Category Archives: Talkin’ Transit

Alexandria, Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed, The District, WMATA, WTF?!
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Metro Closing Three Stations for Labor Day Weekend

Photo courtesy of
‘middle track’
courtesy of ‘katmere’

Metro’s closing three stations this weekend starting Friday night at 9:30 and won’t be re-opening them until Tuesday morning at 5am. Those three stations are National Airport, Pentagon City and Crystal City, which means that a significant branch of the Metro will be traded for buses this weekend while WMATA refurbishes them. They’ll be stripping out 2,000 feet of Rail, 735 ties, and will be working on the concrete platform structures at National amongst other places. It’s a pretty big deal, so service is going to be drastically affected. The line between Pentagon and Braddock Road will not be operated at all. Metro has detailed the shuttle service via their website, and the appropriate section is below, for those who’ll need to transfer around the problems. Continue reading →

Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Ghost Bike Memorial Removed

Photo courtesy of
‘Alice Swanson Memorial’
courtesy of ‘maxedaperture’

The Ghost Bike memorial to Alice Swanson was removed by the Mayor’s Office over the weekend from its home near Dupont Circle at Connecticut and R, the spot where cyclist Swanson was killed on her commute to work. It’s not clear why the Mayor’s Office removed the memorial without so much as an explanation, and attempts by local outlets to reach the Mayor’s office for comment have gone unanswered. DCist has photos of the replacement memorial put up by community members yesterday.

So, WTF Mayor Fenty? What’s up with removing the ghost bike memorial?

Essential DC, News, Talkin' Transit, The Features, WMATA
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Talkin’ Transit: Mish-Mash Morning

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_0115’
courtesy of ‘bankbryan’

Mish-mash of transit for your morning perusal.

HOT Lanes Delayed: While the Beltway HOT Lane construction continues forward, Virigina has decided to delay building additional HOT lanes on I-395 and I-95. The economy is the answer that’s been trotted out; state leaders fear that they won’t be able to get money from the bond market and the state has no more money to spend. The Beltway project is expected to be completed by 2012, with the outer lanes opening as early as next year.

Officials were pretty specific in stating the project has been delayed, not abandoned, though there is still a lot of concern with local officials, who feel the proposed project will adversely affect their communities and neighborhood traffic patterns.

Construction was supposed to begin next summer.

ICC & I-95: This week began a traffic pattern shift along I-95 as construction continues on the Intercounty Connector in Prince George’s County. Several lanes are being closed or shifted in both northbound and southbound directions from Route 198 to Route 212. Closures begin as early as 8 p.m. and re-open before morning rush. The closures will be in effect until Sept. 29.

VRE Gets Stimulated: The federal government has awarded $9.8 million to the Virginia Railway Express, money needed to purchase 12 more locomotives. The funds fall under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and will be administered by the Federal Transit Administration.

The current locomotive fleet consists of 20 engines that can pull an average of six cars; the new engines the VRE is purchasing are more powerful and efficient, capable of pulling 10 cars each (at 144 passengers a car) and will help the service expand its current capacity.

Continue reading →

Talkin' Transit, The Features, WMATA
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Talkin’ Transit: Common Commuting

Photo courtesy of
‘New Carrolltn’
courtesy of ‘Kevin H.’

I give you the average day in the life of a Washington commuter (who happens to be a blogger and works downtown).*

7:06 a.m. Pulling into the parking garage at Franconia-Springfield a little early; traffic for once was cooperative so I am optimistic it’s a good sign for today. Until I nearly collide head-on with a driver coming up the ramp in the opposite direction who happens to be driving in the center of the lane, rather than sticking to one side or the other. Awkwardness ensues as I back into my selected space…and he parks next to me.

In situations like this, I put on my “Metro mask” and just avoid eye contact.

