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Currently we have a few 24/7 grocery stores, 7-11s are open 24/7, some food joints are either open really late or are 24/7. The #70 bus runs almost 24/7 except on Sunday night/Early Monday morning when it stops at 2am-something and starts back at 4am. A few other bus lines operate long hours as well. These things are a start but there's a lot that has to change. First off, trains should be 24/7, maybe not the entire system though. The red line from Silver Spring to Dupont Circle, green line from Naylor Road to Fort Totten, yellow line from L'Enfant Plaza to the airport, orange line from Minnesota ave to Ballston, and suspend the blue line. Run 2-4 car trains and run them every 30-60 minutes. To me, this idea is brilliant and should be studied seriously by WMATA and the local governments. A lot of people work and play after midnight and I can't tell you how many times I've missed a last train and had to either sleep on a bench or pay an arm and a leg for a cab. In the meantime how about closing metro at 1am or 1:30am instead of the current midnight? ATL's system closes at 1am and for them to have better hours than us absurd, its Atlanta.... c'mon now. Baltimore has like 15 bus routes that operate 24/7 while we only have a handful, if that. Again, we have to step our game up.
DC is too empty and quiet between midnight and 5am.
I think the 24/7 metro is too expensive though it would be nice. One alternative that I think they can do is what's done in Madrid (I say 'think' because my spanish is not that great). I believe they have a night owl bus that runs the same route as metro once the metro closes, similar to the shuttle buses when there is track maintenance. Either way, it will be a while before it happens. I mean, even NYC gets sleepy between the hours of 1-5am on weekdays.
This is all well and good. However, you can't forget about supply and demand. Atlanta has more 2nd and 3rd shift workers than DC. So no its not absurd. This is not New York, Baltimore, or Atlanta. This is such a 9-5 town. More late night service would be great but a 24 hour metro doesn't make economic sense.
I agree that more 24 hour buses would be nice. But sleeping on a bench? That's your fault! I've never in my life heard of someone sleeping on a bench just because they missed a metro train. So you have to take some responsibility for your own choices.
Also people have made the argument for longer metro hours for years but it will never happen if its just for party people who sleep on benches. Even though party people put millions of dollars of revenue into DC pockets.
Also people have made the argument for longer metro hours for years but it will never happen if its just for party people who sleep on benches. Even though party people put millions of dollars of revenue into DC pockets.
But sleeping on a bench? That's your fault! I've never in my life heard of someone sleeping on a bench just because they missed a metro train. So you have to take some responsibility for your own choices.
The last train left 10 minutes EARLY!!! Metro's fault, not mine. If the last train leaves at 2:36am it should leave at that time, not 2:25am.
Also people have made the argument for longer metro hours for years but it will never happen if its just for party people who sleep on benches. Even though party people put millions of dollars of revenue into DC pockets.
EXACTLY!
What you mean DC is a 9-5 type of town? Do you know how many people work night shifts or get off at 1am-5am? Plenty of people do and most of them are on the bus routes that actually do run 24/7 or near 24/7. Shipping and freight companies have shifts that start at 3:30-4am however only folks with cars can get those jobs. A good portion of the job market in the DC area is white collar, 9-5, office type jobs but there are far more people who work in the blue collar and service industry and more of them rely on public transit than someone who works at the Dept. of Transportation or the Pentagon. DC cannot be world class without 24/7 transit, either rail or bus.
I think the 24/7 metro is too expensive though it would be nice. One alternative that I think they can do is what's done in Madrid (I say 'think' because my spanish is not that great). I believe they have a night owl bus that runs the same route as metro once the metro closes, similar to the shuttle buses when there is track maintenance. Either way, it will be a while before it happens. I mean, even NYC gets sleepy between the hours of 1-5am on weekdays.
The problem with running buses along metro lines is that a lot of the stations do align with the street. In Philly when the trains aren't running the have two owl buses, one for the Market-Frankford line and one for the Broad street line. The Broad street line runs entirely on Broad street and the other line runs on Market Street and Frankford ave. In DC our lines go all over the place except the orange line (Rosslyn to Ballston) and parts of the red line (Farragut North to Van Ness via Connecticut av and Tenlytown to Medical Center via Wisconsin Av). It would take a bus HOURS to go from Minnesota av all the way to Ballston. It just won't work. Metrorail doesn't have to be 24/7 but the hours need to be revamped. Instead of opening at 7am on weekends open at 6am and on weekdays, from 5am to 4am. When stations open un in the morning I see large crowds of people waiting to get in, many have been there since 4am. If metro opens up earlier it may improve performance. We have the shortest hours on weekdays compared to most transit systems in this country but yet, we are the "Nation's Capital", complete bullsh1t if you ask me.
Because unlike the other cities you’ve mentioned, the metro transit policy here is the product of multi-State collaboration and agreement. Any changes made to the policy would affect not only D.C., but Maryland and Virginia, as well. And quite frankly, I don’t think either of those latter States have any strong desire to have late-night riffraff from the city regularly dropped off into their suburbs where a predominant number of their stops/stations are located.
Actually the riffraff comes from the suburbs. Metros time policies are driven by cost and revenue.
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