Step Back, Punk

Without need of any introduction, "Arlington: the Rap."
For Arlingtonians, the whole thing is spot on, and if you're just interested in the Metro part, 2:53. We recommend watching the whole thing.
Thanks to hostagehoosier for bringing this little bit of joy to our attention.
Remy has some other good stuff here.

DC Riders Aren't Alone

Take heart Metro riders. We're not the only ones suffering with poorly run mass transit. We guess the U.S. just doesn't do public transport well. Here are some tweets from yesterday from around the country. Eerily familiar, isn't it?

From NYC:
Hate the bus f*ck MTA

NYC's MTA should spend more money on fixing subway stations, than on presentations abut rats: http://bit.ly/JfElJ

Union Square, 5:30pm rally against #MTA fare hikes and service cuts. For information visit: http://www.tinyurl.com/mtarally

Traffic jam + mta bus going in reverse = worse possible idea... :(

From Boston:
Guess it's a good thing I don't have any clients scheduled for early evening. Orange line must be late due to heat exhaustion.

Orange line ridiculously late aweesommee

orange line was stop and go the whole way and now the bus wont start. hmmm yes more people on bus

Waiting for the orange line, ickies. No one likes the orange line.

I hate you so much right now, #mbta

Dear MBTA: it's 90 degrees. Turn off the heat on the trains.

From Chicago:
Someone should come up with a way to stop people from urinating on the red line. Icky.

CTA, only you could force me into such close proximity to such a glorious array of massive gunts

dear fellow CTA riders: being FAT and LAZY does NOT make you handicapped! give up your seats for the real disabled and elderly!

CTA Blue Line back to normal after smoke scare

Ugh. Now I have to deal with the cta I might as well not even try to make it to my first class... But I will.

Other news:
MetroAccess toughens ridership rules

Cartoon: Toothpaste for Dinner

Metro Gets Our Early Oscar Nod

Our early Oscar nod for best supporting actor goes to Metro for its small, but key role in State of Play, a Russell Crowe movie about a reporter uncovering corruption in government.

The aging, dare we say over the hill, Metro does a magnificent job of channeling the character of a younger, hardworking transit system, appearing state-of-the-art, efficient and sleek as it whisks passengers off to their destinations. We don't want to give too much away, but this bravura performance is a massive departure from Metro's more familiar role as a wheezing, underfunded and overtaxed subway on its last wheel. The transformation is simply magical and a delight for fans of the cinema. It kills.

Bravo, Metro. Bravo.

Rundown of WMATA News

Nothing particularly blog worthy today, but it's early, and Metro seldom fails to offer up softballs.

Here are some headlines from around the region:

Metro to open at 5 a.m. for National Marathon
DDOT says NextBus not the answer for Circulator (GGW)
A tough time to rally support for Metro workers (WaPo)
McPherson Sq. death apparently a suicide (MSNBC)
Concern over second phase of Dulles Extension (Loudon Times Mirror)
Metro asked to sell land for soccer stadium (WTOP)

Prepare for Drunk Drivers

If you've ever been grateful to Metro for getting you home safely from a night of a little too much celebration, prepare to for over fork a cab or take your chances behind the wheel. According to this WTOP article, Metro is considering stopping service at 10 p.m. on weeknights and "cutting back" late night service on weekends. Also on the table is reducing the frequency of trains during rush hour. I don't know about other lines, but for Orange Line riders, this must sound like exactly the right way to go!

For a system that has to fight three public relations wars at once, in the District, Maryland and Virginia, these moves would add to the perception that the system is fundamentally mismanaged or flawed and just unworthy of funding. That perception may or may not be correct--we think it is, but think the solution is more funding and better service--but these days sadly, perception is what counts, and money is scarce. That said, there do seem to be a lot of empty, late night trains during the week, as this photo demonstrates. What was the per rider cost on this guy?

Metro realizes the bind it's in, according to the article.

"All of the possibilities are unpleasant," says Metro Board member Chris Zimmerman, who represents Arlington. "We have more people riding than ever before, and we are providing a higher quality (of service) than ever before, but we may have to tell people that service is being cut. It is a heck of a thing to do."

We might have gone with something stronger than "heck," but you get the idea.

It should be noted that transit systems in Chicago and New York City are facing even larger budget gaps than Metro and are considering fare hikes.

Examiner story
Washington Post story
Greater Greater Washington
Does WMATA need a bailout?

Do you think these proposed service cuts are a step in the right direction?

Photo: John Morris

Documenting its Shortcomings

This should have been our first post, but we're learning.

Metro actually does a pretty good job, at least it would appear, of documenting incidents. Here's the summary for Feb. 2:

--Six trains were taken out of service that day
--McPherson Square station was temporarily closed due to reports of smoke.
--Ridership, according to Metro's stats, was up about 35,000 over the same day last year.

Feb. 3

-Five trains taken out of service

Feb. 4

--Four trains taken out of service

Do you think the number of trains taken out of service in a day is on par with comparable mass transit systems?

**Thanks to reader "Michael" for answering this question with a great piece of research.

Photo: John Morris

Hilarious Metro Ad

Metro's Youtube channel

Telling Perception

In this "Dispatch from the Inauguration" published in yesterday's Washington Post, Adele Levine gives what I think is a telling insight into what many Washingtonians think of Metro:

"After envisioning myself caught in a malfunctioning Metrorail car and trapped in a dark tunnel with several hundred strangers, I decided the best way to get to the inauguration would be to ride my bicycle the 13 miles from Wheaton."

Does that sum up how you feel about Metro?

Photo: John Morris