DC Metro Rider

Guys, seriously. Painting your buses new colors isn't going to attract new riders. Improving services and adding more routes will attract new riders. This isn't rocket science.

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Metrorail sets third highest ridership day

[Jul. 4th, 2008|07:08 pm]

834,956 riders used Metrorail on Wednesday, July 2

Hundreds of thousands of people helped Metro set the transit agency’s third highest ridership day in the history of the 32-year-old rail system on Wednesday, July 2. Riders took 834,956 trips, which were 90,952 more trips than the same comparable day last year. Metro analysts say the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival and high gas prices contributed to Wednesday’s high numbers.

Last month, Metrorail weekday ridership surpassed the 800,000 mark on 12 separate occasions. Combined with Metrobus ridership, Metro provides more than 1.2 million trips on an average weekday.

Metrorail’s Top 10 Weekday Ridership Days
Date Ridership Event
1 06-09-04 850,636 Reagan State Funeral
2 06-25-08 846,388 Smithsonian/Baseball
3 07-02-08 834,956 Smithsonian
4 04-03-07 831,508 Cherry Blossoms/Baseball
5 06-24-08 831,464 Baseball/Basketball
6 06-20-08 829,998 Baseball/Basketball
7 04-24-08 828,973 Baseball/Basketball
8 04-17-08 828,418 Pope Visit/Soccer
9 04-11-08 828,132 Hockey/Baseball/Cherry Blossoms
10 06-27-08 825,862 Smithsonian/Baseball

Brief Update: Spammer

[Jun. 18th, 2008|07:57 pm]

dcpenguin

[	Tags	\|	mod_post	]
[	Current Mood	\|	okay	]

Hi, all!

As soon as I saw

fitzwilliamlogo's posts, they were deleted and reported as spam. He has also been banned from this community.

~dcpenguin~

.

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Three People Shot at Metrorail Station, Including a Metro Bus Driver

[Jun. 18th, 2008|02:51 pm]

scottobear

By Petula Dvorak and Lena Sun
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, June 18, 2008; 2:50 PM

Three people, including a Metro bus driver, were shot this afternoon at the Anacostia Metrorail Station, officials said.

All three victims were taken to the hospital, said Alan Etter, spokesman for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department.

The bus driver was grazed in the back of the head by a stray bullet and his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening, Metro spokeswoman Taryn McNeil said. Etter said that neither of the other two victims, one of whom was shot in the elbow, had life-threatening wounds.

The shooting happened at 12:43 p.m. in the bus bay area of the Anacostia station, at 1101 Howard Road SE, which serves Metro's Green Line.

The driver, a Metro employee for 22 years, was standing in the bus bay area when the shooting occurred. McNeil said the driver, whose name has not been released, was operating a shuttle bus today because the Anacostia Station's elevator is broken. The other two victims were not employees of the transit agency, she said.

The Anacostia station remains open during the investigation, but the bus bay, a major transfer hub for Metro buses, has been closed. Passengers are being directed to the southbound side of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue to board Metro buses.

Staff writer Allison Klein contributed

from - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/18/AR2008061801812.html?nav=rss_metro

Orange Line Train Derailment

[Jun. 9th, 2008|03:48 pm]

dcpenguin

[

Current Mood

okay

]

Those of you heading home on the Orange Line : Expect major delays due to a Vienna-Bound train derailing between Rosslyn and Courthouse. While passengers were on the train, no one is reported as injured.

~ Blue line is running normally, but I wouldn't be surprised if DC Blue/Orange stations felt some of the aftereffects.
~ Due to it being a code red day, buses in VA and MD are free.
~ Shuttlebuses operating at Foggy Bottom, Virginia Square, Courthouse
~ Trains are singletracking between Clarendon and Foggy Bottom

EDIT: to substitute WaPo article, add more details

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Metro Creates Evacuation Maps for Stations

[May. 22nd, 2008|04:18 pm]

scottobear

via - Associated Press

Thursday, May 22, 2008; 12:00 AM

Metro is creating emergency evacuation maps for each of its stations.

Officials with the transit agency say the maps will help riders find alternate bus or rail routes in the event of an evacuation or lengthy service disruption.

The maps will be customized for all 117 station mezzanines. They'll list all bus service available near the station and provide walking directions to the closest Metro station.

Metro personnel will distribute the maps if an incident closes or severely disrupts a rail station.

Metro will start distributing the maps to stations by the end of June.

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two from the Post

[Apr. 21st, 2008|06:54 pm]

"The 10 Metro stations with the most crime last year were stops at or near the end of the lines in Fairfax and Prince George's counties... Problems were concentrated at stations with parking lots."

and

"The Metrorail system will exceed its capacity in 12 years unless the transit agency can buy 220 more cars to run longer trains during morning and afternoon rush hours."

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in case the cherry blossoms weren't enough for you...

[Apr. 15th, 2008|07:55 am]

Metro changes ahead for the Pope's visit (with bonus graphic.)

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DC Metro: Mugger's Dream As Crime is UP

[Mar. 26th, 2008|05:59 am]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Statistics from the first two months of the year could put Metro on track to see twice as many robberies in 2008 compared with last year.

