It's Memorial Day weekend. I'm going to assume that this weekend produces a lot of tourists here in DC. After all, what better way to celebrate Memorial Day than to see all of the memorials that the city has to offer. Obviously, this isn't rocket science.
So, one could reasonably expect that many of these tourists will be depending on public transportation to get around. Right?
So why in God's name is there going to be track work this weekend on three different lines!!??
The Red Line and Green Line delays (estimated at around 15 minutes) are especially galling. Lots of tourists stay in Montgomery County. One-tracking between Medical Center and Friendship Heights is going to inconvenience thousands of people that the city should be trying to impress. We depend on their tourist dollars.
The Green Line delay will be between Greenbelt and College Park. So anyone trying to get to the city from BWI using public transportation might as well diddle their thumbs for an extra 15 minutes. We're leaving quite the first impression on our tourists, aren't we?
There is absolutely no reason why we can't deal with these delays on a non-holiday weekend. Any money we lose with a one week delay would easily be recouped by keeping our tourists (and other weekend commuters) happy.
5.23.2008
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Another thing about this... they had Constitution Aveneue blocked off on Monday and Independence blocked on Sunday for events. Traffic into the city was backed up on 14th Street well into 395 for a good 45 mins (I know because I was caught in it). YET I SAW SEVERAL NOTICES BY THE CITY ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO TAKE THE METRO AROUND TOWN. W...T...F!
ReplyDeleteWouldn't they say to take Metro to alleviate said traffic on the 14th Street Bridge?
ReplyDelete"Wouldn't they say to take Metro to alleviate said traffic on the 14th Street Bridge?"
ReplyDeleteThat's my point. The city was expecting traffic restrictions and a lot of tourists which is why they were encouraging using Metro. But as Rusty pointed out, the city obviously didn't coordinate with WAMT to ensure Metro would be running smoothly this weekend. Can you imagine if there'd been an emergency? I swear to god, if shit ever goes down in DC, we're all going to die.
"But as Rusty pointed out, the city obviously didn't coordinate with WAMT to ensure Metro would be running smoothly this weekend."
ReplyDeleteThat's an awfully big assumption to say that without the track work Metro would have been running smoothly. :)
I think we all know by now that you can never count on Metro when you need it the most. Thankfully less than 30 days from now I won't have to put up with this crap any more...Raleigh or bust!
Why on God's green Earth would anyone take metro on the weekend?
ReplyDeleteSeriously, isn't Metro just for commuters?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I gather you've never taken the train from Woodley Park/National Zoo on a weekend.
ReplyDeleteThe trains are for tourists.
That's why I drive everywhere!
ReplyDelete-ADZ