Tag Archives: Metro

Talkin' Transit
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Talkin’ Transit: Back to the Grind

Photo courtesy of
‘Blocking traffic’
courtesy of ‘theqspeaks’

A few months ago I was given the opportunity to drive into the office, mostly because of a free parking pass that was gifted to me for a “short while”. That time is, unfortunately, up. Starting with Thursday’s commute, I have no free parking anymore.

You’ll notice, I didn’t say, “I’m back to riding Metro.”

It’s not that I don’t want to ride Metro. It’s not that I don’t believe that we need good public transportation and fewer cars on the road. It’s just that I’m dreading the idea of becoming a regular Metro rider, again. So what are my options, and what was it like to drive in for almost half the year?
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Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

Photo courtesy of
‘DC Streets: The Cathedral’
courtesy of ‘pnzr242’

High contrast black and white photography should be a genre onto itself. Not all pictures look good with that treatment, especially ones with people in them. The high contrast tends to add a sense of mystery and even undertones of evil.

But the best pictures amp the contrast while still retaining detail and without making the image too sinister. Flickrite pnzr242 seems to have hit the mark with this shot. His composition and treatment make this a standout photo. And, of course, it’s in a Metro station.

The Daily Feed
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Foggy Bottom Metro Escalators Closed Due to Police Situation

Foggy Bottom Platform Escalator Fail

Update: Foggy Bottom Metro Escalators are open again. Police presence remains. Post reports the “unruly subject” was an aggressive panhandler.

Update from the GW Hatchet: Police activity following an altercation led to the escalator shutdown. An “unruly subject” being escorted from GW Hospital tried to grab someone outside, and the recipient of the grab proceeded to pull a knife, cut the grabber, then escape uncaught.

We’re hearing from the tweets that Foggy Bottom Metro has a police situation going on, possibly a stabbing. Metro escalators are taped off and the line for the still-working elevator goes down the block.

While that’s going on, we recommend that any Metro riders about to use Foggy Bottom walk instead to (or from) Farragut West, or catch the Rosslyn Circulator.

(Pic above is from another Foggy Bottom bottleneck incident but pretty much represents the station’s state nowadays even without police situations.)

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

Photo courtesy of
‘top’
courtesy of ‘volcanojw’

Proving that photography doesn’t have to be about the equipment and that a good eye is at least as important, here’s a fantastic shot taken with a plain old iPhone camera.

Just as in comedy, timing is (almost) everything. Jenn‘s timing is impeccable, catching the escalator rider stepping off, silhouetted against the sky. The timing is especially difficult when using a phone or a point and shoot camera because of shutter lag.

And because timing isn’t everything, the lines, the sky, and the escalator form a nice frame and lead your eye to her reflection.

Talkin' Transit
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Talkin’ Transit: News Wrap

Photo courtesy of
‘escalator’
courtesy of ‘volcanojw’

August was slow, and September isn’t getting much news on the transit front (lots on other subjects, though). I’m going to take a look back on some Metro news you might have missed this month (but not this, as you’ve all seen it by now).

Summer is almost done, so let’s talk snow, shall we? As you’re probably aware, I’ve got a thing about snow and the amount of money that the Federal government, Metro, and local businesses lost during the storm-plagued winter. Metro tells us that they are still recouping some of the $12.7 million that it cost them to clear the snow (forget about the monies lost while the system was shut down). FEMA has agreed to reimburse Metro another $1.76 on top of the million they’ve already granted them. Only $10 million to go…
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The Daily Feed
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Call for Your Next Train

Photo courtesy of
‘See-thru Metro #2’
courtesy of ‘ianseanlivingston’

Metro is set to unveil a new service later today where you can call them to find out when your next train arrives.

In order to use the service, you would call Metro’s information line (202-637-7000) and say “Next Train”. The system will prompt you to say the name of your station, and if a station has more than one line, to say the line you want.

