Douglas Schneider, DC’s anti-car pioneer

On April 17, 1980, the Washington Post ran a curious paragraph, reporting a five-year-old quote for the first time – one withheld originally out of deference to the source:

[Douglas Schneider’s] views of urban transportation were spelled out clearly in an interview in 1975, just before he took charge of the department. “I think it’s immoral,” Schneider said, “for somebody to drive a car downtown.” The quote never appeared in print, because Schneider jocularly threatened bodily harm to a reporter if he used it. The reporter told Schneider he would use it the day Schneider quit.

Schneider wasn’t afraid to make enemies, even within the government, where he was “highly regarded…as somebody who could get things done”:

Early in his administration, he moved his traffic engineering department from a nice office overlooking 12th Street NW to an underground bunker hard by the 3rd Street expressway. He installed his mass transit director in the office with the nice view.

Post reporter Douglas Feaver clearly admired Schneider, listing his controversial accomplishments from a relatively brief service under mayors Washington and Berry:

• Bitterly opposed right turns on red until he was forced by the federal
  government to adopt it, then put up “No Turn on Red” signs at four out
  of every five intersections in the city.

(Schneider’s views prevailed in the long run – right on red is banned in DC as of January 1, 2025. But the signs must remain).

• Mounted a vigorous attack against illegal parking here and, when he could get little cooperation from the police department, created his own ticket-writing force to wage the war.
• Infuriated Montgomery County commuters by returning 13th Street NW to two-way traffic. It had become a one-way rush hour freeway and “that street really belongs to the neighborhood,” Schneider said.
• Was one of the first urban transportation directors in the country to reserve curb lanes on major thoroughfares for buses, and thus attempt to make public transit more convenient than cars.
• Battled vigorously for low fares on Metro, arguing low rates were needed so transit could compete with the auto driver, who he described as overprivileged, over-subsidized and overpampered.
• Supported the use of almost $2 billion in federal money for Metro subway construction, money that could have been used for freeways and other road-building projects in the District of Columbia.

Schneider reportedly paved DC’s first 3 miles of bike lanes in Capitol Hill – the only ones in 20th century DC.

“What sense does an urban freeway make? It takes up space in an already crowded area. It removes land from the tax base. It’s ugly. It destroys the city esthetically. It creates pollution, it cuts off urban dwellers from city services. But more important, it fails to accomplish its objective. It doesn’t relieve congestion. It just generates more cars. It may move the congestion around a little bit, but it sure as hell doesn’t solve the problem.”

Hat tips to Dan Tangherlini and Peter Furth.