in DC: a metro holiday
I really enjoyed this cover from last Friday’s Express. I’m used to seeing “yesterday’s news” printed in the free daily, but this story was dead on target for the impending weekend track work. There were still plenty of papers in boxes around town and I smiled every time I caught sight of one.
Thankfully we didn’t use metro very much this weekend, but we were confronted with a bit of confusion at times. Trains marked SPECIAL with no clue why, many PID/arrival signs with missing or no information, which was at least explained by Metro:
http://twitter.com/#!/metroopensdoors/status/74626670983790592
Our one big trip out was to Calvert Woodley Fine Wines & Spirits and for that we took the bus.* Which was great getting there, but as is usual with bus trips in DC, not always so great getting back. We arrived early (by Metro’s timetables) for a bus that never showed up, then they reported the next bus was over an hour away, so given the heat and the walk, we took the train back home. Not too much of a hassle, but it reminds me why many people don’t ride the bus when they don’t feel they can rely on it.
A Sunday evening trip to Georgetown was met again with blank or misleading PIDs, but not completely unmanageable, though tourist traffic was high. Still, it wasn’t a weekend to be out for long periods of time. For once I walked into the office this morning and was glad to find it at the temperature of an icebox.
Glad for the short week, but I don’t think I’ll be getting out and about anytime soon with the forecast temps. I hope everyone had a safe and fun weekend! 
* Still the best way to get door to door, in my opinion. That is, once you figure out the bus route schedules.
You hit the nail right on the head with Metrobus. It’s a great way to travel – when it works. And every trip on a new line is a leap of faith.
Last time I checked WMATA’s site, the schedules were all in PDF and nearly useless. Even more useless is the PDF of ALL the routes. I think Metrobus is the oft-ignored stepchild of WMATA.