Tag Archives: crowds

Talkin' Transit
By

Talkin’ Transit

Photo courtesy of
‘Horton #23’
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

Some of you might know me from my photo posts here, and I hope you’ll humor me as I branch out to talk about a subject I love. Or, well, more accurately, a subject I love to hate. As anyone who follows my Twitter stream can attest, I’m not exactly happy with the state of Metro Rail at the moment. But I thought I’d start my new contribution to Talkin’ Transit on a more positive note.

Many times, you’re on the platform waiting for a train and it breaks down. You’re headed home, tired, impatient. The big board was saying ten minutes until your train; now it says “No Passengers,” instead. The announcer makes some vague pronouncement of a problem that is now cleared, “and all trains are moving normally.” When the next train arrives, though, you see it is jam packed — a Caps or Nationals game was just wrapping up, or worse, it’s still rush hour.

A few years ago, Metro installed big expensive signs in every station. They were there to tell you a few bits of information: which elevators were out, when the next train was coming, and so on. On the screen that displays the trains, it also told you what color line the train was servicing and how many cars made up that train.
Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, WMATA
By

News Flash: Lots of People Ride Metro

Photo courtesy of
‘at least we’re not outside anymore!’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Did the Metro seem particularly crowded to you yesterday?  Today, word comes from Metro that yesterday was the sixth-highest weekday ridership day in the system’s history.  The combination of tourists that are still here for the cherry blossoms, spectators of the Frozen Four tournament, and regular old commuters like us led to this particularly high ridership day.  And this is coming just a few days after record-high weekend ridership related to cherry blossoms and various sporting events.

But there’s good news!  As Ben reported earlier, beginning next week WMATA is adding more rail cars during rush hour to accommodate the additional passengers on the red and green lines.  So, take heart– next week’s commute will be better, and with the Cherry Blossom Festival ending on Sunday, those cherry-blossom-loving tourists will be out of town in no time.

Inaugupocalypse, Special Events, Weekend Flashback
By

Weekend Flashback: Inauguration 2009

Photo courtesy of
‘look!’
courtesy of ‘erin m’

In case you were under a rock yesterday, we had us an Inauguration yesterday. Our 44th President was sworn in on the steps of the Capitol while an estimated two million people witnessed it and the following parade.

Our prolific area photographers were out in force yesterday; many of them you’ll recognize from prior visits to the Flashback. I encourage you to check out our Flickr feed, as all but one of the following shots came from it. And for images around the world, check out a special Flickr section that features some great shots taken by photographers outside our Beltway.

Many, many thanks to our regular pool contributors; you guys made my job extremely hard today with all the great photos. Keep it up!

Continue reading →