Transit

This Weekend’s Metro Track Work, Well, Green Line Will Be Good to Go

By Prince Of Petworth

metro
Photo by PoPville flickr user Beau Finley

From WMATA:

“Reconstruction of the Metrorail system will continue over the weekend of November 6-8 with service adjustments on five of six lines beginning at 10:00 p.m. Friday and continuing through system closing on Sunday.

This weekend, trains will operate as follows:

Red Line trains will operate every 18 minutes.
Orange, Silver and Blue line trains will operate every 20 minutes.
Yellow Line trains will operate every 20 minutes between Huntington and Mt. Vernon Sq only.
Green Line trains will operate at regular weekend intervals.”

“Trains to resume normal service at Stadium-Armory on Monday”

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user Brett Bowers

From WMATA:

“Metro Interim General Manager Jack Requa today announced that Orange and Silver line trains will resume normal service at Stadium-Armory Station starting Monday, Nov. 9, following power system upgrades.

Currently, only Blue Line trains stop at Stadium-Armory Station weekdays from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. During these times, Orange and Silver line trains pass through the station without stopping to reduce strain on the electrical system following a substation fire on Monday, Sept. 21. The fire severely damaged a 9-megawatt substation that supplies electricity to the third rail in the area. Since the incident, Metro has had to feed power to the area from smaller adjacent substations.

The restoration of normal service at Stadium-Armory is possible thanks to emergency upgrades at an adjacent power substation, located near Potomac Avenue Station. In response to the fire, crews identified a creative workaround by adding 3 megawatts of electrical output at the Potomac Avenue substation, in addition to its original capacity of 4 megawatts. As a result, the Potomac Avenue substation now has a capacity of 7 megawatts, enough to allow Orange, Silver and Blue line trains to stop normally at Stadium-Armory Station without overloading the system or disrupting service. (more…)

Metro Names New General Manager, Paul Wiedefeld, former CEO of BWI Airport

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user Erin

From WMATA:

“With unanimous Board support, Paul Wiedefeld was named Metro’s new General Manager and Chief Executive Officer (GM/CEO) today. Mr. Wiedefeld will be formally appointed at WMATA’s next Board of Directors meeting on November 19.

“This Board is very pleased to have a senior executive of Mr. Wiedefeld’s caliber who will help us build a new standard of safety, reliability, and financial stability for our system,” said WMATA Board of Directors Chairman Mort Downey. “Paul brings to Metro a depth of transportation knowledge and regional experience and we are absolutely united in our support for him. The Board will continue in our governance and oversight role in a manner that helps Paul succeed in running the day-to-day operations of Metro to better serve our riders, rebuild faith in management, and restore credibility with stakeholders.”

Mr. Wiedefeld, age 60, brings to Metro 30 years of public and private sector transportation management experience, formerly serving as CEO of the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, where he managed the operations of an airport that served a (then) record 22.7 million passengers in CY 2012. During his prior service as BWI CEO, Mr. Wiedefeld oversaw the largest expansion in the Airport’s history including the design and construction of a 26-gate terminal for Southwest airlines; as well as providing air service, customer service, and increasing airport revenues. He is credited with leading BWI’s growth as the busiest passenger airport in the Washington metropolitan region. (more…)

“it will tell me my fare is X dollars, but then I leave and receive the receipt 30 seconds later with an additional 1-3 dollars added”

By Prince Of Petworth

uber

“Dear PoPville,

What is my recourse here? I travel with Uber taxi 2-3 times a week from my home to my work (or vice versa). I know the average charge, and it is between 7-9 dollars base fare. However, several times in the past few months, I have noticed that the taxi driver has somehow “inflated” the base charge of my fare. I will glance at the payment screen and it will tell me my fare is X dollars, but then I leave and receive the receipt 30 seconds later with an additional 1-3 dollars added. I know that the screen considers any true extras when telling me the fare charge (it says “amount due”, so it is already a final amount), as I use taxi service (without Uber) quite a bit. I don’t travel with luggage or an extra passenger, so I cannot understand how any extra charge would be justified. And, it would show on the “amount due” screen before I exit the vehicle.

This morning, I again took an Uber. I glanced at the screen before exiting the vehicle and the charge was $8.09. When I received my receipt a minute later (will be sent by separate email to you – please block my identifying information if you publish it), my base fare was $10.09. I immediately emailed Uber to report this. Please see the absolutely ridiculous response below. I understand that Uber does not “control the fare set”. I am not addressing that; I am reporting a dishonest contractor. This is not the first time this has happened, and Uber’s response is always a brush off. If it has happened to me 3 times in the past 2 months or so, I have to believe this happens to other people, too.

