New York City's Michael Bloomberg might be the self-proclaimed (but maybe not-all-that-accurate) "subway mayor," but Washington, D.C.'s Adrian Fenty has joined the ranks of the rail-riding pols -- well, temporarily:
The mayor's advisers were stumped. No one could agree on the savviest way to handle the sensitive political situation.
How would Mayor Adrian M. Fenty travel 2.1 miles from the John A. Wilson Building to Cardozo High School on Clifton Street NW for a news conference in which he was to tell residents to protect the environment and leave their cars behind?
Showing up in his usual gas-guzzling, government-issued Lincoln Navigator seemed politically incorrect. The Metro was an option, but Fenty was running late and would have to walk several blocks. Someone offered a vehicle from the city's fleet of hybrids, but the mayor ruled that out. He countered by offering to hop on the expensive Cannondale bicycle he uses for triathlons, but then aides reminded him that he might become sweaty in his navy business suit.
So he walked up 14th Street NW and took the No. 52 bus north.
Zach Patton -- Executive Editor. Zach has written about a range of topics, including social policy issues and urban planning and design. Originally from Tennessee, he joined GOVERNING as a staff writer in 2004. He received the 2011 Jesse H. Neal Award for Outstanding Journalism
E-mail: zpatton@governing.com 
Written and compiled by staff writers and editors, GOVERNING View is an on-the-ground, and sometimes behind-the-scenes, look at the topics we're covering in print and online. From notes on what's up in statehouses, county courthouses and city halls, to encounters with people, places and things, GOVERNING View is a window into the side of state and local government you don't always see.
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