Metro is continuing its effort to expand the ways that riders can get information. “Metro is working to help customers make an informed decision about their travel plans by providing them with multiple ways to get up-to-the-minute train information,” says Metro GM Richard Sarles. I suppose, in the absence of trains running more frequently, know when they are coming is the next best thing.

Oh, and in case you need some help understanding how to use the service, Metro has this YouTube video that’s sure to help. I’m guessing they didn’t use Renderman for that.

The Daily Feed
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Does riding Metro count as my exercise for the day?

Photo courtesy of
‘The working escalator’
courtesy of ‘ianseanlivingston’

It’s no surprise that there’s a correlation between rates of people driving to work and higher rates of obesity, but GOOD has created a fun new graphic that shows it in an interesting way.  This map of the US shows rates of walking, biking, and taking transit to work alongside obesity rates.  Since DC is compared to more spread out states, we obviously come in first place in the walking/biking/transit commute rates, and we’re third lowest (behind super-active Colorado and Connecticut) in statewide obesity rates.

The typical caveat applies here: when DC is compared to states the results should be taken with a grain of salt.  Virtually any dense city would beat out  statewide averages in terms of rates of taking non-motorized transportation to work.  And we shouldn’t pat ourselves on the back too much– there’s still a lot of work to be done to reduce obesity in DC.  While overall the District may be considered healthy and active, the obesity rates in Wards 7 and 8 are nearly double the District average (and much worse than the national average).

But still, next time you’re stuck walking up a broken Metro escalator, remind yourself that it’s keeping you fit!

Crime & Punishment, Downtown, The Daily Feed, WMATA, WTF?!
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DHS Warns of Terror Threat to Metro

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘erin m’

NBC4 reports that the DHS warned WMATA on Sunday of a potential terror threat to the Metro system. According to a DHS memo, an  individual obtained a Turkish visa to come to the States and perpetrate a bombing on a Metro station.  The memo stated that this information has “low credibility” and that DHS has little information as to the specific date or target for the attack, or  if the individual in question is even capable of carrying out a bombing.

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo


Hottest Day of the Year by Matt.Dunn

Ah, DC, your perseverance never ceases to amaze me.  Just when I start thinking that you’re a bunch of wimps, you go and do something to prove me wrong.  It seems that no matter what gets thrown your way, you fight back.  You’re fighters, not lovers, and on top of that you’re rich and smart!

Is Congress still refusing to give you a vote and treating you like second class citizens?  No worries – I know you’ll find a way to get up in their grill and make yourselves heard.  Is Metro raising its fares on you during tough economic times?  Hah, you’ll show them.  Is Mother Nature churning out record temperatures and throwing storms at you that knock your power out?  Bring it!  You just take your clothes off and ride around on a diesel powered, air conditioned bus.  Is Matt Dunn shooting you with his old school cameras and lighting you up with his fill flash?  Well, it appears you have no answer for that, but it’s OK.  Really.  It’s OK.

The Daily Feed, WMATA, WTF?!
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Would You Climb Up A Metro Escalator?

Photo courtesy of
‘La luz al final’
courtesy of ‘ndutzan’

Here’s an interesting find I read from my co-worker Meggiepoo: a man climbing up the escalator partitions at the Bethesda Metro Station after a Caps game back in May 2009. The video was found and posted over at Unsuck DC Metro and makes me wonder if he was over-served at the game, couldn’t take people standing on the left, or unwilling to walk up a broken escalator.

As a relatively new daily Metro commuter I can understand the rage we all get from overflowing rail cars and broken down elevators and escalators. I do have to give this crazy Marylander some credit, I’ve always wanted to slide down the partition but Metro smartly put metal bumps on them to prevent that kind of crazy behavior. Of course they now make good climbing grips for those willing to scale an escalator.

Of course we here at We Love DC are not endorsing this sort of behavior but I hope it gives you a smile during your lunch.

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Talkin' Transit
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Talkin’ Transit: Data, Data, Data

Photo courtesy of
‘Horton #9’
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

Metro is hoping that a release of their real time data to developers will help them get information about trains and buses to riders faster and in ways they want. On July 8, Metro announced that a public application programming interface (API) aimed at the developer community would be made available in August.

