D.C.’s DOT Director talks “Transportation Freedom”
Meet Gabe Klein who was appointed new director of Washington D.C.'s Department of Transportation (DDOT) in December 2008. With an interesting background which includes four years working for Zipcar, Mr. Klein was brought in with the idea of looking at the job from a fresh perspective (check out: Potholepalooza!) and innovating solutions to many mobility problems D.C. faces. Right off the bat, you'll love a lot of what he has to say:
"Cars are a part of our daily life here in D.C. ...but what we want to do is try to equalize the playing field. Encourage people to walk, to bike, to bike share; or instead of owning a car - car share."
Washington D.C. already has one of the lowest household car-ownership percentages of any major U.S. city, so actively promoting these modes is essential to helping its citizens move about with - as Mr Klein points out - "freedom".
This is good news. It seems that city's are starting to hire qualified and progressive stars to head their transportation depts. Good luck DC!
From what source does one find car-ownership percentages?
We need a guy like him in Houston. Obviously he's much adept at understaind a city's traffic issues. Houston is pretty much all about cars. Well except for the unpleasant Metro bus system, and the expensive MetroRail that hasn't brought that much revitality to the area because it's not long enough, and there's not great ridership on it. Bike lanes are barely existent, and you can forget about walking around.
The US Census has that information: factinder.census.gov