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982, no national war memorials were located on the National Mall (the lone war memorial on the mall was the D.C. World War I Memorial) since war memorials were thought better suited to be placed close to Arlington National Cemetery.

Officially dedicated in 1954, the memorial is based on a photograph by the recently-deceased Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal. Since the AP holds the copyright to the photograph as an “original work of art,” according to U.S. copyright law, the statue is considered a “derivative work” of the original. As a result, it is one of two monuments in the D.C. region with a copyright.

Monuments and memorials do not need copyrights, but if there is an inherent copyright issue at hand (like the Iwo Jima Memorial), or the memorial’s creator simply files the paperwork (as was the case with Korean War Veterans Memorial creator Frank Gaylord) a copyright will appear on the statue making it illegal for “Joe Blow or Suzy Creamcheese to take a picture of the statue …and sell it for cold, hard American cash,” Line says.

Every Monday, the ‘Huh?’ Bub takes your questions. Got one?

Posted by Zak Stambor
How does Metro calculate train arrival times? It’s definitely not accurate—I’ve timed it!

Metro knows their passenger information display system monitors (PIDS) don’t match the actual train arrival times. Rather, the signs show Metro’s train schedule.

As long as Metro trains remain on automatic control (i.e., the driver doesn’t actually take over the controls) and there’s no delays due to passengers cramming into trains, a train malfunction, or other factors, the PIDS is accurate, says Metro spokesman Cathy Asato.

But even though PIDS don’t show the trains’ actual locations, Metro does monitor every train at Metro’s operations control center at its downtown headquarters, at Sixth and F streets NW.

So why don’t they display trains’ actual arrival times?

The PIDS system, which has been in place since October 2000, cannot handle real-time changes, according to Asato. She does note that Metro has enhanced the signage, for instance to feature a train’s number of cars, alongside the line color, destination, and number of minutes the train is expected to arrive.

Every Monday, the ‘Huh?’ Bub takes your questions. Got one?

I was watching TV over the weekend, early morning, when all the channels went black with white lettering. They do this routine weekly test thing with a horn honking, but this wasn’t that. The horn honked, but then I read the screen and it was an Amber-alert-type deal. It told the areas that were on alert for a missing child: D.C., Falls Church, Alexandria, and maybe some others, but there was no information about the kid or a picture or description or anything. So my question is, what are we supposed to do when these alerts run?

Turn up the volume. When an Amber Alert—or any other Emergency Alert System (EAS)—message pops up on your television, most of the necessary information will be transmitted via audio originating from a local radio station. The station, which in much of the District is WTOP, will describe the situation and how to respond.

EAS messages are the result of a collaboration between the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the National Weather Service. The agencies require Comcast and other cable providers to broadcast national messages such as the 8-second weekly tests or presidential announcements in the event of emergency. (No president has yet used the system.)

There are also some state and local EAS messages, such as some National Weather Service announcements and, yes, “Amber Alerts” that notify the public that someone has abducted a child. Presumably, what you saw was an Amber Alert, which was invented after the 1996 kidnapping and murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman from Arlington, Texas, and was made a national program in 2003. Last month, there was only one alert in the D.C. area, according to Comcast. The audio that accompanied the alert noted descriptions of the abductor and child, as well as instructions about when and how you should contact local police.

Every Monday, the ‘Huh?’ Bub takes your questions. Got one?

I’ve heard that the District’s traffic circles aren’t roundabouts—what’s the difference? And what’s the biggest circle in the city? And the smallest?

D.C.’s circular intersections are considered traffic circles since they feature stop signs or signals and give priority to entering vehicles. Roundabouts force vehicles entering the intersection to yield. They also use both pavement markings and raised islands to direct traffic into a one-way counterclockwise flow to prevent confusion, as well as to slow traffic. Since roundabouts force traffic to slow and create gaps in traffic, roundabouts are safer than circles—as well as the stop signs or traffic signals they replace—according to a 2001 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

One reason that the District features circles rather than roundabouts is that modern roundabouts did not emerge until 1904 in New York City—nearly 113 years after Pierre L’Enfant designed the District’s street grid featuring wide avenues radiating out of traffic circles.

The varying size of the District’s avenues creates a wide range of traffic circle sizes. For instance, Plymouth Circle in Colonial Village is only 95 feet across due to its isolated location between Rock Creek Park and Beach Drive in the northern corner of the city. Likewise, both Garfield and Peace Circles measure about 150 feet due to their locations on the National Mall. The largest circle, the 2,100-foot diameter Observatory Circle, no longer exists—at least as a circle—since the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and 34th Street now forms an arc to isolate Dick Chaney’s digs at One Observatory Circle. As a result, the Lincoln Memorial Circle now holds the title of the District’s largest circle with its nearly 700-foot diameter.

Every Monday, the ‘Huh?’ Bub takes your questions. Got one?

Why is it so hard to figure out how much a trip on a Metro train will cost, while buses are a flat rate? Why don’t trains either have a set rate—like those in Chicago and New York—or a simple zone system—like in London?

Subway fares correspond to the distances that passengers travel. Despite being confusing, Metro considers the system is the fairest way to charge people for their trips, according to transit authority spokesperson Candace Smith.

The system’s only hitch, Smith says, is that riders have to look at the rates posted above the fare card machine or station manager kiosk in order to figure out how much their ride will cost.

Metro made the decision to put the current system in place in August 1975, when Metro officials decided the mileage-based system was the best way to encourage riders to take short trips. A zone system, like the London Underground’s, might have required passengers traveling from Rosslyn to Foggy Bottom to cross zones for a one-stop commute, while a flat fare, like the New York City Subway or Chicago “L” systems, would have required urban riders to subsidize suburbanites commutes, says George Mason University history professor Zachary Schrag, who detailed the history of the Metro in his book The Great Society Subway.

