So, to recap...
1) Metro service this year is going to get worse because of repairs.
2) Metro service may get more expensive. A lot more expensive for people who use paper fare cards. But the Post notes that Metro says that the increased revenue isn't going to toward repairs, it's just covering a budget shortfall to [...]
As I noted in Washington City Paper's Annotated Guide to 2011, Circulators are better than buses. Almost everything about them—the low fare, the timetable, the appearance—leave traditional Metrobuses behind. Just one thing didn't: The lame website.
All that changed this week with the new D.C. Circulator site launch. It that looks better, but more importantly, it [...]
Don't like service on Metrorail lately? This will not come as good news, then. The Examiner reports that with great maintenance comes longer waits:
Trains also will be forced to share a single track on many weekends and weeknights. Together that means riders will have extralong waits on platforms and shuttle bus trips around shuttered stations.
Riders [...]
Bathrooms Are For Closers: If you think riding a Metrobus around the District is a tough, you should try driving one. The union that represents bus drivers says schedules are so tight there's no time built in for them to use the bathroom—meaning they're left to keep a bag or cup in the back of [...]
According to the Examiner, Metrorail ridership has dropped by .36 percent and Metro says it's due to the economy (across the country, rail ridership rose by two percent).
"The Washington region's recession may have hit later than in other places but has not been as severe," Metro spokesman Dan Stessel acknowledged. Still, he said, employment growth [...]
Statehood Rides the Bus: Hot on the heels commissioning of pro-statehood TV spots that only ran on the D.C. government's cable Channel 16, District patriots today rolled out pro-statehood advertisements that will run on...the sides of Metrobuses. That surely guarantees more viewers than tune in to watch old mayoral press conferences, but, especially with bus [...]
But you probably already knew that if you're a bus rider in the District. And the Examiner's Kytja Weir notes that while complaints about metro are down, they're actually up for bus riders:
In the first eight months of 2011, Metrobus logged an average of 1,368 complaints per month, up from 1,299 the year before.
That means [...]
Please Sir, May I Have Some More (Acorns)?: Squirrel advocates (!) disagree on how to handle the coming Squirrel Famine—and whether there's even a famine coming. One group says they've noticed fewer acorns this year, and that once squirrels gnaw through their current stash, they'll be starving—so District residents may want to buy acorns, freeze [...]
Watch Your Backhoe: A Metrobus and a backhoe collided this afternoon on North Capitol and M Streets NE, injuring six. But the bus driver isn't to blame. According to WJLA, "Metro Spokesperson Cathy Asato says the backhoe made contact with the right side of the bus as the bus was passing through a construction area." -3
Recycling Legislation: Our federal overlords on Capitol Hill generate 5,300 tons of solid waste a year; after all, as any Tea Party activist will tell you, most bills are hundreds and hundreds of pages long, and printing them all out means a lot of garbage. Now the Architect of the Capitol has grand visions of [...]
Metro officials say they've found the Metrobus driver filmed unceremoniously heaving a passenger from his ride. Metro spokesperson Dan Stessel says Metro isn't releasing the allegedly grumpy driver's name, and that there's no word on criminal charges against him. "At this point, this is an administrative process," he says.
Video of the incident surfaced [...]
A Metrobus driver is in trouble for getting pushy—literally.
Video of a hulky driver shoving a not-so-hulky, maybe even scrawny, rider off a bus surfaced over the holiday weekend, and has WMATA hunting the offending employee. They weren't able to immediately identify the driver from the video, but Metro spokesperson Dan Stessel told NBC [...]
No, Really, I Want To Drive A Metrobus: Last summer, Metro officials were embarrassed to admit that a 19-year-old who didn't work for the agency, William Jackson, had been able to walk into a garage, drive a bus out, and run the B2 route, picking up riders, until he crashed into a tree. Jackson was [...]
The Metro system, once a reliable point of pride for D.C.'s boosters, has had a rough few years: Safety problems, escalator outages, and rising prices have made the subway a regular subject of local griping. At times, it can be hard to keep up with the torrent of unflattering Metro-related scoops. As a public service, [...]
The Metro system, once a reliable point of pride for D.C.'s boosters, has had a rough few years: Safety problems, escalator outages, and rising prices have made the subway a regular subject of local griping. At times, it can be hard to keep up with the torrent of unflattering Metro-related scoops. As a public service, [...]