In January and February, 96 robberies were reported to Metro Transit Police, compared with 46 reported in that period last year. And officials have said robberies already were up 18 percent in 2007 compared with 2006.

The transit agency reported 417 robberies in 2007. Many of the incidents involved stolen electronics like iPods and cell phones.

Statistics show crime is most prevalent in Metro parking lots, followed by the train system and then buses.

Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein tells The (Washington) Examiner that transit police are assigning additional plainclothes officers to parking lots and trains.

Hey, PEEPS!

[Mar. 21st, 2008|11:36 am]

luscious_purple

[

Current Mood

amused

]

Here's that "Peeps in the Park" video that Metro put out. This is my first stab at embedding YouTube into an LJ post, so bear with me here....

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Wanted: Commuters

[Feb. 26th, 2008|03:41 pm]

garneyloom

x-posted to

dc_metro and

washingtondc, so sorry for repeats!

If any of you know of someone who has a commute of over 1.5 hours in or around the city (and in this community, it would probably include parking and riding on the Metro), let me know. I'm making a documentary film on "extreme" commuters in DC and would love to hear people's stories. They can contact me through email, or you can leave a comment on this post. I want to finish getting potential stories/subjects by March 7, so the sooner, the better.

Edit: Don't know why I forgot to include my website here, but please visit www.lanternlightfilms.com if you want to know more.

6 comments|Leave a comment

Investigation Ongoing...

[Feb. 20th, 2008|09:40 pm]

dcpenguin

[

Current Mood

busy

]

I was wondering why I was hearing that Van Dorn Street had been closed down (This was on the way home from work circa 6:45 PM). Someone had been struck by a train.

As the title of my post implies, there will be more details to come.

SmarTrip card for sale

[Feb. 8th, 2008|09:27 pm]

valancy17

[	Current Location	\|	Pittsburgh, PA	]
[	Current Mood	\|	optimistic	]

I moved away and just found a SmarTrip card with some unknown value on it. Anyone interested should visit the auction on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330210482802

Thanks, y'all!

x-posted to all the DC-area communities I could find, sorry for the duplication

11 comments|Leave a comment

Bus Caravans

[Feb. 6th, 2008|08:46 pm]

hagan99

I saw someone post this to another transit group and after watching a horde of buses make their way through my neighborhood yet again, thought it fit for DC transit as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Why-Buses-Come-Threes-Mathematics/dp/0471347566

Seems that with the fare increases, the buses are caravaning more than usual. Maybe it's fear that they have to stick together or face attacks by angry riders if they find themselves out on the street alone?

Dulless Expansion Appears Dead

[Feb. 6th, 2008|06:21 am]

It sounds like the Fed's axed it.

5 comments|Leave a comment

Someone else want to maintain this?

[Jan. 30th, 2008|07:59 am]

episkychic

[

Tags

maintenance

]

Hi. I started this group waaaay back, so far back, I don't remember when. But since then I've gone on to other blogs and occasionally look at my Livejournal stuff. Because of that I'd like to pass on the maintenance of this group to someone who might look at it more than once every 6 months. Or share the maintenance. If you're willing to inherit this prize of a group please comment within the next two weeks.

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O'Mally: Purple Line Approved

[Jan. 16th, 2008|02:20 pm]

http://www.purplelinemd.com/

Today Gov. Martin O'Mally announced a new initiative to increase spending 30-40 million dollars more a year on Maryland's public transportation system today. O'Mally kicked off his new plan with the approval of the first segment of the Purple Line to run from Bethesda to New Carrolton Metro Stations.

WTTG reports Purple line as being HRT (Heavy Rail Transit) however according to MTA it has not been decided. The other question remains, will Purple Line be run by WMATA or MTA. The Purple Line is not slated to run through the district. You decide.

3 comments|Leave a comment

Faregate accident

[Jan. 15th, 2008|02:26 pm]

fielding_tjones

Faregates are where you scan your SmarTrip card to enter the platform area. You walk between two pedestals and there are retractable barrier arms which open and close. A classmate of mine was struck by the barrier arms, lost her balance, fell to the ground, and broke her hip. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

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Bam!

[Jan. 10th, 2008|11:38 am]

"Metro's latest performance data confirm what subway riders have been saying for months: Train service is getting worse.

"On-time performance has been declining for the past 17 months; not once did the agency meet its performance benchmark of having 95 percent of all trains run on schedule. On-time performance was worst during the evening rush, when it hovered in the 80 percent range. The steepest drop occurred between July and November, when service disruptions increased 30 percent from the same period the previous year."

For the rest of the story, click here.

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NEW 7000 series

[Jan. 9th, 2008|02:20 pm]

Has anyone else seen any of the sketches and computer animation for the new 7000 series rail cars yet? A few leaked from WMATA on to a railfan website. I think WTTG is going to show them sometime tonight. From what I've seen, they're a new design, and do not look like any of the current designs. The paint livery is all white or silver with red and black trim. I sorta resembles the new architecture with the silver and glass we've seen in recent years.

EDIT:<

( Full article )