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People who visit DC almost invariably marvel at the metro because they use it for a couple days likely not at peak times. For day to day commuting it is awful a

by dkrich 3y ago

People who visit DC almost invariably marvel at the metro because they use it for a couple days likely not at peak times. For day to day commuting it is awful and a running joke for people who live there. Elevator outages and trains getting stuck on a regular basis.

CPLX 3y ago
I grew up in DC and moved to NYC and it’s painful to compare the two systems, DC’s is a total embarrassment. It was designed to take tourists to museums and government workers from suburban parking lots to work in the morning and evening. That’s it. The two fatal design flaws are lack of express trains and stations that are high ceilinged and deeply buried so it takes like 14 minutes to get from the tracks to the street. It’s barely a subway it’s more like a odd suburban light rail hybrid that happens to run into an actual city.
- epistasis 3y ago
  Ok, but realize that a lot of the readership here is in California, and the DC Metro is a far far bigger step up over our systems than it is from the DC Metro to, say, Tokyo. There were three and four minute headways between trains in DC! This is just incomprehensible technological advancement for Californians.
- snowwrestler 3y ago
  Well yeah, compared to NY, DC itself is mostly an odd suburb. The entire region only has like 5 buildings over 30 stories tall; most are in the 15-story range or lower. Of course the NY subway is denser and runs more frequently. DC is also not flat like NY. Some Metro stations are deeply buried in hills, but a bunch are shallow and many are actually above ground.
cowsup 3y ago
And also the fact that, anything outside of tourist attractions typically only has one or two lines serving them. If you’re going from the Smithsonian museum to any number of hotels, you’ll have a variety of trains to take. Otherwise, you may need to wait longer. It’s like an old childhood friend — they may be in a bad spot and you can’t stand to be around them, but the love is still there. I love metro and hope it improves. It’s getting there, slowly but surely. Still fails to deliver and eliminating off-peak pricing is hurting those who have no other option.
milespj 3y ago
Worsening traffic and skyrocketing Lyft / Uber prices sent me to Metro for both my commute and general getting around. Metro has had its fair share of problems but it really seems to have gotten better!
snowwrestler 3y ago
Totally disagree. I’m happy to be standing on a Metro platform right now for my commute instead of dead stopped on 95. Is it perfect? No, but neither is DC traffic…

by dkrich 3y ago

CPLX 3y ago

I grew up in DC and moved to NYC and it’s painful to compare the two systems, DC’s is a total embarrassment. It was designed to take tourists to museums and government workers from suburban parking lots to work in the morning and evening. That’s it. The two fatal design flaws are lack of express trains and stations that are high ceilinged and deeply buried so it takes like 14 minutes to get from the tracks to the street. It’s barely a subway it’s more like a odd suburban light rail hybrid that happens to run into an actual city.

epistasis 3y ago
Ok, but realize that a lot of the readership here is in California, and the DC Metro is a far far bigger step up over our systems than it is from the DC Metro to, say, Tokyo. There were three and four minute headways between trains in DC! This is just incomprehensible technological advancement for Californians.
snowwrestler 3y ago
Well yeah, compared to NY, DC itself is mostly an odd suburb. The entire region only has like 5 buildings over 30 stories tall; most are in the 15-story range or lower. Of course the NY subway is denser and runs more frequently. DC is also not flat like NY. Some Metro stations are deeply buried in hills, but a bunch are shallow and many are actually above ground.

cowsup 3y ago

And also the fact that, anything outside of tourist attractions typically only has one or two lines serving them. If you’re going from the Smithsonian museum to any number of hotels, you’ll have a variety of trains to take. Otherwise, you may need to wait longer. It’s like an old childhood friend — they may be in a bad spot and you can’t stand to be around them, but the love is still there. I love metro and hope it improves. It’s getting there, slowly but surely. Still fails to deliver and eliminating off-peak pricing is hurting those who have no other option.

milespj 3y ago

Worsening traffic and skyrocketing Lyft / Uber prices sent me to Metro for both my commute and general getting around. Metro has had its fair share of problems but it really seems to have gotten better!

snowwrestler 3y ago

Totally disagree. I’m happy to be standing on a Metro platform right now for my commute instead of dead stopped on 95. Is it perfect? No, but neither is DC traffic…