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Through Project UP, Comcast is committing one billion dollars to reach millions of people with the skills, resources, and opportunities they need to succeed in a digital world and build a future of unlimited possibilities.

Why is Good Transit Access Still Just a “Vision” for D.C.?

Earlier this month, Metro released its “visionary” draft bus network redesign, created as part of its Better Bus initiative. The new map would better integrate routes across the DMV region, provide 24/7 service on some routes and increase bus access in underserved areas. It includes 100 routes that would operate at frequencies of 20 minutes or better—many even come at intervals of 12 minutes or less.

According to Metro, implementing this visionary map would create 20% more trips that are competitive with driving. Fewer cars on the road means less traffic, less air pollution and less fossil fuel burning. It would make D.C. residents safer, healthier and happier. Increasing bus service in the District also primarily benefits people of color, who make up 84% of Metrobus riders.

But for now, this map is exactly what it sounds like: purely “visionary.” Essentially, a pipe dream. Fully implementing the map would cost 35% more than bus service currently does. Meanwhile, the city is facing a budget shortfall for the first time in years, and Mayor Bowser’s budget proposal attempts to meet that challenge in part by cutting back on buses—eliminating three out of six D.C. Circulator routes. Though the budget process remains far from complete, the mayor’s proposal indicates her office’s priorities. Those priorities clearly do not include addressing climate change or increasing access to public transit.

Just because it’s not a priority for the mayor’s office doesn’t mean it’s not a priority for D.C. residents, though. And Metro has created some easy ways for people to let the public in on the planning for the next step of its multi-year Better Bus initiative.

Over the 50 days between April 17 and June 5, the agency is hosting 50 events aimed at gathering residents’ thoughts on bus service. You can also leave comments directly on an interactive map of the draft network, which has tools that allow you to compare proposed routes with current ones or plan out a theoretical trip using the improved map.

You can find the event schedule and the interactive map (plus videos demonstrating how to use the map tools) at betterbus.wmata.com.

The District isn’t going to adopt the entirety of the “visionary network” anytime soon. But Metrobus can still make progress with smaller steps to improve service. The more we interact with the Better Bus process, the more we prove that transportation access matters to D.C. citizens.

Arbor Day: We Need More Trees in Local Communities of Color

When the first U.S. Arbor Day celebrations started in Nebraska in 1872, the state’s settlers noted the need for trees to protect from the hot sun, as a windbreak to keep soil in place, and resources such as building materials. It was estimated that 1 million trees were planted on the first Arbor Day April 10, 1872.

More than 150 years later, Arbor Day is now celebrated nationwide, generally on the last Friday of the month (although some states commemorate the importance of planting trees more in line with the best weather to plant trees).

Even with the modern technology that wasn’t available in 1872, trees are important to sustaining healthy and thriving land, communities and people.

According to a June 2021 NPR article, trees keep urban neighborhoods cooler, help capture stormwater runoff, remove carbon dioxide from the air, help in making air conditioning bills manageable and protect lives– particularly during major heat waves.

The NPR article, “Bringing Back Trees To ‘Forest City’s’ Redlined Areas Helps Residents and The Climate,” notes that research shows low-income neighborhoods generally have less trees than wealthier areas.

American Forests’ Tree Equity Score examines tree coverage across U.S. cities, and allows for website guests to do the same by typing in a particular area, checking out the interactive maps, and breaking down the statistics. Much of the data shows disparities in trees in wealthy and low-income neighborhoods.

“A map of tree cover in any city in the United States is too often a map of race and income. This is unacceptable. Trees are critical infrastructure that every person in every neighborhood deserves. Trees can help address damaging environmental inequities like air pollution,” the website declares.

While American Forests celebrated the District as one of the U.S. cities with the best equity

Rat Race

I love The Washington Informer, but please never put a rodent on your cover again. As a lifelong District resident, I’ve had my fair share of seeing them and don’t need any reminders they exist. However, I am pleased that the city is finally making an effort to do something about the problem.

