District Department of Transportation

Wow, if you see someone driving around in a DOT truck do not automatically assume that they are solid drivers, as evidence by a recent incident. Walking across the street, I very obviously had the right of way (no question, 30 seconds) and a DOT driver did not stop and barely slowed down as I threw up my arms in disbelief as he passed. Nearly clipped me, coming within feet of me. Okay, but that happens in DC all the time, right? Sure, but not what happens next. He slows down to almost a crawl, on Wisconsin Ave NW no less, rolls down his window and yells a bunch of stuff at me in an aggressive tone to which I reply, «You need to yield to pedestrians, simple as that»…(Barely slowing down and nearly clipping me to arrive at your destination 5 seconds quicker does not count.) He PARKED his car on Wisconsin ave (anyone who knows the city knows how busy this street is during rush hour) and got out and, with on coming traffic quickly approaching from behind him, he approached me, any way, yelling all sorts of swears. The best part is, in all his anger and hissy fit, he had the audacity to tell me to learn some manners. No child, your tirade shows you are the one who needs to learn some manners, my tax dollars pay your salary. Grow up. Road rage + hot head from the Department of Transportation. Sadly, DOT was no help in trying to figure out who this person was with his shameful, childish display. But these are the kind of people representing the department of transportation and Dot should be ashamed, not so much for his actions, but seemingly failing to do anything about it after I complained.
As of now, negative stars to the DoT.

Much better than I expected! The staff were helpful, the lines were shorter than I had feared they would be, and the place was air-​conditioned and spacious.

I’m simply stunned. Twice now I’ve crossed paths with DDOT and both times I got a timely response and service. Is this really a government office?
Most recently, after tripping yet again Thursday night in the hole in the 14^th street crosswalk at G, I used the Post’s SeeClickFix form to report the issue to DDOT. I not only got a confirmation that my issue had been received but I’m simply stunned that the hole was fixed by Friday morning. Clearly something is very wrong here.
Sure I have the same gripes as everyone about transportation issues in the District, but every once in awhile they get it right. And now I won’t twist my ankle anymore crossing the street.

So there I was, leaving class to return to my car (legally parked in a handicap space with a handicap tag on my mirror, totally legit) to drive home after a long, terrible day. GADZOOKS! The car is nowhere to be found! This was most curious since I have parked in this very spot for a number of days at this very time of day. So I called up DDOT and here is how the conversation went.
Me: Hi, my car was towed, can you tell me where it is?
DDOT: Sure, when was it towed?
Me: I have no idea, tow trucks don’t leave notes.
DDOT: OK well your car isn’t in the system. You should walk around the neighborhood and look for your car.
Me: Alright, just to be clear. My car was legally parked in a handicap space on a street you can park on during rush hour, you «move» it, and you can’t tell me where it is?
DDOT: That is correct.
Me: Well am I going to get a ticket or is there a boot on my tire?
DDOT: Of course not, maybe the truck just needed to make room on the street. Have a nice day!
Thank god I was with friends and we promptly ran off in every direction. After almost an hour, I got the call from a friend that my poor kidnapped car had been found. And sure enough, there was a ticket for $ 100 on the dashboard. DDOT FAIL.

Why do I keep paying taxes to this city, when the roads are worse than in the 3^rd world, the meter maids regularly break traffic laws, and DDOT employees keep writing illegal tickets? I know the laws. I don’t park illegally, and yet they ticket me anyway, knowing that even though I have no money, it’s worth it to me to pay the illegal ticket instead of having to go deal with the morons downtown to challenge it.
DC employees refuse to live up to any standards of conduct. Any.

I really am a fan of the District Department of Transportation.
First, I love the logo. «D.» (DDot). It is creative and catchy.
Second, I love riding the buses in DC. They are much better than the metro, go more places, and, for the most part, run pretty regularly (check out my Unilocal lists about the bus routes!)
Third, I like this whole new ‘rent a bike’ scheme that they are planning. Though I do not know when it will start up (I hope soon).
I recently saw an add that said something like ‘another reason to leave the car at home — free parking’, in an effort to get people to bike more. Then I thought, ‘that’s all well and good, but what is D. doing to make people want to bike more?”. Shortly after, I saw 15^th street near my apartment (in columbia heights) get torn up and repaved in a relatively quick manner. THEN, when I was walking home yesterday, I saw that 15^th street now has a bike lane! Woot woot! I applaud D. for this action and I hope they keep it up.
DC is a fairly easy city to get around in and I hope the understanding that the more bike friendly it becomes, the better, continues.
Caveat: I do not own a car, so don’t have to deal with parking, traffic, etc. Therefore, my review may be slightly skewed.
D. you rock!