Transit Benefit Act withdrawn

Late last year, Mayor Gray introduced the Transportation Benefits Act of 2013 as part of the Sustainable DC initiative that would have benefited bike commuters. 

At the beginning of this month, Mayor Gray submitted a package of 11 bills as part of the Sustainable DC Act of 2013. Included in this is the Transit Benefit Establishment Act of 2013, which would require that employers with 50 or more workers provide their minimum wage-eligible staff with some form of transit benefit. [This]  could include the bicycle commuter benefit, if the employer chooses to offer it.

While not perfect, that bill had a lot of promise. But that bill was withdrawn about a month after it was introduced. I've contacted the Mayor and members of the council to find out why, but no one has written me back. So that's disappointing. 

On a related note, there are some other bills that are working their way through or have been approved that cyclists might be interested in. 

There is the Kenilworth Section Of The Anacostia Riverwalk Trail Contract Emergency Approval Resolution Of 2014. This bill will let DDOT lease land from Amtrak fore $2M that will be needed for the Kenilworth section of the ART. This passed earlier this month.

There's the Smoking Restriction Amendment Act of 2013 which became law at the end of 2013. It prohibits smoking at or within 25 feet of any public recreational facility when another person is present (with an exception for smoking at residential property) and it defines a public recreational facility to include trails.

The Spring Place Real Property Limited Tax Abatement Assistance Emergency Act Of 2013, provides a limited real property tax abatement and tax relief to the Spring Place development project. That project includes "completion of a segment of the Metropolitan Branch Trail". It passed last year. And associated with it is the Dedication Of Land For Street Purposes (s.o. 13-) Act Of 2013 which allows for the realignment of the street Spring Place, NW in squares 3185 and 3186 for the extension of the Metropolitan Branch Trail within those blocks. That bill is still in committee. Spring Place, NW is a short road between Blair Road and the Takoma Metro Station. 

Comments

[T]

That 50+ employees law sounded awesome. I wonder why they pulled back on it. Perhaps pressure from big box retailers?

The only smoking restriction outdoors that makes sense to me is near public entrances or in confined outdoor spaces. Otherwise, I think they're sillyg (and I don't smoke really--maybe a half dozen cigars in a year, usually during a holiday, and on a beach).

[Shalom]

The rent to Amtrak isn't $2 million, don't worry! That's a "contingency fund" (see paragraph 65 of the lease, on page 32), in case some contractor doesn't carry the right liability insurance and somebody sues Amtrak.

The actual rent for 3 years during construction of the larger area, plus 50 years of use of the smaller area, is under $10,000.