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DC Metro Rush+

TwentyONE

TwentyONE

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On June 18, Metro is going to screw me over and force me to like it. I take the blue line to farragut west and walk to my job in Dupont. If anyone has ever been on that train in the morning, it completely unloads at Farragut West. Many, many people work there and in the Dupont area coming from NoVA.

These are the changes:
•During peak periods, more than 46,000 Orange Line customers will benefit from six additional trains per hour – three in each direction – between Vienna and Largo Town Center. This will result in 18 percent more capacity on the line, or approximately 2,600 seats per hour.
•For 33,500 Blue and Yellow Line customers in Virginia, Rush+ will increase the share of Yellow Line trains, meaning more direct and faster access to downtown via the Yellow Line bridge. A smaller number (about 16,000) weekday peak-period customers who travel on Blue Line trains via Arlington Cemetery will experience a maximum of six-minutes additional waiting time for a train.
•Stations of the Green and Yellow lines from L'Enfant Plaza to Greenbelt will benefit from 18 additional trains during rush hour periods (six additional trains each peak hour, three in each direction). And for the first time, you will be able to travel from Greenbelt to Franconia-Springfield without transferring. More than 28,000 customers will benefit from the change.
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So what they tell you is that you will be waiting an additional 6 minutes for a train. What they do not come out and say, but what anyone with half a brain can figure out, is that those trains will be basically twice as crowded.

So they increased my fare, increased my parking fee, decreased my train service and make the trains I do get on twice as crowded. :thumbsup:

Fuck. This. Considering driving in rush hour. My parking garage at work is cheaper than Metro and I may even get home quicker, and defnitely with my sanity. At least I can listen to the radio.
 
looking at it, it makes sense to me. the green line is pn the come up and the blue line is the opposite. #representgreenline
 
WMATA has spent a ludicrous amount of money on promoting and marketing this Rush+ bullshit, yet your average everyday Metro rider still has no idea what it is. The only people who really have it figured out are people like the OP (and my fiance) - Blue Line riders who are getting completely dicked over because Metro knows it won't be able to handle the additional crush once the Tysons/Dulles line opens.

Where do you live on the Blue Line? Can you realistically bike into work? I live in CC and work in Old Town, - so its admittedly a reverse commute anyway - but biking into work is tits. Saves time, saves money, and its exercise. As long as you have access to a shower.
 
agreed on biking. i bike from bloomingdale (dc's hottest neighborhood, nbd) to rosslyn. about 5 miles, and it is MONTE.
 
Does your company give you metro cash? A lot of people don't realize you can apply it to parking... Anywhere. Not just metro.

And while I'm one of the lucky yellow liners, I don't think the change makes much sense. I think this is what happens when they can't increase the frequency of their trains because they're afraid they will smash into each other due to their pathetic system.

I mean, how many other metro systems have trains that routinely stop too early on the platform so the doors aren't lined up right, then move forward, then stop again, then move forward one last time, then sit there for 10 seconds, then open the doors?

I can see increasing orange line trains as a viable goal, but it's just robbing Peter to pay Paul unless you actually fix something. Getting the trains parked, the doors open, and people on/off them faster should be mission #1 during rush hour.
 
I am glad I don't deal with the Metro anymore. By far the worst part of living in DC.
 
buckets said:
I am glad I don't deal with the Metro anymore. By far the worst part of living in DC.
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Depends on where you are. Yellow Line is a breeze in the mornings and afternoons while traffic is miserable. And if you live in the city on a double line it's pretty sweet.

As long as you keep an eye on the outages and use the app so you don't get stuck waiting 15 minutes during non-peak times, it's not that bad...
 
PhilliesDeacs said:
WMATA has spent a ludicrous amount of money on promoting and marketing this Rush+ bullshit, yet your average everyday Metro rider still has no idea what it is. The only people who really have it figured out are people like the OP (and my fiance) - Blue Line riders who are getting completely dicked over because Metro knows it won't be able to handle the additional crush once the Tysons/Dulles line opens.

Where do you live on the Blue Line? Can you realistically bike into work? I live in CC and work in Old Town, - so its admittedly a reverse commute anyway - but biking into work is tits. Saves time, saves money, and its exercise. As long as you have access to a shower.
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I live in western Alexandria all the way at the end of the line (Franc-Springfield / Kingstowne area). No chance of biking. I dont know. I like working in the city and the girl and I spend almost all of our social time in DC. I also like having the balance of owning a house, having space to breathe, etc. I mean, I live next to pond where I can fish and within half a mile of a driving range. But as it is the commute is about as much as I can take. This is just going to be over the top.

