OUR IDEA FOR MARTINI CARS ON THE METRO...

Did not make the final cut at the Appleseed Foundation's contest for the best idea to fix DC. What a sham.

Nonetheless, they have narrowed the list to 20 and want people to vote for the best three.

Here are two DC Bubble likes:

THE BUS FAIR CAMPAIGN
To speed travel by bus, Metro should mount exterior "parking ticket" cameras on buses to ticket (with digital photos/video) vehicles illegally parked at bus stops. These tickets should be expensive enough (>$125) to reduce illegal parking and subsequent violations should be pricier.

TALLER BUILDINGS IN EXCHANGE FOR MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING
To encourage low-income housing, let developers build taller buildig in exchange for affordable housing. Let's keep the height restriction within a respectful distance of the Mall and Capitol, such as north of U Street/Florida Ave. NW/NE, east of 15th St. NE/SE, and south of M St. SW/SE. If a developer reserves 10% of the units in a new building for the poor and working class, then let's allow that building to be one story taller than allowed under the current cap. For each additional 10% of reserved affordable units, the developer can build one floor higher.

Other suggestions on the list might be good ideas (tax-free savings accounts for housing, tax credits for transit) but are costly and unfunded; others are politically unrealistic (tolls at the DC line). A martini cart on the Metro, by the way, would raised buckets of money for the cash strapped transit system.