Transit

Photo by PoPville flickr user gerdaindc

From WMATA:

All good things must come to an end, and Metro’s spring break from track work is no exception. Following a four week reprieve from the massive rebuilding of Metrorail — a period during which 15 million rail trips were taken — workers are gearing up to resume the heavy construction activity that is critical to improving the safety and reliability of the transit system.

Metro is investing $5.5 billion to install new rail, ties, platforms, escalators, signals, lighting, communication systems, and more. It represents the largest capital investment — and work effort — since the system’s original construction in the early 1970s.

This weekend’s rebuilding work will result in service changes on all lines beginning at 10 p.m. Friday and continuing through system closing on Sunday night.

Red Line – 10 p.m. Fri., April 19 through closing Sun., April 21

Free shuttle buses will replace Red Line trains between Gallery Place and Union Station as workers install 600 feet of new lighting fixtures between the tracks at Judiciary Square Station. The project is part of an ongoing effort to improve brightness and energy efficiency. Rail service must be suspended because the light fixtures are located within inches of both third rails.
Judiciary Square Station will be closed throughout the weekend.
Trains will operate as follows:
Between Glenmont and Union Station every 10 minutes during daytime hours and at regular weekend intervals at other times.
Between Shady Grove and Farragut North every 10 minutes during daytime hours and at regular weekend intervals at other times.
In addition, a special “shuttle train” will run continuously between Farragut North, Metro Center and Gallery Place. Customers traveling between these three stations and the western side of the Red Line should transfer across the platform at Farragut North to continue their trip.
Customers traveling between the eastern side of the Red Line and Downtown destinations may wish to consider using Green Line service between Fort Totten and Gallery Place as an alternate route.
Customers using shuttle bus service should allow 10 to 15 minutes of additional travel time.
Last train change: To allow for shuttle bus connections, the last train from Glenmont to Union Station will depart 32 minutes earlier than normal on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. The train will leave Glenmont at 2:05 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and at 11:05 p.m. on Sunday.

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Dysfunction Junction chronicles the most forlorn, baffling, and wonderful crossroads of our fair city. Ben Ball is a transportation nerd in his spare time. He lives in LeDroit Park. Ben previously wrote about Circular Logic.

[Disclaimer:  Though Ben is the Chair of the Metro Riders’ Advisory Council these views are his own.]

Forget that hunk of stone up on Wisconsin Avenue. The L’Enfant Plaza Metro station is Washington’s real cathedral.  When alien archaeologists unearth this cruciform catacomb in southwest DC, they are going to think that it’s some kind of religious structure.  A temple to the gods of concrete.  A secret chamber for the rites of the Smithsonian cult.  A place where supple virgins were sacrificed on electrified third rails.

We simply know it as the transit point everyone loves to hate.  Does anybody live there?  Of course not.  Is there a single bar or restaurant worthy of the name within a half mile radius?  Not even close.  (Food trucks don’t count.)  So let me personally thank I.M. Pei and those visionary 1950s planners for making all the rail lines converge in the most useless place in DC.  (Yes, yes, I know.  The SW Ecodistrict.  Wake me up when that actually happens.)

Even finding this station is a challenge.  Good luck finding the entrance near HUD – it involves going up a flight of stairs and making a U turn to reach an escalator which takes you underneath the stairs you just climbed.  The 7^th and D exit is closed on the weekends – good thing they put the airport bus stop there.

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From WMATA:

Metro Transit Police Chief Ronald Pavlik has ordered all day-shift patrol officers to remain on duty through this evening’s rush hour to increase the security posture of the transit system.

Metro is taking this step in an abundance of caution. There is no specific or credible threat against the Metro system at this time.

Customers are urged to report suspicious activity or unattended packages by calling Metro Transit Police at (202) 962-2121. Customers are encouraged to program this number into their mobile device.

Metro Transit Police continue to monitor events in Boston and will take appropriate measures to heighten security.

They warned us yesterday afernoon would be busy. From a press release:

If Metrorail seemed a bit busier than usual yesterday, it wasn’t your imagination.

Wednesday was the fourth busiest day in the 37-year history of Metrorail. Based on preliminary data, the system provided a total of 870,171 trips between 5 a.m. and midnight.

Metro officials attributed the especially busy day to the combination of Cherry Blossom visitors, a Nationals game, a Wizards game and a rally at the US Capitol.

It was the system’s highest ridership day since April 2, 2010.

Metro General Manager and CEO Richard Sarles noted that growing ridership only increases the urgency of expanding the capacity of the system. Earlier this year, Metro unveiled its strategic plan — called “Momentum” — to expand the system’s capacity and better serve the region’s future needs. Among the projects set forth in Momentum are power upgrades, additional rail cars and new yard storage to support running 100 percent 8-car trains.