Erica Dean Washington, D.C.

in tree canopy coverage in June 2021— giving the nation’s capital a 91 out of 100– there’s still work to be done.

Upon checking out the website, treeequityscore.org, Anacostia has a score of 64 out of 100, while Georgetown has a 90 out of 100, and Glover Park boasts a perfect score.

The District’s numbers in tree coverage by neighborhood are certainly not as disparate as other cities.

In 2021, nationwide wealthier neighborhoods had 65% more tree coverage compared to lower-income areas.

As this is the nation’s capital, the District

To The Editor

Just Due for Arts Center

I’m happy to see high-level investment going into the Anacostia Arts Center. It’s such a gem and an essential part of our community. I look forward to its redevelopment and its impact.

Yolande Grady Washington, D.C.

should continue to lead the way in ensuring neighborhoods have equal access to tree canopy, which can in turn, help residents manage expensive air-conditioning bills and stay healthy and cool during the hot, humid D.C. summer.

The goal should be to close the gap even more.

This Arbor Day, check out the trees in your area, take in their beauty, and then go over to treeequityscore.org to learn your equity score. If there’s improvement needed– be the person to ignite the change. WI

Guest Columnist

Charlene Crowell

Credit Reporting Topped CFPB Debt Collection Complaints in 2022

Despite the rate of inflation slowing from last year's 40-year high, elevated household costs still plague most families. Findings from recent reports from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the New York Federal Reserve help illuminate the top financial concerns of consumers.

Congress requires CFPB to monitor and regularly publish reports on key credit issues. One such report is an annual compilation and analysis of the concerns consumers bring to its attention.

Known as CFBP's Consumer Response Annual Report, the 2022 edition shares that nearly two million consumers from every state as well as American territories such as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands filed complaints last year.

Regardless of how complaints are filed — website, telephone or

Guest Columnist

It's Always the Guns

Gun violence takes a relentless toll in our nation. Every day more than 300 people are killed or injured by guns in the United States, and most of their stories never make the news at all. But this was yet another week when multiple gun tragedies made national headlines.

One of those tragedies started out as a celebration: Alexis Dowdell's Sweet 16 birthday party at a dance studio in Dadeville, Alabama, on April 15. She and her family had been planning the party for months, and the dance floor was filled with young people and a DJ when gunfire broke out. More than 30 people were injured and four were killed, including Alexis' older brother, 18-year-old Philstavious "Phil" Dowdell. Alexis remembered Phil pushing her to the ground to protect her in the chaos, but the next time she saw him he was lying in a pool of blood. She told an interviewer, "I got on my knees and he was

Guest Columnist

mail — each is monitored to assess compliance with consumer laws and risks in the marketplace. The agency allows up to 60 days from the date they receive complaints to provide a final response to the CFPB and the consumer. Last year, more complaints, per capita, came from Georgia than any other state, followed by Delaware, Florida and the District of Columbia.

Nearly 95% of these complaints in 2022 were about credit or consumer reporting; debt collection, credit card, checking or savings account; and mortgages.

For example, 76% of last year's complaints — or 978,00 total — were about the three national credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. More than half of 2022 complaints in this category came from consumers under the age of 62, reflecting the importance of credit bureaus' role in determining which consumers can access affordable credit to buy a home, secure auto financing, or obtain a credit card.

According to CFPB's report,

Marian Wright Edelman

laying face down. And that's when I grabbed him. I turned him over, I was holding him. … I was trying to be strong instead of panicking. And so I said, 'You're going to be all right, you're a fighter, you're strong.'" But Phil, a high school senior and star athlete who had a football scholarship to Jacksonville State University, was gone — along with another 17-year-old Dadeville High senior and two more young guests. Many of those injured remain hospitalized in serious condition.

The nonprofit Gun Violence Ar-

Ben Jealous