Unsuck DC Metro: Restored Post: How does DC Stack Up?

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This is a restored post from 5/12, which Google's Blogger seems to have been permanently deleted. Google's transparency over the course of a 20+ hour meltdown has been sorely lacking. Comments, which thankfully aren't through Google anymore, still work, but I couldn't figure out how to make them appear on the clickthrough.

Today, the Brookings Institution published a study on mass transit in the largest 100 metropolitan areas of the U.S.

According to one of the study's co-authors, Adie Tomer, its the first-of it's-kind "inventory" of U.S. mass transit supply ever done.

Furthermore, the study, titled "Missed Opportunity: Transit and Jobs in Metropolitan America," attempts to measure how connected American mass transit is with demographic and employment trends.

"There's a bit of a transit moment happening in the country," said Tomer, citing higher gas prices, rising ridership as well as changing attitudes about urban living and car ownership.

The DC area comes out fairly well in the study (here's quick graphic snapshot), ranking 17th overall.

It's a pretty wonky report, and the whole thing is here for those who want to know more. They say they've also made a nifty interactive map. There's also a webcast about the report, which starts at 9:30 a.m. and will feature, among others, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. You can also follow the conversation on Twitter with the #transitaccess tag.

It's an ambitious project, two years in the making, and Tomer said he hopes the study will start to break down some of the "siloing" that exists regarding transit planning, economic development planning and residential planning. Let's hope the study leads to holistic, smart decisions regarding future development.

With that in mind, we've been wanting to create a user-generated comparison of DC with other cities for a long time, so this presents a good hook.

Since the DC area is such a cosmopolitan and transient city, there are a lot of readers who've no doubt commuted (or ridden) in other cities, including cities outside the U.S., which the Brookings report doesn't cover.

Here's how it'll work.

I'll populate the comment with a few cities with mass transit I've used as a commuter. If you've been on that specific system and have a comment or observation, use the reply feature in the comments to keep everything about a certain city in the same comment thread.

If you don't have a comment, but want to vote for it as the best (or worst) one you've been on, use the thumbs up/thumbs down feature.

If you want to add a city to the list, make two comments, one with just the name of the city and the other, as a reply to yourself, with your comment or observation about that city's mass transit.

Got it?

Other items:
Metro finally on Google Transit (GGW) If you think about it, send a thank you tweet to @perkinsms who was instrumental in making this happen.

Comments (10)

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+1 Vote up Vote down

bLw · 709 weeks ago

path and lightrail .. both in dirty jersey but i have to say they are pretty clean compared to nyc subs

+4 Vote up Vote down

Russ · 703 weeks ago

Went to London and Prague last year and I must say the first thing I noticed was the speed of the escalators. I kept thinking "why doesn't metro run them this quick, it would move more people", but then I also was thinking about the idiots who currently have to pause before they actually step onto an escalator (watch one sometimes, and you'll be surprised at how many dumb people do this).

2 replies · active 625 weeks ago

+2 Vote up Vote down

Jackie · 660 weeks ago

Hi Russ. I am responding to the comment you made almost a year ago on Unsuckdcmetro about "dumb people" and esculators. I am one of those "dumb people" because I have a medical condition that affects depth perception and coordination. It has caused me several problems throughout my life but I did not learn of the reason until I was middle aged. Some of the problems I have been able to correct or mask, but not this one. If you are not disabled, be thankful and try to understand that all disabilities are not visible.

+2 Vote up Vote down

Malcom · 625 weeks ago

At minimum the UP escalators need to go faster. Metro has posters boasting that their escalators go a third more slowly than those in department stores. Is this something to brag about?

As a result of the slow escalators, the platforms are unsafe because they do not clear quickly enough. In an emergency, this feature becomes all the more important.

Make the UP escalators go faster!

+2 Vote up Vote down

Anna · 678 weeks ago

Russia's metrorails in both Saint-Petersburg and Moscow are amazingly reliable, super fast (even the elevators are speedy), and get one pretty much anywhere one needs to go. Couldn't have done without them while living in both of those cities.

+3 Vote up Vote down

Sweendoggedly · 673 weeks ago

Singapore has about the best system I've ever ridden on. All of the stations tell you when the train will arrive, and where that train will be going. In about 5 languages. Seriously. They're clean, on time, and the fare card system (which works on both the subway and bus system) is simple and effective.

London has the coolest system, and Metro Paris the most confusing. NYC is disgusting looking and smelling, but effective, as long as you make sure which trains are expresses. (It's getting better there, some of the trains and stops now have electronic notification signs, etc.)

Philly's system is pretty decent, but the coverage isn't so great, especially into the burbs; I've not had to endure the buses there yet. The PATCO High Speed line from Jersey into Philly works very well, and very fast; although the commute-time trains are _really_ crowded, and the cars themselves are really showing their age. They also could stand to run a bit more frequently after 8PM.

1 reply · active 670 weeks ago

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Philly Student · 670 weeks ago

Trust me, as a current student in Philly, I assure you there is nothing decent about Philly's subway system, if you can even call it a system. It only has two lines - TWO LINES!

+1 Vote up Vote down

Mandy · 662 weeks ago

Shanghai and Beijing had great transit systems- ran quite frequently, were clean, and on time. I still always love NYC metro mostly because of the massive amount of lines, connected bus system, and the 24/7 availability (for the most part). DC is horrible- every transit system I used has been better. Also why do most of the lines share almost a whole track with another- so inefficient! Expand to the areas not reached!!

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guest · 616 weeks ago

Paris metro, clean, not confusing - parlez-vous francais? London, easy to get about. Montreal metro: every 4 minutes, stood and timed it. Rush or or non trains arrive every 4 minutes.

If you want POSH, the Orient express is available!

+1 Vote up Vote down

Mack · 613 weeks ago

I was in Cairo for the spring of 2012, and I found that the trains there were far more reliable than WMATA (plus, the stations were surprisingly clean). The coverage left something to be wanted -- there are only two lines -- but the fare was only 1 LE to get anywhere else on the metro (a price that is not only fairly cheap in Egyptian terms, but was practically free since I was converting from dollars). The trains were only slightly more crowded than any of the N buses during rush hour, and would get you where you wanted to go surprisingly fast.