All of Metro’s top-10 ridership days have occurred in the past five years.

Today could also see higher ridership, with favorable weather, the Cherry Blossoms in bloom, a Nationals game at 7:05 p.m. and a Capitals game at 7:00 p.m. As a result, riders may experience more crowded trains and stations during this evening’s rush hour. Metro will provide extra Green Line trains between Mount Vernon Square and Anacostia stations during rush hour to accommodate baseball travel.

Thanks to a reader for sending this shot from Adams Morgan. Back in May of last year a reader asked if it was legal to park this way? The consensus was that it was not legal to park this way. Have others seen Car2Gos parked this way? Can the driver get ticketed for doing so? If so, how would that work – Car2Go would forward you the ticket/amount owed?

We judged Car2Go back in January.

Dysfunction Junction chronicles the most forlorn, baffling, and wonderful crossroads of our fair city. Ben Ball is a transportation nerd in his spare time. He lives in LeDroit Park. Ben previously wrote about The Florida/Rhode Island/New Jersey Triangle.

When my aunt from California comes to visit, I derive a wicked sense of pleasure from making her drive through the circles.  I just love her white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel and breathless yelps (“BENJAMIN!!!!”).  Still, who can blame her?  Driving, walking, or biking through the city’s thirty-four circles is baffling. Those of us who have lived abroad know that traffic circles can be beneficial when everyone knows what to do.  But the confusing multiplicity of traffic patterns in DC’s circles makes that impossible.  If the DC DMV can’t even bother to codify the rules for traffic circles, then how will people like my aunt know what to do?

Leaving the origin theories to the historians, let’s look at the three types of circles we generally encounter in DC today:

Type #1:  Proper Roundabout.  These are traditional traffic circles.  Cars enter and exit the circle freely, yielding to traffic before entering.  In DC, most of these are smaller circles like Sheridan Circle and Anna J. Cooper Circle.  Advantage:  Traffic flows freely.  Disadvantage:  Pedestrian access to the circle can be perilous or non-existent.

Type #2:  Roundabouts with stoplights.  Some of these (like Thomas Circle and Scott Circle) are glorified intersections, with underpasses so cars can avoid the insanity of stopping on a circle altogether.  Others (like Logan Circle) may have originally been proper roundabouts, but have been converted in the interest of pedestrian safety or access to the center of the circle.  Advantage:  Pedestrians can walk through the circle, in theory.  Disadvantage:  Cars have to stop on the way in, on the circle itself, and sometimes on the way out.

Type #3:  You call this a %&*$# circle?  Dupont Circle really takes the cake here.  It’s bad enough that there are separated inner and outer lanes, but those two lanes actually cross on purpose at several points.  Theoretically this traffic pattern is designed to protect pedestrians, but how many times have you been stuck between lanes of traffic on that tiny little concrete strip, waiting for the signal to change?  Ward Circle also has a strange inner/outer loop thing going, with the result that both pedestrians and drivers have no idea what’s going on.  Biking through either of these circles?  Don’t get me started.  Advantage:  Car horn and air bag manufacturers win!  Disadvantage:  Car horn and air bag manufacturers win!

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From WMATA:

Metro is advising customers to expect a busy afternoon on Metrorail today, as the confluence of several major events will overlap with the regular rush-hour period.

Factors that are expected to increase ridership include:
• A major rally scheduled between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the US Capitol that is expected to draw 30,000 attendees. Most participants will travel between Stadium-Armory and Capitol South, with additional ridership expected at Eastern Market and Federal Center SW stations.
• A Nationals game starting at 7 p.m. will draw large crowds to Navy Yard Station, and will increase ridership at the downtown transfer stations (primarily L’Enfant Plaza and Gallery Place).
• Cherry Blossom visitors traveling to/from the National Mall will continue to increase ridership at Smithsonian and L’Enfant Plaza station.
• A 7 p.m. Wizards home game at Verizon Center will add ridership at Gallery Place.

Travelers this afternoon may experience more crowded trains and stations during the height of evening rush hour.

Metro plans to operate additional 8-car trains during the afternoon hours, prior to the rally, along with extra Green Line trains between Mount Vernon Square and Anacostia stations during rush hour to accommodate baseball travel.

Travel Advice

Customers may wish to plan their travel to avoid the following stations, if possible:
• Capitol South (consider Eastern Market or Federal Center SW as alternates)
• Stadium-Armory (consider Potomac Ave as alternate)
• L’Enfant Plaza (consider other transfer stations)
• Smithsonian (Cherry Blossom visitors should consider Arlington Cemetery or Federal Triangle)

If a train is too crowded to board, please step back to the platform and allow the doors to close. Holding the doors can result in personal injury and can delay the train and all trains behind it.

See full map here.

More on the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler here. Good luck to all the runners!