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The
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on this page are soley those of the author and do not
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Travel around
D.C.
By Susan Olling
If you’ve visited the greater D.C. environs, you are well aware of the
transportation options available: your vehicle or Metro. I
suppose you could take a cab, but why? Tour buses don’t
count.
As you get to your hotel, you will have had the privilege of driving in
some of the worst traffic congestion in the country with drivers who,
for starters, don’t always use turn signals. While out-of-towners
malign our driving, please keep in mind we have the driving habits
(good and bad) from everywhere in the country and the rest of the
world.
One of the biggest traffic choke points is the American Legion Bridge
on our side of the Capital Beltway. There has been talk for
decades about a Potomac River crossing to connect our part of MoCo with
Fairfax County. Virginia wants it (no surprise). Maryland
is far less enthusiastic, partly because the area of MoCo known as the
Agricultural Reserve would be affected by this new bridge.
Quite frankly, we don’t need any more out-of-control development in
this county.
If you’re planning to drive into D.C., don’t. Use the other
option, Metro, the system that locals love to hate. Eons ago,
Metro used to be a reliable, clean, safe system. No more.
Since 2009, Metro has been subjecting its passengers, particularly
regulars, to a painful weekend rebuilding program that’s supposed to be
finished in 2017. Some track work involves station closures that
require riding on a bus to get around the closed
station(s). Track work in any form equals lots of
delays.
Over the past few years, Metro has gotten more and more dirty.
Unfortunately, the constant announcements about no eating, drinking, or
smoking within the system are pretty much ignored which is shown by the
amount of trash strewn in the stations and trains. Before anyone
says anything, yes, locals can be as guilty as the tourists. Your
humble writer and Mr. History are excluded from this sloppy group.
While crime is not unheard of in our little subway system, there have
been two murders this month: the first on a train on 04 Jul and the
other in a station parking garage a couple weeks later. Most
unusual, but certainly cause to make this passenger more wary than I
usually am.
For the moment, Metro riders can still purchase paper fare cards.
Until next year. You will then have to purchase a SmarTrip
card. These little pieces of plastic have one good point: they
don’t demagnetize like paper cards (I’ve had mine since 2008.).
The drawback is that the amount remaining on the SmarTrip doesn’t
appear—you have to swipe the thing at a fare machine to find out how
much is left on it. While it’s commendable that Metro wants to be
a “green” agency, do y’all who are visiting want to take home pieces of
plastic that say SmarTrip? For special events such as the
inauguration or 04 Jul, Metro has provided “special” paper fare cards
in the past for the appropriate occasion. No such animal with
SmarTrip cards, evidently.
One thing that surprises me is that Metro hasn’t made an effort to
charge for parking in their lots and garages on weekends and Federal
holidays. Goodness knows, the lot where I park on Saturdays
fills up very nicely, thank you. There’s money to be made
there.
When we go to D.C. on weekdays to visit museums and memorials, we ride
the Maryland commuter (MARC) train. This option is infinitely
more enjoyable. The station is closer to us than the nearest
Metro station. The city garages have free parking. The fare is
$5.00 each way: no figuring out if it’s rush hour or not. You can
have food/beverages on MARC trains. Some folks with the longest
commutes are sleeping, others may be hypnotized by their electronic
toys. Unlike on Metro, no one’s counting stops until they get to
their destination (usually Metro Center). The result: much
quieter trains. The schedule may be inconvenient for most
tourists: the last train to Union Station stops in our town at 8:30
a.m., the last train leaves Union Station at 7:25 p.m.
Rats, I hope I haven’t jinxed MARC’s Brunswick Line and all of those
poor commuters.
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