Tag Archives: Metro

The Daily Feed, WMATA, WTF?!
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Metro Zamboni

Metro Man passed through Metro Center in the middle of the afternoon recently and was greeted with the infamous Metro Zamboni, which polishes platforms and pushes people aside at the most inconvenient times.

Why does Metro do maintenance like this in the middle of the day or at rush hour when there are tourists and travelers on the platform, risking people slipping or even falling (or getting pushed off the platform) onto the tracks? It’s incredibly misanthropic, more so when riders are being yelled at to get out of the way of a cleaning machine that should be doing this work after hours.

Crime & Punishment, News, The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Metro to Conduct Random Bag Searches

Washington Post tells us that teams of Metro Transit Police with dogs will be conducting random bag searches on trains and buses at times when “heightened vigilance” is required. Passengers will be taken aside at random intervals before boarding buses or entering rail stations to be screened; those who do not comply will not be detained or have their bags confiscated, but they will be denied entry.

Update: Official press release from WMATA with pictures and video.

Set1158_01

The Daily Feed, WMATA, WTF?!
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Missing Tunnel Ad

Remember animated tunnel ads and how cool and innnovative it was to have moving pictures advertising stuff to you in Metro tunnels? I wonder why lately there hasn’t been a tunnel ad movie between Metro Center and Gallery Place? Are there just no clients? Was it because the novelty of it all just wasn’t enough to salvage Day Break and Speed Racer?

For now, there’s still a moving tunnel ad between Gallery Place and Judiciary Square. Right now it is the Quik Bunny telling you something about happy places, as shown in the video above.

News, The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Guy Falls On Metro Tracks

Washington Post reports that an unidentified male has fallen on to the Metro tracks at Friendship Heights Station. WJLA says he is “unresponsive” with “minor injuries,” and that he has been removed from the rails. WMATA Service Disruption alerts still have delays on the Red Line in both directions due to the incident, as well as an earlier switch malfunction problem. WTOP says Metro has turned off power to the third rail at the station and are single-tracking trains between Cleveland Park and Bethesda.

Business and Money, Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Who’s selling Metro ads?

Photo courtesy of frozenchipmunk

foggy-metro, courtesy of frozenchipmunk

Maybe the better question should be, who’s not selling any metro ads?

For the umpteenth time today my westbound train on the orange line took me past the Dunn Loring stop and an ad for Hancock, opening July 2nd. What was a movie ad that was far past its expiration date has now aged so much that it just needs a small sticker to turn it into an early DVD release promotion.

Aside from the trauma caused by an early-morning exposure to an unshaven Will Smith in a grubby hat and bug-eye sunglasses, I am bothered by this question: there’s really not someone else willing to pay a few bucks for this spot? I suppose it’s possible the studio – in a fit of optimism – bought the space for a full 3 months past the movie’s release date, but it seems unlikely to me.

WMATA’s ads are sold primarily by CBS Outdoor, though a special marketing company handles the in-tunnel ads. The take from advertising across the system is what most of us would consider a pretty notable sum – $33,000,000 in 2007. However that comprises only 2% of WMATA’s total revenues, compared to passenger revenue of 36% and subsidies of 39%.

The question is, I think – could it be higher? I’d try to get some more information on WMATA’s advertising arrangements and dig a little to see if they’re really maximizing their return but it seems they’re unlikely to accomidate me.

Crime & Punishment, Foggy Bottom, The Daily Feed, WMATA, WTF?!
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Metro Arrest

This was the scene at Foggy Bottom Metro this afternoon as Metro Transit Police personnel pulled a guy from an Orange Line Vienna/Fairfax train and detained him, for what offense I do not know:


Larger video here.

The suspect appeared to be asleep when I first saw him, but awoke with some poking from an officer, and left the train peacefully. It was when they started to put handcuffs on him that he began struggling, so he was forced to the ground, where the apprehension — and struggling — continued. Then my train arrived and I had to stop shooting video with my cellphone.

Technology, The Daily Feed
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Vault Life! (Fallout 3 in DC)

How awesome is it that we have Vault-themed ads for Fallout 3 on the Metro?

Vault Life!

For those not in the know, Fallout is a series of turn-based adventure/role-play games set in the barren wasteland of a post-apocalyptic anarchy, where you play a survivor newly emerged from an isolated subterranean bunker called The Vault. DC-focused trailer video and images after the jump.

Continue reading →

Essential DC, Talkin' Transit, WMATA
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Talkin’ Transit: Transfer Pains

Photo courtesy of Mr. T in DC
Metro SmarTrip Card, courtesy of Mr. T in DC

Metro has announced they are moving forward with their plans to eliminate the free paper-to-bus transfers, as well as the discounted rail-to-bus transfers, beginning on January 4 of next year. Discounts aren’t going away, however – you just have to have a SmarTrip card to get it.

There’s a lot of flak hitting Metro for the decision, however. Riders groups in the area have mentioned a few concerns, namely that of time and money.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Monday Morning on Metro

Another fun Monday morning for transit, and by “fun” I mean “not fun” — and on Car Free Day too!

At around 8:20 AM, a train with mechanical difficulties caused delays on the Orange Line in the direction of New Carrolton. Around the same time a switch problem backed up the Shady Grove-bound Red Line. Trains were holding for 10-15 minutes (an eternity in transit terms) at stations from Farragut North upward, and platforms packed quickly with rush hour crowds. Right now a “situation that has now been resolved” (earlier, a “sick customer”) at Rosslyn has left residual delays on the Blue and Orange Lines, which are still slowed by the earlier rush hour backup.

