Tag Archives: crowded

Downtown, Fun & Games, People, The Daily Feed, WMATA, WTF?!
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Damn, Crowded Metro Station! You Scary!

Photo courtesy of
‘not goin’ anywhere?’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Was anyone else at the Chinatown Metro station yesterday evening at around 6:15? I was, and I was pressed into the mass of humanity unsuccessfully attempting to move around the station. It all started because a red line train, which I was on, had to offload at Judiciary Square, thereby causing a delay that resulted in platforms down the line filling up. I got to Chinatown, got off the train and proceeded to work my way through a human traffic jam for 20 minutes. New trains would come in, but the platform was so crowded that passengers could barely get off and the doors would close before anyone waiting could board. This exacerbated the crowding problem and the platform just got more and more full. I’m pretty sure that no one died or anything, but I was witness to a few fights. The best part: this was just a Monday evening. Nothing special was happening.  I really do love mass transit.

(Yes, I know the picture’s not of Chinatown.)

Mythbusting DC, The Features, WMATA
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DC Mythbusting: Metro’s Most Crowded

Photo courtesy of
‘good morning.’
courtesy of ‘volcanojw’

DC has a great Metro system: it’s (generally) reliable, clean, fast, and connects many major destinations in the city.  But we love to complain about our commutes– being crammed like sardines on the train, being stuck in Metro stations so full that you can’t even get down the escalator to the platform, and having buses pass right by your stop because they’re already packed to the brim with riders.  Experiences like these make many people think that they’ve got it worse than anyone else in the area– that they’re stuck riding the busiest line, getting off at the busiest station, or riding the busiest bus.  But there’s a lot of misinformation out there about Metro’s most crowded lines, stations, and buses, so I’m going to set things straight this week.

Most Crowded Metro Line: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve overheard Orange line riders complain that they’re stuck riding the busiest line.  Most of these Metro riders are on the train between Ballston and L’Enfant Plaza, which definitely is the busiest section of the Orange line, with people packed into Metro trains that are sometimes too full to even board.  But does the Orange line really have it the worst? Continue reading →

Downtown, Entertainment, News, The Daily Feed, The Mall, WMATA
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A Record Setting 4th for Metro

Photo courtesy of
‘Metro, Orange Line train to Vienna’
courtesy of ‘GogonaÅ?’

The Business Journal reports that riders on Saturday set a new record for July 4th commuting.  Metro reported 631,206 trips on their system, an increase of over 32,000 from 2008 ridership.  If the masses of humanity that I saw are any indication, every last one of these trips went through L’Enfant Plaza station. What a mess.