Would the taxi cab commission address this problem? I know it seems quite petty for $2, but it has happened more than once. And I don’t relish the thought of a $14 cab ride (even if it is my fault that I am always late and need a cab!) to work.” (more…)

Morning Metro Malaise Vol. 1,362 “If intentional…..WHY??? Dear god why?”

By Prince Of Petworth

metro
Photo by PoPville flickr user nevermindtheend

“Dear PoPville,

As I wait here on the platforms to U st to go into the city, two northbound trains have passed me, and I’m sure a third will come before at least one southbound train comes. This is literally the norm now, not some delay, or construction, or anything else. This appears retaliated to intentional scheduling.

And I’m sure once I get on the train, it will stop for several minutes outside of Mt Vernon to allow several trains to switch tracks and get in front.

My question, is it accurate that this is intentional, and not part of some unforeseen delay? If intentional…..WHY??? Dear god why?”

Metro Haikus by John Nicoll Vol. 3 – Nosy Neighbor

By Prince Of Petworth

metro
Photo by PoPville flickr user Jordan Barab

You can spot John on the Red Line commuting between Brookland and Bethesda. “MetroHaikuDC‘s daily transit musings are brightening DC’s metro tunnels, 17 syllables at a time. I started writing a haiku a day on my 40 minute daily train ride to and from work. It passes the time and keeps things lighthearted in some of the metro’s darkest times.”

Please enjoy Nosy Neighbor this week:

I can see you there
Reading what I’m writing down
Hello seat neighbor

“Why the Streetcar will never work”

By Prince Of Petworth

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“Dear PoPville,

An incident yesterday (Sunday) morning perfectly summed up why the H-street Streetcar will never work. I’m coming out of Bullfrog Bagels with my son and heading back to our car on H street. I see that right around our car, idling in the right-hand lane (East-bound), is the Streetcar. Why? Because in the parking lane, just in front of our car, is a poorly-parked car with a side-view window that will be hit by the passing Streetcar. So the Streetcar has radio’d for a tow truck. But where’s a tow truck on Sunday morning? 5, 10-plus minutes later, no tow truck. And meanwhile others coming out from Bullfrog Bagels are finding they are blocked in by the Streetcar. Can’t do anything. The Streetcar blocks in some 5-6 cars. To say nothing of the fact it blocks the whole right traffic lane. Fortunately, I had just enough room to make my escape.

I have no idea how much longer everybody had to wait around. But this episode to me proves that the Streetcar has a fundamental design flaw. It’s clearly too much to ask that the average citizen park perfectly along H street all the time. And it’s clearly too much to ask that DC always have a tow truck just ready to tow, all the time. And if you can’t guarantee these two things, you have an unbearably slow bus-on-rails that temporarily blocks both the right lane and half a dozen cars. It just doesn’t work. The whole thing should be scrapped and the money earmarked for it in 2016 should be spent on a third-party deep dive audit that explains all the ways that DC messed it up, but with an eye towards how to avoid these kind of decisional mistakes in the future.”

Is it possible people will learn to park better?

Potential circulator route options for NoMa

By Prince Of Petworth

noma circulator

From DC Circulator:

“Last year, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) conducted the DC Circulator Transit Development Plan Update. During this study the NoMA, “North of Massachusetts Avenue,” area was identified as a top neighborhood for future DC Circulator service.

DDOT created an online comment form to collect feedback on preferred potential NoMa Circulator routes. The comment form will present any NoMa resident, employer, employee and/or visitor with the opportunity to participate in focus-groups scheduled for December 2015. At each focus group, DDOT staff will present potential route options and ask attendees for their thoughts and opinions about the potential service.

Click to view PDF of potential NoMa route options. (more…)

We’ll All Be Riding the Bus Soon Vol. 177

By Prince Of Petworth

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A reader reports:

“The Waterfront metro has had two of its six gates out of service for well over a month, with no sign of repairs any time soon.

One gate broke months ago. The other followed about a month ago. Of the working 4 gates, one is a very very slow handicapped gate. So in rush hour, most commuters have to line up to use the one standard working gate.

Does WMATA have any plan to fix the broken gates? Or is this just the new normal for Waterfront?”

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