County staff members have been in an information gathering mode for evaluating how many taxi certificates to issue, a process that takes place every other year. Each taxi driver must have a certificate to legally operate in the county. Currently, there are 765 cabs in Arlington.
The county’s taxi regulation is designed to keep the cab industry competitive, as well as to ensure the satisfaction of residents using the transportation services.
Plane at DCA Sinks into Tarmac — It was so hot Friday that a US Airways flight got stuck in some heat-softened pavement while taxi-ing to the runway. [Washington Post]
Vote Set on Pike Streetcar Plan — On July 21 the Arlington County Board is scheduled to vote on whether to proceed with plans to build a streetcar or add enhanced bus service along Columbia Pike. The Board is expected to formally sanction the streetcar plan, then apply for federal funding. [Sun Gazette]
Arlington County says it is making good progress in its continued storm recovery efforts. The county released some updated facts and figures today regarding the storm cleanup.
Flickr pool photo by Divaknevil
We’re told Tiwari, 61, is leaving for Alexandria’s Department of Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities.
Tiwari came to Arlington from Richmond, where he served as the city’s director of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities. He has also worked for the governments of Suffolk and Roanoke, Va.
The hearing is scheduled for 7:00 tonight (Tuesday) at the County Board Room on the third floor of 2100 Clarendon Boulevard. On-site speaker registration begins at 6:00 p.m. The hearing is being held in advance of the Board’s consideration of the CIP and the 2012 bond referenda at its July meeting.
The $2.4 billion proposed CIP includes “funding plans for the full range of County infrastructure needs, including parks, facilities, streets, transit, water and sewer infrastructure and technology.”
The unanimous approval set one public hearing on the Zoning Ordinance changes for July 9, and another for July 24. Both will be in the third-floor Board Room at 2100 Clarendon Blvd.
One issue residents consistently raised at public workshops last year, and continue to contact the county about, is that of signs in the public right away — on road medians and the like. Currently, only two types of signs are allowed in the right of way — political and directional real estate signs. The real estate signs are allowed on weekends, typically to identify open houses, and political signs can remain for 31 days prior to an election.
During her 2012 State of the County address yesterday (see video, above), Arlington County Board Chair Mary Hynes took time to point out the county’s stability, and to soothe fears about negative effects Arlington may experience due to federal budget cuts.
Arlington County has launched a new website for residents and businesses. The site, Building Arlington, is being billed as a “one-stop shop for your Zoning, Permitting, Plan Review, Inspections and Code Enforcement needs.”
So far, about one-third of what will be 60 miles of line has been installed in sections stretching from Clarendon to Glebe Road in Ballston, down Glebe Road to Columbia Pike, and east to the Air Force Memorial. The project, which has been dubbed ConnectArlington, will eventually link over 90 individual sites around the county.
The new network will allow for more communication capacity thanks to increased bandwith compared with the old copper lines. In addition to connecting government buildings and structures, officials say it’s designed to improve communications with residents as well.
This is the third time Arlington has done a Resident Satisfaction Survey; the first took place in 2004, with another in 2008. The county uses the results to target areas for improvement, and to figure out the public resources residents find most beneficial.
This year’s results showed that overall satisfaction with county services increased to 89 percent, up from 87 percent in 2008. Satisfaction with overall quality of life in Arlington increased from 87 percent in 2008 to 92 percent this year.
An online taxi survey has been set up to gather information about experiences with the cabs throughout Arlington. Residents, visitors and businesses are all encouraged to fill out the survey.
According to Richard Viola, the supervisor for the transportation planning section with Arlington’s Department of Environmental Services, the county is in the midst of re-evaluating how many taxi certificates to issue. It’s a process that takes place every other year, and cab drivers must have a certificate to operate in the county.
Before the artwork was proposed, the county was already planning to install an industrial film over the glass panels that line the conference rooms, to minimize the “distracting ‘fishbowl effect'” of people constantly walking by and peering inside during meetings. By combining the money set aside for the film installation and an existing fund for new public art in the building, the county was actually able to complete the project “well under budget.”
The artwork was dubbed “Untitled” by Meyers.