7:13 a.m. The electronic sign says the Blue Line train awaiting me on the platform below is departing in 3 minutes. I am amused as suddenly everyone’s pace picks up as we surge towards the turnstyles, only to be derailed by a gaggle of tourists attempting to figure out how they’re used. Two teenagers can’t seem to shove their paper farecard into the one clearly marked with the “do not enter” light; a mother wrestles with her stroller at the handicapped gate and suddenly, there’s only one lane for the rest of us regulars to use. And its not reading all the SmarTrip cards on first pass. I glance back at the electronic sign, noting that we’ve got two minutes…and hear the door chimes ring down below.

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Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed, WMATA
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O’Malley to Metro: Light Rail!

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_7886’
courtesy of ‘Chas Redmond’

While it’s no Monorail, Governor Martin O’Malley says that the proposed 16-mile Purple Line should be light rail, calling it the “locally-preferred alternative”. The proposed line would run from New Carrolton metro to Bethesda metro, stopping at Silver Spring and College Park along the way. The line, as it stands, is still entirely unfunded, but now that a decision has been made regarding bus/rail, Governor O’Malley can put together a proposal for federal transit funding.

Talkin' Transit, The Features, WMATA, WTF?!
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Talkin’ Transit: In the Dark

Photo courtesy of
‘Where To Set One’s Eyes’ courtesy of ‘Bogotron’

It’s been a month since the fatal Red Line crash outside of Fort Totten. You’d think a deadly event like that would force some changes over at Metro at how they do things, right? More accountability, more transparency, better oversight, more concern for public safety..

Initially, I was impressed on the fact that they were at least trying. Despite some hard questions. Now, however, I’m not so sure.

Everyone by now has heard about the Post’s pretty damning report regarding Metro and the continual widespread failure of track circuits on four of the five lines. Incredibly scary stuff; those circuits are used to keep track of trains, their speed and location. The failure of such a circuit seems to be the cause of last month’s accident – though the NTSB has not officially announced the actual cause. Metro rail chief Dave Kubicek has downplayed the Post’s report, saying that none of the problems detected are anything close to the track circuit problem at the crash site. He insisted again that “the rail system is safe” and that it’s “a gross exaggeration” to suggest it’s widespread.

What is troubling isn’t just the technology failure; it’s how Metro’s handling it and other issues that have popped up lately.

Continue reading →

Talkin' Transit, The Features, WMATA
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Talkin’ Transit: We’re Number Two

Photo courtesy of
‘Typical Beltway traffic’ courtesy of ‘brianmka’

Just like death and taxes, transportation woes never seem to go away around here.

The annual Texas Transportation Institute traffic study released today shows that while traffic is lighter in every other major metro area, it’s only increased our misery here. The DC area continues to rank second to LA in congestion, wasting about 62 hours a year as we crawl along our major routes. That’s an increase of 3 hours over the previous year, by the way.

Sitting in traffic around here has cost us nearly $2.8 billion and 90 million gallons of gas. The data is from 2007, by the way, so next year’s study may (hopefully) show a decline due to increased focus on transit options after soaring gas prices last year.

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Talkin' Transit
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Sensors and indicators in plain English: WMATA’s WEE-Z issue

Photo courtesy of
‘Rails’
courtesy of ‘mescon’

One of the most troubling things about the information emerging about this faulty sensor is the ways in which Metro indicates they might have expected to detect it. John Catoe’s press release from July 1 described the situation somewhat vaguely. “This is not an issue that would have been easily detectable to controllers in our operations control center. What the analytical profile showed was that the track circuit would fail to detect a train only for a few seconds and then it appeared to be working again.” Why it wouldn’t be easily detectable isn’t clear from his statement, but a Washington Post piece from July 2 credited the following information to Metro’s rail chief, Dave Kubicek.

Instead of completely failing, the track circuit “fluttered” on and off so quickly that, Kubicek said, the failure would not have been obvious in Metro’s downtown operations center, where controllers monitor real-time movement of trains by watching an illuminated graphic depiction of the 106-mile railroad.