To Metro’s credit, once the switch malfunction between Farragut North and Metro Center was resolved, the Red Line got back into a smooth flow pretty quickly, and we had no problems transferring to an Orange Line train afterward.

To cap it off, a friend informs me that MARC trains on the Penn Line were delayed by a conductor suffering a heart attack and needing evac at Bowie State station.

Did the delays hit you on your morning Metro ride? Leave a comment.

The Daily Feed
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The icing on the cake

Photo courtesy of maxedaperture

Go Ahead…, courtesy of maxedaperture

If the never ending-escalator problems, line closings on busy weekends, and service delays weren’t enough for you, here’s another Metro gem for you: if the current trend continues through December, “serious” crime on the metro will be up 15% for 2008 says the DC Examiner.

It’s not as bad as it might seem; once you get past the Examiner’s numbers on robbery (+35%) and larceny (+14%) they reveal that the overall rate is low. They don’t spell it out for the math-impaired, but that means a 15% jump doesn’t translate into a tremendously large number of additional people being victimized.  For the 1.2M rider a day – that’s distinct route trips, not individuals – there’s 3 reported crimes. That works out to 1095 in the year, and if we figure that number before a 15% increase (1095 * (100/115)) that means last year’s numbers were about 952. So we’re getting one “extra” crime every 2 and a half days.

I guess saying that your risk had gone from 1 in 460,000 to 1 in 400,000 wasn’t very sexy.

So watch your posessions before the doors close – snatch and grab is what you’re most likely to be victim of – and try not to increase your total amount of worrying more than twice extra a week.

The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Red and Orange Line Delays

Crowded Metro Platform

If you’re riding the Red or Orange Line today, prepare for delays. The following service disruption alerts are currently up:

Orange Line: Trains are sharing the same track between Federal Center and Eastern Market due to a train experiencing mechanical difficulties at Eastern Market station. Expect delays in both directions.

Red Line: Trains are sharing the same track between Rhode Island Avenue and Fort Totten due to police activity at Brookland station. Expect delays in both directions. Expected duration 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Update: Alerts have been cleared.

The Daily Feed
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Two “Suspicious Package” Alerts

Two news alerts today of “suspicious packages” at Gallaudet University and Judiciary Square Metro Station this morning.

Ballard North Hall at Gallaudet was evacuated while a bomb squad was called in, and Judiciary Square Station was closed, with trains continuing to travel through it but no stops.

Update: Judiciary Square Station is back open again after the package was deemed safe. Meanwhile at Gallaudet, the word from WJLA News is “suspicious substance” plant fertilizer.

Foggy Bottom, The Daily Feed, WMATA, WTF?!
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Foggy Bottom Metro Escalator Alert

It never ends. It only gets lulzier! We are in receipt of the following alert from alert.ema.dc.gov: Transportation Incident. Disruption at Foggy Bottom-GWU. (All of the station’s entrance escalators are out of service due to mechanical difficulties. Shuttle bus service has been established. The station’s elevator is operational, the station remains open).

We already knew all the escalators were out but if only one is open (not clear from the alert) then that means a possible line outside the station at rush hour like we had on Monday. Click through the jump to see a map of alternative ways home if you want to skip the shuttle bus.

Continue reading →

Foggy Bottom, Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Metro Escalator Update – Foggy Bottom and Capitol South

Quick update on the Foggy Bottom Metro escalators: Friday’s mess was the result of a passenger’s footwear getting stuck on the middle escalator that afternoon, closing it down in addition to the already-under-repair first escalator, so that only one escalator was left open to serve as stairs. As of today, two escalators are open but shut down, both serving as stairs. Continue reading →

Foggy Bottom, Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed, WMATA, WTF?!
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Foggy Bottom Metro Escalator Mess: AGAIN

Foggy Bottom Metro escalators have done it again, this time at the height of the Friday afternoon rush, and I have once again gotten video of the mess:

Last time this happened, only one escalator was barricaded, so desperate riders could at least scamper up the opposing escalator. Today, two were blocked, so only one shut-down escalator was available to serve as narrow stairs for both ascending and descending foot traffic. The result: crowds above and below. Epic fail once more.

Metro police and station personnel were on hand to do what little they could, but that didn’t seem to do much to thin the mass of people. And, as before — after taking this video, I didn’t bother waiting in line; it was faster to just walk the two blocks to Farragut West Station.

This is pretty bad, WMATA. Why have escalators at all if your contractors can’t even maintain them?

Downtown, Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Red Line Delays Due to Track Fire

A small track fire on the Red Line at Metro Center prompted single tracking between Dupont Circle and Judiciary Square earlier this morning (around 7:30 AM), causing a cascade of delays down the Red Line in both directions all through the morning rush. The fire has been put out and trains are moving, but between 8:30 and 9:00 AM things were still a fair mess, with crowds of people filling trains and platforms to capacity.

To WMATA’s credit, communication with passengers from train and station PA systems was clear and thorough, and the rush hour crowd, though thick, flowed with tolerable courtesy and smoothness. (As quickly and safely as possible, as they say.) At least, that was my experience getting to work this morning. Does anyone else caught in the crowd feel differently?

(NBC4 reports that the fire started in a “stud post.” What are those?)