D.C. transportation chief's chat is illuminating

Entrepreneur-turned-District transportation czar Gabe Klein opined on everything from bike sharing to streetcars during an hour-long online chat Friday, the first in a monthly series of chats he plans on transportation topics.

Klein took questions and requests from the public for more than an hour. Some people wanted more tree boxes on public sidewalks; others complained about unrepaired utility cuts; another asked when streetscape improvements to Pennsylvania Avenue SE would start (within the next month).

It's clear that Klein has a host of innovative projects on his plate to enhance biking, parking and walking and to get traffic moving faster in the city. Funding and bureaucracy could slow some big projects, like the ambitious network of eight streetcar lines the Fenty administration envisions covering 37 miles along K Street through downtown, H Street and Benning Road, Georgia Avenue/14th Street/Seventh Street, and Rhode Island Avenue/U Street.

For a text of the chat, click here.

-- Lisa Rein