“It was happening so fast, you would just blink and miss it,” he said. “Realistically, you had to be looking at the exact area at the exact place” at the exact time.

A controller would have to be staring at something the size of “a button on a BlackBerry.”

A fair number of engineers are going to read this section of text and grind their teeth, but the underlying problem isn’t intuitive to most people. If you eavesdropped on a conversation between two grad students considering writing about this situation for a paper you might hear them say something like this:

Metro’s problem here revolves around the challenge in displaying a digital result in an analog method and inability to detecting a problem using insufficiently granular data.

That’s a complicated phrase which you can explain with a $5 table lamp. Continue reading →

Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Steny Hoyer Asks for $3B for Metro

Photo courtesy of
‘House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Failed Conservative Policies’
courtesy of ‘Center for American Progress Action Fund’

If Metro wants to live up to their responsibilities, Councilman and Metro Chairman Jim Graham says Metro will need approximately $1 Billion to do it. Today, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) has petitioned Congress for $3 Billion. I’m not sure why the figure mis-match, perhaps it’s to negotiate down from, perhaps it’s to replace every 1000-, 2000- and 3000-series cars, but there it is, clear as day.

Will WMATA get the money? I don’t know. If there was a way to make sure that it was spent properly, I’d endorse that, since I trust Metro to manage its money about as much I trust your average quasi-governmental organization to spend its money well: Not. At. All.

So, will this help? Or will Senator Coburn strike it down, yet again?

News, Talkin' Transit, The Features, WMATA, WTF?!
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Talkin’ Transit: Hard Questions

Photo courtesy of
‘Franconia-Springfield metro station’ courtesy of ‘nevermindtheend’

So Metro, now what?

That’s the question in the back of everyone’s minds here in the District after Monday’s tragic Metro accident. It’s not an easy question to ask and in the coming days, how John Catoe and WMATA answers it may well make or break the transit agency.

It will certainly redefine it, for good or ill.

One of the biggest issues I’m seeing so far is the continued lack of communication from WMATA. From the top down, Metro needs a serious reworking of how it communicates with the public, emergency personnel and with itself. Catoe’s shameful performance on WTOP yesterday morning is just one poor example; his response was a canned one, not addressing the reporter’s question but instead rambling into an answer I’d heard verbatim elsewhere. The response was so off the mark that WTOP had to interrupt him twice to try bringing him back to focus.

But more damning is the failure of Metro to let emergency responders know what the magnitude of the situation was in the first critical minutes after the collision. DCFD officials have been critical of how understated the accident was described; fortunately, rescuers realized the magnitude of the incident upon arrival and summoned additional help. But the question remains – what if the proper amount of help had arrived at the start? Would some of the victims be alive today?

Continue reading →

Talkin' Transit, The Features, WMATA, WTF?!
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In the Aftermath of the Metro Crash: Tips for Tuesday

Metro Map

Tomorrow is going to be a very, very difficult day for many. Our hearts go out to those who’ve lost loved ones, or were injured in the catastrophe. But, we must go on, and we must learn from what happened. We have to get ready for tomorrow.

Let’s start with what’s closed:

– Red Line Metro Rail service between Rhode Island Ave/Brentwood and Silver Spring. This will be closed all of Tuesday, and possibly longer. It’s going to take some time to get things back to normal on those tracks.

– Brunswick Line MARC train service will not be running on Tuesday.

There are options for getting around tomorrow, even though there is a giant hole in the Red Line. So, let’s ask one question, if you’re going to be affected by the Red Line closure or MARC train cancellation: Do you really need to be in the office? If you can work from home tomorrow, or take a mental health day, or can afford to call in sick, give it some thought. It’s not that your job isn’t important, but tomorrow’s going to be a royal cluster out there, and if you can stay home and still get everything done? Do it. For everyone.