The agency told us it is looking to the community of developers to help solve some of the issues they currently face, including making live data available to the disabled, and helping to make regional transit information easier to access. Metro spokesman Ron Holzer says they would also be “delighted to be surprised with applications that are totally unexpected.”

Metro is also looking to “foster a better culture of transparency, customer service and performance accountability,” with the release of this data. So how will this work? What would this data look like for developers, and what should riders expect to see in the not too distant future?
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Mythbusting DC, The Features
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DC Mythbusting: Stand to the Right!

Photo courtesy of
‘Stand on the right?’
courtesy of ‘karthikkito’

It’s probably the number one gripe about tourists: they stand on both sides of the escalators on Metro, blocking the left side that is generally understood to be for walking.  We Washingtonians understand that you stand to the right and walk on the left– there are even Facebook groups and t-shirts supporting the concept— but there are no formal signs on or near the escalators that say so.  Why not?  Rumors range from the theory that having people walk on one side and stand on the other leads to an unequal balance of weight and causes escalators to break down more frequently, or the theory that Metro doesn’t want to formally endorse a ‘stand right/walk left’ policy for liability and safety reasons.  But what’s the real reason there aren’t signs telling tourists to stand to the right?

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The Daily Feed
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Metro’s got the Mondays

Accidental Metro Panorama

It’s been a fun (i.e. not fun) morning on Metro, with backups from multiple sick customers on Orange/Blue and Green/Yellow Lines at Rosslyn and L’Enfant Plaza, broken escalators at Dupont Circle, and the standard parade of nonworking air conditioners. Update: Oh, and a switch malfunction at Rosslyn. And a family stuck in the Cleveland Park Metro elevator. Update, 6PM: And an escalator fire at Dupont! Today is the gift that keeps on giving. And by gift we mean not a gift.

For extra enjoyment, here’s a video of people yelling at the Dupont Circle escalators, courtesy wfpman: (after the jump) Continue reading →

Talkin' Transit
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Talkin’ Transit: London Edition

All Aboard
‘All Aboard’
courtesy of Samer Farha

“Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” — Samuel Johnson

I recently spent a week working in London, and got to experience, again, London’s remarkable, ridiculous, insane, and fantastic transportation system first hand. Did I say “again?” Yes, this is probably the umpteenth time I’ve worked in London for a short stint, and the umpteenth time I’ve been exposed to the system of busses, subways, and insanity that is the Transport for London (TfL). I’ve been there for strikes and breakdowns, and I’ve been there in the heat and cold. I prefer it when things are running well and in the cold.

This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive article on the differences between Metro and the TfL. It’s more about what I see as obvious similarities and differences, and where one might have done a better job.

I’ll start with station architecture: Metro has this one down cold. Huge, cavernous stations with reasonably well marked platforms. The only time you feel claustrophobic in a Metro station is when the system breaks down during rush hour. The Tube is a little different. The system gets its name from the tube-like tunnels, which extend their presence into the stations. But each platform is its own tube, and the platforms get very crowded no matter the time of day. It feels much more closed in, and you will get jostled.
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The Daily Feed
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Foggy Bottom Escalator Backup


(Thanks to peroty for the mobile photo and heads-up)

If you’re aiming to get into or out of Foggy Bottom Metro station on the Orange Line this morning, be warned that at the moment two escalators are closed, and the only open escalator is going up. This, and one broken platform escalator, make getting out difficult, and getting in pretty much impossible (unless you like lining up for the elevator).

Alternatives: Farragut West, or Rosslyn + blue bus or 38B. We have, of course, been here before.

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Talkin' Transit
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Talkin’ Transit: An Uphill Battle For WMATA One Year After Crash

Photo courtesy of
‘Horton #23 (26/365)’
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

Earlier Samer wrote about how his commute changed when he was able to drive to work, for me it has been a luxury I’ve enjoyed for most of my time here in the DC area. I called it a luxury because I had a parking space at an office .7 miles away from my home in Clarendon. With a parking space waiting for me at work I freely drove that .7 miles to and from my home every day.

