What Goes On In Vienna's Creepy Tower?

We heard yesterday about how Metro is adding 20 surveillance cameras to stations in DC and VA, but "CS" on the Orange Line wonders where this monstrosity fits into Metro's beefed up peeping program. It sure is ugly.
Certainly one of the more interesting sights on my daily downtown commute on the Orange Line is the Shawshank-style prison tower that lords over Vienna station. (It decamped, temporarily, at least, to downtown DC where it sits near Judiciary Sq. ostensibly as part of National Police Week.) It sets a bleak tone that matches the mood when Metro runs into its periodic problems. So what gives, Metro, with this nod to Big Brother?
A marking on the tower calls it "Sky Watch," and the license plate pegs it as "Tower 2" of the Metro Transit Police Department.
No doubt Metro will say it's part of some security effort to make us all safer. But is it just a decoy?
Are there people up there watching, hidden behind the tinted glass? Are they surveilling everyone, and not just the would-be bad guys? Are they watching the women, as police have been known to do?
Can the cops demonstrate that whatever function this tower might serve, it's more effective than plain ol' walking the beat? Is razor wire next? For the imagery this tower conjures, there had better be some benefit. What we've got here is failure to communicate.
According to ICx Tactical Platforms, the maker of Sky Tower, it offers "an array of surveillance options."

Every tower includes the basics for the comfort and safety of the officer inside through adjustable heat and air conditioning, tinted sliding glass windows and comfortable seating. And no matter the application, only one man is required to set up and deploy a unit ... Now, one officer can cover an area previously requiring three or more personnel.

Sounds good for the officer, but what about the people who have to walk by this intimidating structure every day? As you can see here, NYPD uses their towers in very different climes from Vienna Metro.

Public Transport Saves You $36/day?

WTOP is reporting that a study by the American Public Transportation Association, a leading advocate for public transportation shows "people who opt for public transportation over driving in the D.C. metro area can save $9,530 a year."

That's about $36 a day (9,530/260). If that's true--it seems a little, ok WAY high to us--then many of the headaches we experience on Metro would certainly be more palatable. But look.

If you commuted 30 miles a day, which is roughly the same as from the Vienna Metro Station, at end of the Orange Line, to the White House and back, the cost of operating and maintaining your car would be $16.50/day using the Federal reimbursement rate of 55 cents/mile. Then you'd pay $12/day in parking. So you're spending $28.50 a day in this example. If you are a high end Metro (rail and bus) user, you could spend about $11/day on your commute. This assumes a maximum fare of $9 each way on Metrorail and plus another $2 or so on buses.

Now $17 a day is still a pretty good savings, but we're not sure where the other $19 comes from in the study. They say they use the "2008 AAA average cost of driving formula." Unlike that survey, we don't take into account insurance and finance charges on a car because if you lived, say, in Vienna, you'd probably still have to have a car and pay those fees.

Now, if you accounted for the frustration factor of Metro versus that of driving along a clogged I-66, Metro would certainly come out on top, but not by $19.

In other news:
Nationwide usage of public transport reaches all-time high (WaPo)
Talk transit with Dr. Gridlock today at 1 p.m. here
We asked, and we received (GGW)
What would you ask WMATA? (GGW)