| Date: | 18 June 2007 |
| Location: | Blue Line, toward Franconia-Springfield |
It’s been a while.
I thought that today as I stepped on the Metro for the first time in 9 months. Sure, I’ve taken short jaunts on public transportation, both bus and Metro, in the last 9 months. But not as a commuter.
I had many pleasant surprises.
First, the same friendly man was passing out Express newspapers at the Potomac Metro station. Wearing the same brisk and closed expression, he passed out Express with the ruthless tenacity that I remember and love. No commuter escapes his courteous attention.
Second, it was a pleasant surprise to find the Metro full of commuters, and not tourists, Nats fans, or late-night booze or smoke-scented partyers.
Third, it was nice to read Express once again. Snippets of news pelted me with reckless abandon, just short enough to learn something… and easily forget. Swallowable, digestible, and ultimately empty — but how entertaining.
While it’s been nice driving to and fro from work, I prefer to surrender my fate to the great cogs of the public transportation system. For one, it’s ultimately better for the environment. For another it is liberating because instead of using up one’s energy to navigate from one point to another, I am using that energy to read, to think, and above all, to be.
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The metro simply rocks, even with all the flaws. You have much less stress riding the metro than being all stressed out on the streets dodging crazy drivers, like me! ;-)
Can’t wait to ride the Metro again in July.. listening to the “DING-DONG!” right before the doors close, the smell, the rocking motions, the tunnels, flashing lights…then upon emerging from the underground, seeing the lights of the city quietly pass by…….
Looking forward to being more Metro-friendly when T and I move over to our new condo–maybe I’ll do a “Lore of the Red Line” spin-off of your travels on the Orange/Blue lines!
Also recommend picking up City Paper…used to love reading their “Loose Lips” column, as well as “The Straight Dope” every week. It’s free.
Loose Lips is boring nowadays. First thing I do, I go to the back of the weekly and read Savage Love. It’s Dr. Ruth meets Perez Hilton.
Yeah, Kevin Cummins was great at writing Loose Lips, but Jonetta Rose Barras…not the same, I agree. Savage Love, whew. I used to enjoy that, too…but every now and then it gets seriously disgusting and I can’t stand it.
One person’s “disgusting” is another person’s kink.
It’s mostly interesting in an abstract sense to see what humans find to be sexy. There are practices that are widespread that I wouldn’t engage in. But then again, there are some practices that my partner won’t engage in. It simply proves the point that the best sex organ is the brain.
Ah, been taking the Metro since I was 10 years old. I remember when the Red Line ended at Dupont Circle at one end and Union Station at another end. Obviously it has grown quite a bit since then (and so have I)!
Gee… nobody mentioned gas prices as a reason to ride the Metro! Gas must be REALLY CHEAP in DC these days, huh?
If I needed a justification for riding the Metro, I would be able to remember it every time I pull into a gas station to fill up. “Please fill my tank, sir… And can I offer you one of my children as payment?”
Why bother offering a child in exchange for gas, when those buggers can be full of gas themselves?
Hahahaha…
Actually, for me, driving to work would be cheaper, but I’m metroing cuz it’s so nice outside… :)
My commuting cost:
3.50 each way on metro ($7.00) x 5 = 35.00
.35 morning shuttle to work x 5 = 1.75
1.50 afternoon shuttle to metro x 5 = 7.50
$4 parking fee at metro lot x 5 = 20.00
Weekly cost: 64.25
Monthly cost (weekly x 4) = $257.00
My work has a parking garage. $25/monthly fee.
I fill up the car with gas about every 6-7 days to the tune of 25-30 bucks.
30 x 4 = 120
120 + 25 = $145.
I could be saving over $100.
(And no, I don’t have a metro disability discount.)
$25/month for parking in a garage?! You mustn’t work downtown cuz the average there is at least $200/month.
Georgetown.
If you can fill up your car to the tune of 25 to 30 bucks, I would like to know where you’re buying your gas. Here in Central Illinois, it costs me between 32 - 36 dollars to fill up a 12 gallon tank, and supposedly we have some of the cheapest gas in the state - get up around Chicago, and you’re paying anywhere from 25 to 50 cents more per gallon.
I don’t let the gas needle go to E. I fill up when it’s about 1/4 of the way down. No risk running out of gas that way. It’s a tip my parents have drilled into my head.
I mean, I fill up when the gas tank is only 1/4 full… just realized the wording up there wasn’t clear.
*gulps down more coffee*
BBQ Lover, you’re forgetting the wear and tear on your car. Oil changes, maint work, and also if you didnt know (providing you’re deaf and your db loss is 70db or higher with an un-aided ear), you qualify for reduced rates on the metro system. 1.90 max each way, and also, when you pass the smart trip scanner, there’s a bus transfer ticket machine. Grab a ticket (Free) as i belive you can use the bus transfer to arrive to your destination for free of charge with your metro disability card.
Just something to consider and also to inform others. :)
- a.stranger
Oh, I know about the reduced rate for Metro. The problem is, I get metrocheks from my workplace. That doesn’t work with the reduced rate for the smartrip, and I need the smartrip to activate at the stations so I can get out of the parking lot (I park at a lot where if the smartrip isn’t activated at the metro stations, it costs 7.75 to get out of the lot. Sucks.
BBQ — oh, you can get a reduced rate applied toward a Smartcard, by going to one of those service kiosks at Metro Center. You may need to get a new Smartcard to do that, and then tell your employer about the new Smartcard.
Josh, my point is this: metrocheks don’t work with reduced rate smartrip cards. Metrocheks are considered “full fare” farecards. The cost doesn’t even bother me — it’s the parking fee at the metro lots that’s annoying.
“metrocheks don’t work with reduced rate smartrip cards.”
That’s odd because I have a reduced fare smartcard and get metrochecks at work. What I do is simply go to the Metrocard kiosk that serves Smartcards. Wave the Smartcard at the designated place and it will ask you for (a) Smartbenefits or (b) add fare. You click (b) and then it will ask if you want cash, debit, or whatever, to increase your Smartcard. I just slide in the Metrocheck and it shows up at my Smartcard account. Wave the Smartcard again and you capture it on your card. That’s it. Every trip costs $1.35 from now on, but I agree, the parking lot fees are annoying.
Good to know — Metro told me that metrocheks are considered full-fare and don’t work with reduced-fare cards. I must have talked to an eejit.
Metro? One word: EW.
I haven’t set foot on it in over a year, thank the lord. On the Virginia side we have way too many problems and delays. So much so that the 40 minutes on metro/bus each way pales in comparison to my 15 minute car ride along surface streets from home to work. I stay on my side of the river, laughs, so not too much need to use metro. Reading all the comments on the WaPo blogs about it, however, and I believe I’m not missing much. Nice to hear you do have positive experiences on it. I hope they continue!