Transit

Photo by PoPville flickr user Kristine Marsh

From WMATA:

“Metro today launched a new way to share opinions and help shape the direction of Metro through Amplify, Metro’s first-ever “customer community.”  Amplify is the newest way that Metro is engaging customers by bringing together riders, transit advocates and experts in an ongoing digital forum.

Through a structured environment of online surveys, polls and discussion forums, Amplify community members will have the opportunity to share their experience as riders and influence how Metro responds to issues affecting those who use the system.

“This tool gives customers the convenience of sharing their thoughts and opinions at times and in places that work for them, including on the go,” said Lynn Bowersox, Assistant General Manager of Customer Service, Communications and Marketing. “We believe that Amplify will become a valuable tool in building the relationship between Metro and our customers.” (more…)

Not exactly but I’m definitely filing this under “laugh or cry”. Thanks to a reader for sending.

Photo by PoPville flickr user Beau Finley

From WMATA:

“Reconstruction of the Metrorail system will continue over the weekend of October 9-11 with service adjustments beginning at 12:01 a.m. Saturday and continuing through system closing on Sunday.

Highlights:

Three stations will be closed this weekend: Vienna, Dunn Loring and West Falls Church.
Silver Line trains will replace Orange Line service this weekend with all Silver Line trains running between Wiehle-Reston East and New Carrollton every 8 minutes during daytime hours.
Riders traveling to/from Orange Line stations should board a Silver Line train to make their trip.
Riders traveling to/from Blue/Silver stations between Largo Town Center and Benning Road should use only Blue Line trains.
Red, Blue, Green and Yellow lines are on regular weekend schedules.

Early Opening Sunday morning for the for Army Ten-Miler
Metrorail will open two hours early, at 5 a.m., on Sunday, October 11, for riders traveling to the Army Ten-Miler. The closest Metro stop to the start of the race is Pentagon on the Blue and Yellow lines.

Columbus Day service information
On Columbus Day, Monday, October 12, Metrorail will open at 5 a.m. and close at midnight. Trains will operate at Saturday service intervals (every 6 to 12 minutes during daytime hours). Off-peak fares will be in effect all day and parking will be free at all Metrorail parking facilities.”

Sylvia sends the photo above around 5:15pm:

“unbelievable scene at l’enfant plaza metro staff hysterical announcements [mostly garbled except for ‘watch your legs!’]”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Beau Finley

From WMATA:

“Reconstruction of the Metrorail system will continue over the weekend of October 2-4 with service adjustments on five of six lines beginning at 10 p.m. Friday and continuing through system closing on Sunday.

This weekend, Red & Green line trains will operate at regular weekend intervals. Orange, Silver, Blue and Yellow line trains will operate every 20 minutes.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user angela n.

From WMATA:

“Reconstruction of the Metrorail system will continue over the weekend of September 25-27 with service adjustments on five of six lines beginning at 10 p.m. Friday and continuing through system closing on Sunday.

This weekend, Green line trains will operate at regular weekend intervals. Orange, Silver, Blue and Yellow line trains will operate every 24 minutes. Red Line trains will operate every 10-20 minutes with additional trains between Farragut North and Rhode Island Avenue between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Victoria Pickering

From WMATA:

“Metro today announced a temporary service change to help ease delays and “stop and go” train rides for Orange, Blue and Silver line customers whose trips have been impacted by operating restrictions following Monday’s transformer fire outside Stadium-Armory Station.

During rush hours, Orange and Silver line trains will run every 8 minutes, rather than every 6 minutes, to reduce the number of trains in service at any one time. The move is intended to create more time and distance between trains and prevent them from bunching up in the area of Stadium-Armory, where operating restrictions are in place due to lower electrical capacity.

The fire knocked offline a 9-megawatt power substation that converts commercial power to 750 volts of D/C electricity that is used to run trains via the third rail.

Metro is currently “feeding” power to the area of Stadium-Armory from smaller substations farther away and that are already at their output capacity. To avoid overloading the system, Metro must reduce train speeds and limit the number of trains passing through the Stadium-Armory area to one train at a time on each track. This, in turn, has caused stop-and-go travel conditions for many riders, especially during rush hours this week.

Metro plans to increase the number of 8-car trains on the Orange and Silver lines during this time by using cars made available by the reduced number of trains in service.

Metro’s power and engineering departments are working to rebuild the damaged power substation and replace equipment on an expedited basis – a process that will take months. Metro will provide updates on the repair process as additional information is known.”