If you’re an end-to-end commuter, Metro’s got some advice for you:

Metro officials recommend that customers who normally use the Red Line between the Glenmont and Silver Spring Metrorail stations should commute to Metrorail stations between the Shady Grove and Grosvenor-Strathmore Metrorail stations, or to use the following Metrobus lines to avoid the service disruption:

• Metrobus C8 line (Glenmont to White Flint)
• Metrobus Q2 line (Wheaton to Rockville)
• Metrobus C2, C4 line (Wheaton to Twinbrook)
• Metrobus J1 line (Silver Spring to Medical Center)
• Metrobus J2, J3, J4 line (Silver Spring to Bethesda)
• Metrobus L7, L8 line (Friendship Heights)

If you can possibly use the Green Line, instead of the Red, or bus to the Green Line and take it in, that would be a good option.

Commuters who are coming from the edge of town can continue to park at the outer-edge Metro stations on the red line and deal either with the shuttle bus, or attempt to park at College Park Metro, but parking’s going to be at a real premium, so if you’re not early, you’re going to miss out. Dr. Gridlock has some ideas about alternate busing solutions as well.

Whatever you do, be prepared for delays. Metro will be operating on full manual control tomorrow, which means that trains won’t be at top speed, and braking may be a bit of an adventure. Hold on tight. Leave a little earlier, if you need to be there on time. The trains are going to be crowded, the buses are going to be crowded, so, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I am, make sure you’re showered tomorrow, and make sure you’ve got deodorant going. Lay off the cologne and perfume, though, as that can be just as bad, if not worse, than BO. Be polite. Squeeze in a little tighter if you have to. Don’t block the doors. If you have to, get off the train and get back on after people have debarked. If you miss a train, it’s not the end of civilization. Relax. It will be okay.

And yes, I’m telling people to go ride Metro tomorrow. Metro is, historically, a very safe system. Less than a dozen people in the last 33 years of its operation have come to their end in an accident. You’re far safer on Metro than you are on the Beltway or on the surface streets, where thousands die every year in car wrecks.

Essential DC, Life in the Capital, Talkin' Transit, The Features
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Drive in Traffic, Get Paid

Photo courtesy of
‘Stuck in Traffic.. 218 3rd St SE, Capitol Hill’ courtesy of ‘KrS-NrY’

In case you haven’t noticed, gas prices continue to rise. Which means commuting costs are going up again for those who choose (or have no choice) to drive to work each day.

Which of course, leads to Beltway congestion. And then the inevitable “who’s got the worst drivers” discussion, often yelled between cars with exclamatory sign language.

Who needs that?

Starting this fall, the Commuter Connections Work Program will begin paying people to carpool. That’s right. PAY YOU MONEY. Specifically, $2 a day.

Continue reading →

Alexandria, Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed
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Alexandria Fires Up the Money Cameras

Photo courtesy of
‘DSCF6337’
courtesy of ‘lakelandlocal’

Alexandria has powered up their revenue-generating red-light cameras along Route 1, as well as on Duke Street in an attempt to make us all “safer”. While this is probably less expensive than parking a police officer on the corner with a ticket pad, that certainly seems like something that would chasten people for running the light rather than just treating it as an “expensable” behavior like going over your cellphone minutes.

Alexandria, News, Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Slow Downs on the Metro this Weekend

Photo courtesy of
‘Moving Red Line’
courtesy of ‘Amberture’

WMATA is warning customers to expect delays on the red and blue lines this weekend due to track maintenance.  Trains will be single tracking between between Van Ness-UDC and DuPont Circle stations, and between Van Dorn St and Braddock Rd stations. Delays on the red line will take place all weekend, while service on the blue line will return to normal during the evenings.

Talkin' Transit, The Features, WMATA, WTF?!
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Talkin’ Transit: Doors to Nowhere

Photo courtesy of
‘CSC_1718’ courtesy of ‘Ghost_Bear’

Remember a year ago when Metro said they were going to ‘crack down’ on the rash of “doors opening” off platform? That new safety and training programs would be implemented to keep such accidents from happening?

Guess what!

It hasn’t worked.

