Transit

This Weekend’s Metro Track Work

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user JEO Photography

From WMATA:

“Red Line
Trains every 8-15 minutes

Red Line trains will operate as follows from 10 p.m. Friday through closing Sunday:

Between Shady Grove & Glenmont: Every 15 minutes throughout the weekend
Between Van Ness & NoMa-Gallaudet: Every 8-10 minutes from 9AM-9PM only

Work Performed: Insulator and fastener renewal, and fence and light pole replacement between NoMa-Gallaudet and Rhode Island Avenue; floating slab rehabilitation between Van Ness and Friendship Heights. (more…)

Shaw Metro 8:50 am “Attention, there is an emergency in the metro station. Please evacuate the station immediately”

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user Rich Renomeron

“Dear PoPville,

I know it’s a little late to mention, but a funny thing happened on the metro this morning and I was wondering if you had heard of anything like it before. It was about 8:50 am in the Shaw metro station and all of a sudden the usual announcements stopped and there was another announcement, something along the lines of: “Attention, there is an emergency in the metro station. Please evacuate the station immediately”. The people I was sitting near and I all looked up at each other and then around, surprised. It was strange because half the people in the station didn’t even seem to hear it because they had headphones in or were on their phones. The train was coming in two minutes, and not one person actually headed for the escalators to leave (myself and the people around me included). We stood there looking around, waiting for another announcement or for the station manager to come say something, but nothing happened. They were even still letting people into the station. Following this, the train arrived and we got on the train and it went on its way as normal.

I’ve never had this happen before, and it was surprising in two ways: 1) Metro’s lack of follow-up after the announcement and 2) the fact that an announcement like that was so easily not heard or ignored by most in the station. Do you have any idea what could have caused this? The whole situation was definitely very uncomfortable.”

Man Who Designed Iconic Metro Signage (and lots more), Massimo Vignelli, Passes Away

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user Glyn Lowe Photoworks.

Thanks to a reader for sending the link RIP Massimo Vignelli: The Iconic Designer Who Shaped a Century:

“Vignelli designed porcelain enamel pylons which would include all the relevant information and complement the look of the platforms. In addition to the signage, it was Vignelli who suggested they name it simply the “Metro” instead of a string of acronyms.”

You can read more about Vignelli’s life here.

This Weekend’s Metro Track Work

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user vpickering

From WMATA:

Red Line
Trains every 10-20 minutes

Red Line trains will operate as follows from 10 p.m. Friday through closing Monday:

Between Shady Grove & Glenmont: Every 20 minutes throughout the weekend
Between Shady Grove & NoMa-Gallaudet: Every 10 minutes from 9AM-9PM only

Work Performed:Crews will perform insulator and fastener renewal along with fence and light pole replacement between NoMa-Gallaudet and Fort Totten

Orange Line
Regular weekend service

Orange Line trains will operate every 12-15 minutes throughout the weekend.

Work Performed: Rail, tie and insulator renewal between East Falls Church and West Falls Church

Blue Line
Regular weekend service EXCEPT at Franconia-Springfield; Buses replace trains between Franconia-Springfield & Van Dorn Street

From 10 p.m. Friday through closing Monday:

Blue Line trains will run between Largo Town Center and Van Dorn Street at regular weekend intervals.
Free shuttle buses will replace trains between Van Dorn Street & Franconia-Springfield. Please allow an additional 10 minutes of travel time.

Station Closed: Franconia-Springfield

Work Performed: Switch replacement and rail joint elimination

Yellow Line
Regular weekend service between Huntington and Fort Totten

Green Line
Regular service EXCEPT Saturday during daytime hours at Greenbelt Station only

On Saturday, Green Line trains will operate:

Between College Park & Branch Ave at regular weekend intervals (every 12 minutes 9AM-9PM)
At Greenbelt Station only, trains will arrive and depart every 24 minutes between 9AM-9PM

Regular weekend service on Sunday and Monday.

