WMATA took the same transportation demand model that it uses to project ridership on a new line and instead ran a couple of scenarios with the region’s transit literally turned off. All of it: the regional rail, the buses and the metro system.

"It was literally just imagining Washington, and all of a sudden, you wake up tomorrow, and the transit system isn’t there," Antos says. "What would you do?"

People, it turns out, do something very interesting. They stop making long car trips because the traffic is so bad. In one hypothetical scenario, Antos took away the transit but kept the rest of the area’s road infrastructure the same. People were allowed to change their trip patterns – to chose different jobs or shopping centers – and most of them stopped crossing the region to get to those things.

There's more at the Atlantic Cities, and it's all well and good, but the piece ignores a couple of things.

1) Without transit, the District would have developed in a completely different way, so wondering what would happen if it disappeared tomorrow, while fun, is also kind of silly.

2) According to WMATA spokesman Dan Stessel, this study cost just under $200,000 to conduct.

Stessel defends the cost, pointing out that's only 16 cents per rider, and the study—which, granted, has more to it than the projection of life without transit—will help the board make planning decisions. And to be fair, the findings, which amount to "Metro is good for D.C.," aren't bad (and WMATA could certainly use the PR), but the price tag still seems hefty. That's almost enough money to maintain four escalators!

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Games Without Frontiers: In the mid-1990s, Pokémon video games, anime cartoons, and merchandise were wildly popular, despite the fact that the TV show caused occasional seizures. Now comes news on two related fronts: Pokémon still exists, and the D.C. area is home to one of its champions. McLean resident Wolfe Glick, 15, won the Masters Division of a national Pokémon tournament over the weekend in Indianapolis, and will go on to represent the United States in a worldwide competition in San Diego in August. So what if the Capitals keep crashing out of the Stanley Cup playoffs? At least the region is a winner in something. +1

Alexandria Is Killing Us: It's been 164 years since Alexandria returned itself to Virginia, breaking off from the District. Had that never happened, Mayor Vince Gray would probably not need to involve the Environmental Protection Agency in order to close down a power plant on the eastern bank of the Potomac that may be spewing dangerous amounts of sulfur dioxide across the river to Ward 8. But since the plant is outside the D.C. government's jurisdiction, that's what the Sierra Club wants him to do. (Meanwhile, the thought of sulfur coming from Virginia confirms some of our suspicions about the state.) -3

Going Up: When Metro launched subway service in 1976, it seemed modern, clean, and cutting-edge. How far it's fallen since then can be marked by the cheers that greeted the installation of a new escalator in the Foggy Bottom station on the Blue and Orange lines, the first new escalator to come on line in the system in 15 years. Another eight new escalators will debut eventually. No word on whether Metro's official policy—that escalators are not meant to be walked on—will be changed as a result. +2

Thermal Overdrive: File this under "you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows": As heat and humidity surged today, the D.C. government declared a hyperthermia alert. The wonky sounding name actually brings along some emergency measures, though; 60 cooling centers run by the Department of Parks and Recreation opened. Pools, of course, are already in business. Tomorrow's expected to be even muggier. Can we just fast-forward to October? -3

Friday's Needle rating: 51 Today's score: -3 Today's Needle rating: 48

Reuben Charles in Charge: City Paper's Loose Lips columnist's job will be less fun over the next four years; apparently Almost Mayor Vince Gray has decided not to give the chief of staff job to Reuben Charles, who's got a long history of tax liens and default judgements related to failed business ventures. We can only hope whoever does get the gig goes through as cursory a vetting process as the Gray staff appeared to give Charles before the press began poking into his background. +2

Escalating Problems: The Westinghouse Modular 100 is, evidently, the definition of a lemon in the escalator world. Discontinued 30 years ago, the Modular 100 breaks down frequently and needs more maintenance than usual. Happily, Metro appears to own the world's largest collection of them, which seems to explain some of the recent problems the transit agency has had with, well, escalators. Don't worry, though—the bum escalators only make up 83 percent of Metro's stock. -3

Chandra Levy Jury Stats: Two of the jurors for the trial of Ingmar Guandique on charges he murdered Chandra Levy work in journalism, a demographic snapshot released by the court shows. Which probably means the jury is likely to need more time to deliberate than expected; most journalists, after all, aren't very bright. (Trust we. Er, we mean, trust us.) The other jurors have respectable jobs, and they range in age from 26 to 72. The presence of not one, but two, journalists on the jury will mean neither of them get the advance they're hoping for on their tell-all book about the trial later. +1

Burgundy and Gold Bullion: Hours before Monday Night Football kicks off, the Redskins leak word that they've signed a deal to pay quarterback Donovan McNabb up to $88 million over the next five years, with $40 million guaranteed. Anyone heading to FedEx Field for tonight's game against the Eagles, don't be surprised if there's a new "Paying for Veterans" fee being collected at the stadium gates. Anyone watching on TV, don't be alarmed if ESPN shows more close-ups of Dan Snyder than you'd really like. -1

Friday's Needle rating: 46 Today's score: -1 Today's Needle rating: 45

The renovations to the system will cost $177 million (only $80 million more than anticipated last summer!) and will take upwards of 4 years to complete, beginning in early 2010.  Among the important tasks of the renovation are:

• New escalators at the south entrance of Dupont Circle – Please, slow down this exit even more.  And give me an opportunity to walk up and down that ridiculously long escalator when it's not running.
• Upgrades to the air conditioning and ventilation – Does the Metro really need to be colder?  Maybe when the trains are filled to capacity, which will only worsen when the Red Line starts single-tracking to solve this issue.
• Rehabilitation of the Rockville and Shady Grove platforms – What does that even mean?  Re-grouting the tiles?  Adding a few benches?
• New staircases, escalators, and a canopy at Foggy Bottom – A canopy?  Really?  Get an umbrella.

The other planned maintenance seems more on track, if you'll forgive the pun.  Like an upgrade to the automatic train controls and track maintenance and fixing the tunnel ventilation and fire equipment.  Maybe those should be the primary focus.  Because it's always better to prevent train collisions than to prevent getting wet while entering the station.