“Metro planners were starting fresh, which allowed them to do things very differently than older subways,” says Schrag, noting that machines capable of calculating varying fares for a mileage-based system did not exist before the 1960s.

At the same time that Metro planners decided on the mileage-based system, they also considered using a mileage-based system for buses but later changed their minds after deciding that it was not technologically feasible.

Every Monday, the ‘Huh?’ Bub takes your questions. Got one?

Why, oh, why is D.C. such a bicycle-unfriendly city? It’s small, bikeable, traffic is congested, etc., yet every time I ride my bike outside the paths in Rock Creek Park, I feel as though I must have a death wish! There are a few bike lanes here and there, but they’re mostly unheeded (with cars parked all over them), or they end mysteriously in the middle of a stretch. Why do the few bike lanes in the city stop mid-street?

Many District bike lanes, or bikeways, stop midstreet because the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) marks most new bikeways only when they resurface the street, says Jim Sebastian, the agency’s city bike coordinator. And since most resurfacing jobs only encompass three to six blocks, the process often leaves bicyclists out of luck.

“Waiting for streets to be resurfaced to mark bike lanes is the most time- and cost-effective solution,” explains Sebastian, noting that DDOT does occasionally mark bike lanes on streets that are not being resurfaced, such as one stretch that connects the Shaw/Howard University Metro station to Dupont Circle.

The new bike lanes are part of DDOT’s District of Columbia Bicycle Plan, released in April 2005. The plan calls for the District to double its current 30 miles of bike lanes by 2015. But since the project is only in its early stages, it occasionally leaves bikers befuddled about where to ride, says Sebastian.

When the $45 million Bicycle Plan is finished, DDOT aims to have 150 miles of signed bike routes in place, as well as the bike lanes. In addition to increasing the number of areas for bicyclists to ride, the plan includes educational programs for both bicyclists and motorists about safe bicycling, plus an enforcement program for bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorists.

“You can’t have a bike-friendly city without education and enforcement,” says Sebastian, pointing to Portland, Ore., Chicago, and Philadelphia as cities that have effectively balanced the needs of bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorists.

Every Monday, the ‘Huh?’ Bub takes your questions. Got one?

What exactly do the “drug-free zone” signs mean? Aren’t illegal drugs illegal everywhere? Who puts them up and why?

It’s true; there’s no place to legally buy, sell, or use drugs in the District. But “drug-free zones”—a police designation that lasts up to five days—are especially bad places to take part in drug-related activities since they allow D.C. cops to arrest groups who appear to be using, purchasing, or selling illegal drugs if they fail to disperse after being instructed to do so by a uniformed officer. In non-drug-free zones, police need to establish probable cause before forcing groups to disperse.

The D.C. Council passed the Anti-Loitering/Drug Free Zone Act in 1996 to allow the chief of police to designate drug-free zones in the wake of periods of disproportionate drug-related offenses. However, the first drug-free zone wasn’t designated until April 3, 2003, after a rash of possession and distribution arrests in the Truxton Circle area. In the years since, the police department has designated drug free zones in every police district except the 2nd.

But does the designation actually reduce drug use, purchases or sales?

“While we may be able to disrupt drug activity for five days, if drug dealers are back on Day 6 we may not have done a whole lot,” says police spokesperson Kevin Morrison.

A number of advocacy groups, including the Justice Policy Institute (JPI), a nonprofit research and public policy organization that advocates for alternatives to incarceration, agree. In March, JPI released a report evaluating drug-free zones in the District, Utah, Illinois, and other areas that suggests that drug-free zones do not deter drug sales.

“The laws were put in place to be a deterrent, but the way they play out its clear that they are not working,” says Jason Ziedenberg, the institute’s executive director.

Every Monday, the ‘Huh?’ Bub takes your questions. Got one?

Most of the District is a no-fly zone, with the exception of military aircraft, right? So how do hospital-to-hospital emergency transport helicopters fit in? They must have to fly over the Mall and major federal buildings all the time. Do they have to take a circuitous route to miss those buildings? Are they a potential terrorist threat?

Relax. When you’re hemorrhaging blood and need transport from one hospital to another, your helicopter will be able to fly over the Mall, across the Ellipse, or above any other area within the District’s 15-square-mile restricted flight zone—as long as the hospital or charter company that owns the helicopter has applied for the proper waiver.

“Security is our key mission, but we realize that life-threatening situations are also an important consideration,” says Transportation Security Administration spokesperson Amy Kudla.

The waivers come in two forms—advance and emergency. To get advance clearance, companies apply for a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) waiver, which is then vetted by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Based on the National Capitol Region Air Space Control’s assessments of the current intelligence, the District’s threat level and a handful of other considerations, the FAA approves or disapproves the waiver within seven days. When a helicopter needs to dispatch, the pilot registers his or her name, tail number, and exact flight plan with the TSA along with the pre-approved waiver number.

For emergency clearance, helicopters must be equipped with a two-way radio and maintain two-way radio communications at all times; the helicopter must be equipped with an operating transponder, obtain a specific transponder code from air traffic control and continuously transmit it; the pilot must file instrument flight rules and visual flight rules prior to departure or prior to entering the District; and the aircraft operator also register their name, tail number, and flight plan with the TSA.

And when helicopters veer from their flight plans, TSA responds instantly to curtail any threat, Kudla says.

Every Monday, the ‘Huh?’ Bub takes your questions. Got one?