Dear PoPville – Transit Edition

Photo by PoPville flickr user thisisbossi

Couple transit related questions:

“Dear PoPville,

So I was driving home today and had an errand to run in SE Capitol Hill, so like I (and everyone else who lives in the area) frequently do, I took the “RFK Traffic Only” exit off of the SE freeway (right as it goes under Pennsylvania Avenue). There’s always been a Do Not Enter sign there, but everyone ignores it since it’s by far the most convenient way to get to that corner of Capital Hill. Tonight there were two DC cops stopping every car, lecturing the drivers (including me!) on how it was illegal, threatening tickets, and then waving us on. The cop was actually fairly cool about it, and I’m sure he was just doing his job, so I bare no ill will. But it is the BEST way to get into the area, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why the city would want to prevent it’s use when it’s one good thing in a city of otherwise so often painful traffic! Do you or your readers have any idea what the cities motivation is?”

Anyone know why the RFK Traffic Only lane is restricted?

and another reader is curious about the Green Line skipping stations:

“Dear PoPville,

Every morning I take the Green Line from Georgia Ave to College Park for work. On my commute this morning, we arrived at Fort Totten and the conductor announced that the train would only be servicing the PG Plaza and Greenbelt stations. For service to West Hyattsville and College Park, we were exit the train and board one of the following Green Line trains (which were 1 and 2 minutes behind).

This didn’t really cause me any inconvenience, as there were two more trains arriving in the next two minutes. But I am sort of curious as to why that happened. I’ve lived here for 7 years and take Metro every day and I’ve never experienced a train just skipping stations that weren’t otherwise closed. With two trains immediately following, I wonder if they just got “bunched up” and were trying to run a train off the line to get back on normal schedule.

Anyone ever experience this before? Thoughts?”