WaPo caught the story on Monday: over the last two months, there have been 17 incidents of train doors opening at stations with cars still in the tunnel. Of those 17, 14 of them were eight-car trains that weren’t properly berthed. During rush hour. Most on the Red Line. The other three were six-car trains…two of which not properly berthed.

Continue reading →

Essential DC, Talkin' Transit, The Features, WMATA
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Talkin’ Transit: Tourist Tips

Photo courtesy of
‘Packed Blue’ courtesy of ‘ArcaHeradel’

So Memorial Day has passed, meaning that from now through Labor Day, hordes of tourists will be pouring into the District for various events, concerts, vacations and visits. If you’re reading this and you’re a soon-to-be visitor to our region – or if you’re a resident who has friends or family coming in to visit – we want to encourage you to continue reading. We wish to equip you to better handle and enjoy our transit system with minimal disruption to those of us who live and work here.

It’s a win-win situation.

You don’t want to suffer the embarrassment of being a “District n00b” and we certainly appreciate minimal disruption to our daily commutes. So we’ve gathered up the opinions and suggestions from several District riders and residents and are going to share our golden wisdom with you.

Trust us, it’s best this way.

Continue reading →

Talkin' Transit, The Features, The Mall, We Green DC, WMATA
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Talkin’ Transit: Loose Ends

Photo courtesy of
‘Three-Wheeled Taxi’ courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’

A couple of updates to tie up on the transit scene – and then I need your help!

Pedicabs on the Mall: You all remember our report on the harassment of the pedicabs by the Park Police? Well, I’m happy to report that since then, there’s been no further incidents, according to Ben Morris of National Pedicabs. So go and enjoy the ride around the Mall! I’ve also gotten word that a new pedicab company is starting business this weekend as well, so please support this great eco-friendly way to enjoy the Mall. (The grass could use the break, frankly…)

DC, Metro and money: WTOP reported this morning that the District has racked up a tab of a whopping $1.2 million in unpaid expenses to Metro, all centered around the Southeastern bus garage located a block from Nationals stadium. The District had said it would cover the cost to move all the Metrobuses out of that garage and operate them from other facilities. (This is known as “deadheading costs.”) The city’s cost is $400,000 a month, and the deal stretches back to the fall of 2007. Continue reading →

News, Talkin' Transit, The Features, The Mall, We Green DC, WTF?!
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Talkin’ Transit: The Great Pedicab Predicament

Photo courtesy of
‘Pedicab’ courtesy of ‘afagen’

Yesterday, we received a late-day heads-up from a reader that there was an issue brewing with the pedicabs that offer rides to tourists and residents along the National Mall.

The entire issue seemed odd, as pedicabs have been operating on the Mall for a couple years now and haven’t had any issues up until yesterday, when they were told they would be arrested and their bikes impounded for soliciting and servicing customers on Madison and Jefferson streets, the two main boundary avenues of the Mall.

If the Park Police was correct, the Mall was going to lose a 100% eco-friendly form of transportation that serves hundreds of riders each week. The cabs provide jobs for the area and a friendly ‘green’ option for people to utilize. Taking away the Mall from them would kill a sizeable portion of the pedicab business.

So I set out to contact Ben Morris, the owner of National Pedicabs (and the company affected by this), and his DC operations manager, Danny Cochrane, as well as Sgt. David Schlosser, the National Park Service’s Public Information Officer, to find out just what the heck was going on.

Continue reading →

News, Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Joe Biden, Sad Panda: Amtrak, MARC Penn Temporarily Suspended

Photo courtesy of
‘Locomotive’
courtesy of ‘wfyurasko’

I have no idea how Joe Biden is going to get home tonight.

Apparently, the train tracks at BWI are flooded, which has suspended train service between DC and points north. Amtrak is reporting a water main break near the tracks at BWI which has rendered the area impassable. It’s likely there won’t be a fix until this afternoon at the very earliest, from what we’re hearing on Twitter.

The MARC Penn line is also affected.