Washington DC Metro Popularity is Possible Problem
March 26, 2001 4:41 AM   Subscribe

Washington DC Metro Popularity is Possible Problem as physical limitations may hinder expansion and usability in future years.
posted by vanderwal (7 comments total)
 
What's funny is comparing the DC system with New York: 600,000 passengers a day ride on Washington DC's Metro rail system, second in volume only to New York, which sees at least 400,000 riders a day on the Lexington Avenue line alone. 163.3 million rides are predicted for DC this year. 4.3 million people ride New York City's 656-mile subway each weekday, with 1.435 billion total rides predicted for this year.

It's like DC is riding a train under the Christmas tree.
posted by Mo Nickels at 10:45 AM on March 26, 2001




Having lived in NY and living in DC now, two things immediately jump to my mind:
-NY subway is more useful--runs 24/7 for the most part, and it gets you pretty much anywhere.
-NY subway has a very distinct smell and a pretty disgusting atmosphere.

That said, in my oppinion, one of the commentators is right: we could greatly improve capacity by running trains much more frequently and with eight cars in every train.
posted by Witold at 11:26 AM on March 26, 2001


Compared to a lot of other places with "mass transit" (LA and South Florida - for me) the DC system rocks. Pretty clean, links up nice with the ride-on. Beats the hell out of 2 hours on the 405...
posted by owillis at 4:33 PM on March 26, 2001


I always thought Arm & Hammer should run a promotion where they strapped big laundry-sized shaker boxes of baking soda to the ends of subway trains.

Anyway, few places are as densely populated as Manhattan. It follows that few places can really support the capital expense of four-track subways, unfortunately.
posted by dhartung at 6:38 PM on March 26, 2001


few places are as densely populated as Manhattan. It follows that few places can really support the capital expense of four-track subways, unfortunately.

So maybe DC needs to look at encouraging increased housing density, especially in the city. Encourage more walking and eliminate some of the demand for Potomac crossings.
posted by daveadams at 8:37 PM on March 26, 2001


I take the Metro to and from work every day in off hours so to miss the ever increasing crush. It is a great clean efficient system. It really beats driving. I live in Bethesda (an edge city) that grew up around the Metro. It is really nice to have the Metro since the roads are insanely clogged and also run down.

But, I can not break the car habit for errands on the weekends and evenings.
posted by vanderwal at 8:43 PM on March 26, 2001


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