Work Performed: Ongoing construction of new 7000-series test track

On Memorial Day, Monday, May 26, 2014, Metro will operate on the following schedules:

• Metrorail: The rail system will open at 7 a.m. and close at midnight. Trains will operate on a Sunday schedule. Off-peak fares will be in effect all day, and parking will be free at all Metrorail parking facilities.
• Metrobus: Most buses will operate on a Sunday schedule. Check bus timetables for details.”

Check Out this Map of Live Transit Data

By Prince Of Petworth

travic
Click on map for live version

Thanks to a reader for tweeting us this. Very cool. Travic’s website says:

“This tracker provides movement visualization of transit data published by transit agencies and operators from all over the world. The movements are mostly based on static schedule data. Whenever real-time data is available it is also included in the visualization. The University of Freiburg and geOps reserve the right to modify or discontinue this service at any time.”

New Speed Camera Locations

By Prince Of Petworth

From MPD:

“The Metropolitan Police Department announced today the deployment of new photo enforced locations beginning on or about Tuesday, May 20, 2014.

The deployment locations for the Photo Enforcement Units will be sites where speeding or restricted truck traffic has been identified to be a problem.

The thirty-day educational phase will commence on or about May 20, 2014, whereas violators will receive warning citations. After thirty days of warning tickets, MPD will begin issuing live moving citations to violators.

The new photo enforcement locations are as follows:

speed_cameras_dc

This Weekend’s Metro Track Work and Road Closures for the Capitol Hill Classic 10K

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user Beau Finley

From WMATA:

“Red Line
Trains every 10-18 minutes

Red Line trains will operate as follows from 10 p.m. Friday through closing Sunday:

Between Shady Grove & Glenmont: Every 18 minutes throughout the weekend
Between Van Ness & Judiciary Square: Every 10 minutes from 9AM-9PM only

Work Performed:Crews will perform floating slab rehabilitation between Van Ness and Friendship Heights; insulator and fastener renewal between NoMa-Gallaudet and Judiciary Square

Orange Line
Trains every 24 minutes

Orange Line trains will operate every 24 minutes throughout the weekend.

Work Performed: Crews will continue platform rehabilitation at Minnesota Ave; grout pad replacement and rail joint elimination between Stadium-Armory and Cheverly; along with rail, tie and insulator renewal between East Falls Church and West Falls Church.

Blue Line
Regular weekend service

Yellow Line
Regular weekend service between Huntington & Fort Totten

Green Line
Regular weekend service”

And from an email:

“The 35th Annual Capitol Hill Classic is coming on Sunday (May 18)! Here’s a list of road closures to help you plan ahead. The earliest closures will begin at 8am and the final portion of the course to reopen will be the loop around Stanton Park used for the kids’ fun run which will reopen about 11:30am. MPD will allow vehicles to cross the course when they may do so safely, but not turn onto roads used in the race. Course maps and additional race info are available here.

Capitol Hill Classic 10K Road Closures
We anticipate that the following are the road closures that will take place during the running of the Capitol Hill Classic 10K, 3K, and fun run. (You can take a look at the course maps page to see the overall route the three races will take.)

The 10K run will involve the following roads: (more…)

Frustrating Traffic Situation at 19th and M St NW – Accident Waiting to Happen

By Prince Of Petworth

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“Dear PoPville,

The past few weeks I’ve gotten more and more frustrated with drivers in the left turn lane intersection of M street at 19th westbound. You see, a few months ago DDOT installed a left hand turn signal in addition to the normal light in place for motorists going continuing straight on M st.

The light cycle includes a point in which the left hand turn signal is red, but the other stoplight is green. This should indicate that motorists are unable to turn left, correct?

Apparently, wrong.
Every light cycle, I see cars, trucks, taxis, and all other methods of transport blatantly disregard this signal. I’ve seen tour buses almost run people over, cabs cutting off other cars, and even an MPD cruiser breeze through this intersection with blatant disregard.

Considering this is a heavily trafficked intersection, this lack of enforcement of traffic lights creates a particularly dangerous situation.

I’ve tried to contact DC’s “Traffic Safety and Special Enforcement Branch” with no success and no response. Even a sign saying “No left turn on red” would make somewhat of a difference, I would hope. Do your readers having any suggestions for getting MPD or DDOT to either install traffic cams or have officers issuing tickets?”

Orximnj

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