When I was young, the DC Metro was cool. It was inexpensive, convenient, and it worked. Smash cut to 2016. Metro General Manager Paul J.Wiedefeld has proposed that the Metro permanently shut down at 10 PM on Sundays and at midnight every other night.
If this happens, there will be an impact on your Capitals hockey.
The Capitals have two Sunday evening home games this season: a 7:30 PM start against the Senators on January 1 and a 7 PM start against the Panthers on April 9. Even if those games go exceptionally quickly, fans will be hard pressed to file into the Gallery Place/Chinatown stop in time for the final train to Rockville (or wherever else you folks go).
Wiedefeld met with the WMATA Board of Directors Thursday morning to discuss the proposal. In that meeting, Wiedefeld said a decision is still pending.
Wiedefeld on late-night service plan: "there will be ample time for public input and mitigation ideas."
— Martine Powers (@martinepowers) July 28, 2016
Wiedefeld says Sunday 10pm-12am ridership is down 43 percent since 2011 — now 4,000 riders #wmata
— Martine Powers (@martinepowers) July 28, 2016
Earlier this year, Wiedefeld announced a one-year accelerated maintenance plan, called “SafeTrack,” which includes expanded track access through midnight closings on weekends (on a temporary basis), a moratorium on early openings or late closings, and expanded track work during midday and evening hours. The plan is intended to achieve three years’ worth of work in one year and allow work crews to eliminate a maintenance backlog and address safety recommendations from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The Metro is a complicated beast. Its governance is shared among DC, Maryland, and Virginia. It’s underfunded, it has morale problems among its staff, and its original design just wasn’t up to the challenges it would face in the 21st century. The SafeTrack initiative is supposed to help DC solve its exceptional traffic problems and avoid another Fort Totten tragedy. The cost of that improvement, I suppose, may be some hellish transportation situations this coming season.
Meanwhile,
Worker down in escalator pit Foggy Bottom Metro. Assessing Pt. & setting up for tech rescue. pic.twitter.com/CKmYoyPmzo
— DC Fire and EMS (@dcfireems) July 28, 2016
We’ll keep you updated.
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