Let’s talk about public transportation for a moment, shall we?
Metro, the public transport here in Washington, is lovely — at least, the subway part. But it’s expensive and poorly designed.
I’ve seen expensive transport before, most recently in London, where fares are higher than here. But the London Underground goes everywhere, and in the places that it doesn’t make sense to travel by train, the buses are amazing.
The subway here goes downtown. And that’s it. Granted, when it was designed in the 1960s, that’s where everyone commuted to. But did they not imagine that they’d need the possibility of expansion?
The system has two tracks, one for each direction. Unlike, say, New York, there is no way to run an express train. So, by the time the train — which comes from the suburbs — makes it a few stations in toward the city, the thing is full.
Anyway, what I wanted to point out is how useless it is for commuting, even when you live close in. I live a couple of miles from the Pentagon, with it’s large subway station. To get to the station, I’d need to ride the bus. That’s $1.25, and 30 minutes.
Once I get to the Pentagon, I catch a Yellow line train into downtown, where I transfer at Gallery Place for a Red line train to Silver Spring. $3.90, and another 50 minutes or so. Then, I walk from Silver Spring to my office, about 15 minutes.
My commute to work has lasted 95 minutes on a good day, and cost $5.15. At that rate, I’m spending $10 per day on the commute and 3 hours of my life.
In contrast, my commute via car, driving 15 miles between Arlington and Silver Spring, costs about 60¢ in gas and 40 minutes each way. Granted, I try to commute outside rush hours, but even during rush hour, my gas costs are minimal (due to the hybrid car) and the time only increases to about an hour each way. (An hour to go 15 miles… isn’t that ridiculous?)
I have to have a car, simply because everything else around here requires it — even though I live in an urban area, there is nothing but a 7-11 in walking distance, and aside from a little village area with restaurants, there’s precious little else to walk to. (Although, we will be getting a grocery store in a few years.) Gotta have a car, so I might as well use it.
So, what is the incentive to ride Metro? And with recent raises in fares, how many more people will decide it’s easier, cheaper, and faster to drive?
Update June 30: Not only has Metro raised fares, but now they’ve actually halved the number of trains running after 10pm:
After 10 p.m. on Sundays through Thursdays — on every line — the subway has cut the length of its trains in half, operating trains with two cars instead of four.
Since the policy took effect this week, it has created a late crunch, especially on the heavily traveled Red Line in downtown Washington. At the Farragut North, Metro Center, Gallery Place-Chinatown and Union Station stops, angry crowds have found themselves competing for space on the trains at an hour when most had been accustomed to relaxing their urban combat skills. Those unable to push themselves aboard have to wait 15 to 20 minutes for the next train, as a new crowd forms around them.
“Did they do any research before they made this change?” asked Irena Sadbaraite, a 28-year-old accountant who failed to fight her way aboard a packed train to Vienna at 10:25 p.m. Tuesday at Metro Center. She waited 20 minutes for the next train, steaming. “I can’t believe they’ve done this, especially in summer, when people stay out for dinner and come back late.”
Donald Centner, 23, of Centreville takes Metro to his computer class in Tenleytown every Tuesday and Thursday. It ends at 10 p.m. “It’s a mess,” he said as he waited for a two-car Blue Line train at Metro Center. “Metro service has slowly, progressively, gotten worse. But this is ridiculous.”
I think it’s great that you have a hybrid, so your gas bills are significantly less … but $10/day for a commute isn’t that bad, is it? Considering car payment, insurance, and upkeep? And, of course, there’s always the option of moving to somewhere where a car isn’t a necessity – i.e. Silver Spring (lived here for over 2 years … still don’t have a car).
Groovy new specs, btw.
I guess my point was that Metro is little more than a poorly thought out idea in the midst of an urban area that requires a car. Most communities are designed around the assumption that it’s citizens own a car. There are few places to shop for groceries and other necessities on foot; stores are now huge big-box buildings far away.
Moving somewhere where you don’t need a car is not always an option, unfortunately.
For several years, I lived in downtown Washington and rid myself of a car. I still found Metro to be useless, because the stations are not convenient. To go to work, I could walk 4 blocks to the Dupont Circle station, then go 3 stops to Cleveland Park and walk 3/4 mile up the highest hill in DC. That commute was difficult and long, even though I only lived a couple miles from work. I ended up buying a moped, which got me right to my office door in less than half the time. But I still was stranded in the event of a family gathering or if I wanted to go anywhere that wasn’t within a few blocks of the widely-separated Metro corridors outside the city. I ended up buying a car, even while living downtown.
Yes, it would be cheaper if I didn’t already have a car (although I bought my car outright and have no payment). But since I, and the vast majority of other DC-area residents, MUST own a car, using Metro becomes a huge additional expense.