August 10, 2009
Dear Coalition Friends:
In its August 5th edition, The Northwest Current editorialized about the DC Circulator/Tourmobile/Mall signage controversy. This follows The Current's July 20th story about the hearing during which the National Capital Planning Commission criticized the National Park Service's plan to omit public transit from new Mall signs but then approved the sign project anyhow. Read the article in our July 20th UPDATE.
A pdf of the August 5, 2009 issue of the Current can be downloaded here.
THE NORTHWEST CURRENT
Editorial
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Full access to the Mall
It is one of the mysteries of Washington.
Why doesn’t a convenient, low-cost bus service traverse the National Mall west of 17th Street? It’s certainly not for lack of destinations — the province includes monuments to three presidents and four wars. Some are closer than others to available parking and Metrorail stations, but limited transit options puts them all out of reach to many people with limited mobility.
The cherry blossom season, in particular, offers an annual reminder that visiting the Jefferson Memorial and Tidal Basin to see the springtime splendor will mean either walking a long way or driving into heavy traffic with few places to park. One alternative, of course, is a Tourmobile ride — although the $27 price tag makes it a bit extravagant for anyone who’s not interested in a guided, daylong visit to D.C.’s major sightseeing spots.
The National Park Service says it’s not even permitted to tell visitors to the Mall about the $1 bus service operated by the DC Circulator from the U.S. Capitol west to 17th Street on weekends. An exclusive contract with Tourmobile, according to the agency’s testimony at a recent National Capital Planning Commission hearing, bars the Park Service’s new signage program for the Mall from mentioning the Circulator at all.
We have our doubts about whether the contract is really written so loosely. Judy Scott Feldman, chair and president of the National Coalition To Save Our Mall, says that Tourmobile’s “full rights within the park” relate to interpretive transportation, not public transit.
D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, quite appropriately, has taken a great interest in the National Mall. We hope she and the relevant congressional committees will examine this issue — and put an end to an unwelcome, and unwelcoming, situation. We’d welcome an extended Circulator service that both serves the west side of the National Mall and is advertised within it.
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