From WMATA:
“Metro’s turning 50 and we’re kicking the celebration off Friday morning at Metro Center! 🎉
We’ll have a DJ spinning and limited-edition giveaways while supplies last 🎶🤞
8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
See you there!”
More from Metro:
“Friday marks 50 years since Metro first launched a new era of transportation in the National Capital Region. It all began on March 27, 1976, with the first Metro Rail trips carrying customers on the 4.6 miles of Red Line between Rhode Island Avenue and Farragut North.
The Metro Rail system quickly transformed how the region moved. In the decades since, Metro has become the backbone of the region’s transportation network with generations of customers relying on the system.
Over the years, customers have taken more than 7 billion trips on Metro Rail, and more than 15 billion trips across Metro Rail, Metro Bus, and Metro Access.
Today, the system has grown into a six-line, 130-mile network with 98 stations. In 2025 alone, Metro Rail delivered 147 million trips while playing a central role in the area’s economy and daily life.
“Metro was a bold vision and investment in the region by previous generations,” said Metro General Manager Randy Clarke. “Fifty years later, it remains essential to how people connect to jobs, school, and opportunity. Today, we honor the organizers, the decision makers, the builders, the employees, and the customers who have made America’s Metro System an integral part of the region over the past half-century. Team Metro is committed to stewardship of this great system and continuing to provide safe, frequent, and reliable service for the next 50 years.”
Beyond the numbers, Metro’s impact can be measured in the big and little moments it makes possible.
“For half a century, Metro has been the connective tissue of our region and supported its growth and economic vitality,” said WMATA Board Chair Valerie Santos. “We’ve carried billions of people from presidential inaugurations to World Series celebrations, from the surge of Cherry Blossom visitors each spring to the sea of red, white, and blue each Fourth of July. Metro has moved not just crowds, but history itself. Just as importantly, Metro is woven into the rhythm of everyday life carrying people to work, to friends and family events, concerts and restaurants, healthcare, education, and community.”