Phan, they recently moved something like 60,000 jobs to Ft. Belvoir from the Pentagon. The Franconia-Springfield station on the blue line services those people. I would not say its a dying area. Plus we are getting a Wegman's :plos:
 
DCDeac said:
Does your company give you metro cash? A lot of people don't realize you can apply it to parking... Anywhere. Not just metro.

And while I'm one of the lucky yellow liners, I don't think the change makes much sense. I think this is what happens when they can't increase the frequency of their trains because they're afraid they will smash into each other due to their pathetic system.

I mean, how many other metro systems have trains that routinely stop too early on the platform so the doors aren't lined up right, then move forward, then stop again, then move forward one last time, then sit there for 10 seconds, then open the doors?

I can see increasing orange line trains as a viable goal, but it's just robbing Peter to pay Paul unless you actually fix something. Getting the trains parked, the doors open, and people on/off them faster should be mission #1 during rush hour.
Click to expand...

I pretty much agree with this.

I get $125/mo. which no longer comes remotely close to covering my transportation costs. For tax reasons, they are unable to increase our benefits. I do not park everyday, but sometimes its unavoidable just due to our schedules. I play the leave my car at the garage and get it out for free on saturday game whenever possible.
 
isn't the metro empty when you get on? so you just sit there the whole time?
 
BarcaDeac said:
It'a times like this (and very rare) that I'm glad I'm a Red Line rider
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QTF. Although to be honest, I've never really been on board with all the Red Line hate. I've lived out in Courthouse and commuted in on the Orange Line (holy crowded trains, Batman) and lived on the Hill and commuted from there both Red Line from Union Station and Orange/Blue from Cap South. I now commute via Red from Rhode Island Ave and honestly, I have typically preferred Red over Orange/Blue. However, I can admit that it may be due to the fact that I'm coming from the Glenmont direction into the city instead of Shady Grove. I'm sure those coming from NW have much more crowded Red Line commutes. NE DC FTW!

TwentyONE said:
I live in western Alexandria all the way at the end of the line (Franc-Springfield / Kingstowne area). No chance of biking. I dont know. I like working in the city and the girl and I spend almost all of our social time in DC. I also like having the balance of owning a house, having space to breathe, etc. I mean, I live next to pond where I can fish and within half a mile of a driving range. But as it is the commute is about as much as I can take. This is just going to be over the top.

Phan, they recently moved something like 60,000 jobs to Ft. Belvoir from the Pentagon. The Franconia-Springfield station on the blue line services those people. I would not say its a dying area. Plus we are getting a Wegman's :plos:
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That certainly sucks to have to wait longer for trains that will end up being more full. But since you get on at the end of the line don't you usually get a seat? I've found that when I'm able to get a seat I really don't give a crap how crowded the train gets later on.
 
buckets said:
I am glad I don't deal with the Metro anymore. By far the worst part of living in DC.
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People not from DC think it's awesome. Metro is great for tourists because it goes where they want to go. For actually living in DC though, it's awful.
 
I do Eastern Market to King St (via L'Enfant) twice a day and the only two times I can't sit down are from L'Enfant to Pentagon in the morning and then L'Enfant back to Eastern Market at the end of the day. I've never been packed in or had to watch a train go by on my work commute. My price now is $7.10/day.
 
Yeah, I get a seat in the mornings. But since there will be half the number of trains now, even that is no guarantee. Its the PM commute that I am worried about. Its going to be insane.

Oh, I could take the new yellow line service to chinatown, switch to a red and get off at Dupont and vice-a-versa in the PM, but of course Dupont south entrance is closed for 14 months or whatever, so not sure that helps me out at all in the short term. Plus the thought of going to chinatown and having to wait, not just for a yellow line train, but a yellow train to Fran-Spring, is, unsettling.
 
when i metro i almost never have issues. shaw to chinatown to metro center to rosslyn takes like 30 mins max. usually it's 20 mins.
 
TwentyONE said:
I pretty much agree with this.

I get $125/mo. which no longer comes remotely close to covering my transportation costs. For tax reasons, they are unable to increase our benefits. I do not park everyday, but sometimes its unavoidable just due to our schedules. I play the leave my car at the garage and get it out for free on saturday game whenever possible.
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That's odd. $125 is the limit for transit passes, for parking it should be $240. Be sure to double check - assuming you're talking about metrochek and not SmartBenefits - although if you're on SmartBenefits there shouldn't be a $125 limit...
 
DeaconCav06 said:
People not from DC think it's awesome. Metro is great for tourists because it goes where they want to go. For actually living in DC though, it's awful.
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Metro is great for tourists because WMATA busts their balls during heavy tourist weekends to make sure the trains run properly. Case in point: throughout April and May, there was track work every single weekend, where heavily-trafficked stations were completely closed. On Memorial Day weekend? Everything ran like a properly functioning mass transit system.
 
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