Call me lazy but I grew up in a Boston suburb where you needed a car in order to get anywhere around town. For me driving was always a necessity and a habit I didn’t give up til my car had an extended stay at the mechanic. Now I have the opposite of what Samer had: I took a new job in Rosslyn, where parking wasn’t provided and I went from a daily driver to a daily Metro commuter.

Even before I became a daily Metro customer I’ve been a big fan of the Metrorail system. When asked to compared Washington, DC with my hometown of Boston it is the Metro and the public transportation system that leads my argument for why I love DC a little bit more than beantown. Sure Boston has their legendary T system but WMATA did things that the MBTA never had.

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Featured Photo
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Featured Photo


fare increase? by maria jpeg izaurralde

With Metro’s new fare increase, you gotta do what you gotta do to make ends meet.  Whether it’s getting a third job as oil rig repairman, as a mental coach for Stephen Strasburg, or as a medicinal marijuana distributor, it’s time for the tough to get going.  I mean do they think we’re made out of money?  Do they think not killing us is justification for charging more money for each trip?  Maybe they’ll start offering discounted fares for those of us willing to ride on top of the train or use handcars.  At this point I’m ready to start handing out the Express to wealthy passengers in the morning and then hopping on the train when my shift is over, just to break even*.  In the absence of money growing on trees, this girl has got the right idea.  I mean she has really got the right idea.

* This post has been brought to you by the word ‘sarcasm’.

The Daily Feed
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Metro to Spend Almost $1b on Giant Kawasaki Motorcycles!!

Photo courtesy of
‘Motocross #11’
courtesy of ‘Vincent Luigi Molino’

Metro announced today that they have approved a contract worth $886m for Kawasaki! The money will go towards 428 giant, super duper fast motorcycles that can hold an enormous amount of people each. Of all of the ideas to improve the rail system, I think going with giant motorcycles is the best idea yet. I can’t wait to hear what the 1 trillion HP engines sound like on these babies when you open them up at full throttle! I wonder if the train operator can get these bad boys to do wheelies?

What’s that? Kawasaki builds rail cars too?? Ah, Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc. You can see the confusion. So that means…they aren’t giant freaking motorcycles? Damn. Well, still cool. As long as they have sidecars.

Metro plans to replace 300 of their old Series 1000 cars with this new purchase and provide 128 new cars for the super Dulles rail extension. (Which speaking of, have you seen that project? It’s like they’re trying to finish it by Memorial Day or something!) This allows them to both fulfill the needs of the rail extension project and make Metro a significantly safer system, complying with the NTSB recommendation to give the old dangerous cars the boot. This should replace all Series 1000 cars out there.

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Talkin' Transit
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Talkin’ Transit: Flat Fare

Photo courtesy of
‘Hole to the Sky’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

There’s a giant hole in the Metro budget, and there is a plan for plugging it. Of course, it’s going to require fare raises and service cuts, and it’s not likely to be fun. Metro’s choice of a complicated set of charges based on distance and time of day (and peak-of-the-peak!) leaves my head aching for something less complex.

New York’s Subway has often been held up as the simplest way to do fare collection: each and every trip is the same price ($2.25). Sounds good to me, but would it work here, and what would it cost?

Let’s do some math, based on Metro’s proposed 2011 budget numbers (PDF – Table 3.8).
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The Daily Feed
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Orange Line Double Whammy

No Passengers

The Orange Line is abuzz with delays. A train has been offloaded for mechanical difficulties at East Falls Church, and another train at Ballston appears to have begun emitting smoke. This would happen right at the peak of rush hour just when hordes of hungover Washingtonians need to be at work for Seis de Mayo. Naturally there is no notification of delays whatsoever on the website.

Update: Since there has been no further buzz or WMATA update I can only assume that the delays are cleared by now.