DC and Baltimore Area Mass Transit/Transportation

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[Cotuit 1]

Start calling the Metro a Highway, and people will be glad to fund it. Gotta get all Orwellian on these voters, doubleplusgood.

[BrandonTO416 77]

AH, 80mph. Rail the way it was supposed to be made.

[danwxman 0]

I've been on the DC metro twice while visiting. It was very crowded to say the least -- but the trains are fast and convenient.

[Spartan 1523]

I had no idea that the DC Metro was so well used.

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[tocoto 0]

DC is a victim of governance by the Federal government which is responsible for the city's budget. Members of the Senate care little about DC beyond their own facilities and townhomes. It only makes sense, DC has no members of Congress, so citizens are not represented and there is nobody to fight for the city's needs.

[Spartan 1523]

DC is a victim of governance by the Federal government which is responsible for the city's budget. Members of the Senate care little about DC beyond their own facilities and townhomes. It only makes sense, DC has no members of Congress, so citizens are not represented and there is nobody to fight for the city's needs.

Yeah they do. DC, and all of the territories have representation there. They have a voice on committees and things like that. They don't have a vote, and that is the problem. The legislation that they work on can be amended or thrown out in the official vote, and there isn't anything they can do about it.

[Guest donaltopablo]

What other systems besides DC and Atlanta lack financial support from a state government, relying on local counties or sales tax?

[tocoto 0]

By representives in the Federal governement I mean senators and congressmen. DC has none and so the citizens have no one with a vote championing their budgetary needs.

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[Spartan 1523]

The Metro carrys bout 3x the number of passengers/day as Marta. 

You can see why too- compare that DC Metro Map to a MARTA map:

The MARTA system looks much more anemic. If MARTA would bulid more rail, more people might ride it. However, if more people would ride it, they might build more.

There are always people using MARTA when I've been there, but certainly not to DC's extent.

[Guest donaltopablo]

Yeah, MARTA lacks regional support which is why it's construction is so much smaller. MARTA only has financial support from two counties in the metro area (of 26 currently).

DCs and MARTAs trains are very similar. DC density over Atlanta and far more extensive system is very beneficial. Atlanta's system is pretty basic.

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[Allan 0]

Interesting article. Isn't Dallas's system also a victim of its own success? Or maybe it was another city...I may be home physically, but mentally I'm still on vacation.

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[JunktionFET 0]

I loved the Metro back when my family lived in the DC area. I remember being on the train everytime we'd go into the city when I was a kid. We even used it once for a school field trip!

After a 12 year hiatus, I took a MARC train from Baltimore to DC (or thereabouts) during a visit in 2000. That was the last time, I'm overdue for another ride.

[yochillout 0]

I think they should extend the lines into the woodbridge area, where i live. Also into western areas like manassas and gainsville. This would help with all the commuters from the woodbridge area all the way down to fredricksburg and as far west as chalettsville. I think i spelled that right.

[Allan 0]

Dallas's problem is that it went with light rail. They should have thought about putting in a partial heavy rail system.

Ah, ok. That's what I thought....

[Spartan 1523]

Atlanta's Marta uses French built trains.

Thats the problem right there!

[Allan 0]

Actually one problem we kept having with the D.C. metro was not having enough places to park. The nearest station to our friend's house (where we stayed) is the Vienna/Fairfax station, and every day we had to drive around for at least 15 minutes looking for a parking place. It was so bad - there were so many cars just driving around the two parking garages and massive parking lots looking for spaces. We just kept following people to their cars until we found someone who was leaving. One day it took us an hour to find a spot! It would've been faster to drive where we were going, but there isn't much in the way of parking downtown, since most of the spaces are reserved for government employees.

[yochillout 0]

They need more stops i think. This place is just booming in growth. They arent building anything quick enough around here I think.

[Allan 0]

Do you know anything about the Purple Line? I'm sure it's still in planning, but is there any word on construction yet?

[yochillout 0]

No ive never heard of it before. Where is it gonna be built?