Gabe Klein out at DDOT

DDOT Director and alternative transportation guru Gabe Klein just announced he will not be welcome in the Gray administration, and will be leaving. Klein has been a major champion of streetcars and especially bicycling projects in the city, so his departure will be a major loss for progressive transportation policy. It is also a significant warning sign that mayor-elect Vincent Gray doesn’t intend to continue pushing forward as vigorously on transportation as did his predecessor.

This decision makes Gray one out of three on supporting a progressive DDOT. He kept streetcars in the budget, but fired Klein and eliminated the "Unified Fund," which was used by DOT for quick fixes to a variety of issues. Taken together there is a clear pattern: Gray will continue policies that have been on the books for a long time, but will obstruct DDOT from moving quickly on just about anything.

Washington, D.C., has taken a step backwards. It’s not a good day.

Dan Malouff is an Arlington County transportation planner who blogs independently at BeyondDC.com. The Local Blog Network is a group of bloggers from around the D.C. region who have agreed to make regular contributions to All Opinions Are Local.