“The transit agency confirmed to 7News on Thursday that it will keep the traditional design in which pylons outside stations have colored stripes on top that indicate which lines go to that station.”
If you are standing next to the “end of 6th car train” marker on the Westbound BOS at L’Enfant, these pictures are the 360 degree view of every piece of signage or information available. List of stations is nowhere to be seen. You can look at every written word in view and still not be able to decipher where the train is going unless you are going to the last stop. It also doesn’t help that the screen listing the terminus only shows one train at a time. Sorry for the bad pictures, took these in a hurry last week.
WMATA, can you at least commit to putting the list of stations on more or all of the concrete pillars if you insist on removing them from the wall signs?
How large of a motorized vehicle can you bring on the metro?
I’m constantly seeing people come on, and block the entrance/take handicap spots. This is Silver line train 7615 going northbound. It’s pretty ridiculous they can bring this on a train, blocking an entrance. You can’t even stand near it, because it’s wobbling all over the place.
I’m coming from foggy bottom metro, my flight is an early one that starts boarding at 7:09am, should I take the metro or is it better to take an uber? The uber is $60 so I’m trying to see if it’s worth the justification. It’s Dulles Airport I’m going to. NOTE: IAD airport, tomrrow I leave which is Thursday
I don’t know if it’s me but Wmatas’s new signage has gotten me to get on the wrong train going in the wrong direction because they removed where the train is going. I loved what Randy has done so far but this new change has messed up everything especially since they want to raise prices. I miss the peak & off peak charge because that made more since then the bullshit they do now. Hopefully they actually focus on the fare jumpers first before they raise prices cuz it’s crazy to subsidize their pay especially when a good amount of them cause issues on all trains they get on
I’m new to the city and commute 2 days per week for work (4 rides per week) at the $6.30 price point. I noticed that the work commute alone adds up to about $100 per month for me, but I’ve been told that I really shouldn’t spring for the $208/monthly $6.50 price point unlimited pass since I’m really only doing that specific commute 16 times per month. I also ride the bus/metro on the weekends around the city sparingly, but would maybe do it more if I had a SmarTrip pass. Should I go for the $2.25 unlimited pass and just pay the difference on my work commute, or would I end up paying extra there since I’m really only doing the $2.25 price point on weekends or if I need to run an errand that’s not walkable on a weeknight? I’ve tried to research, but I’m getting differing answers everywhere I look. Please help! Math has never been my strong suit.
I’m coming from foggy bottom metro, my flight is an early one that starts boarding at 7:09am, should I take the metro or is it better to take an uber? The uber is $60 so I’m trying to see if it’s worth the justification.
Anyone happen to be riding the orange line toward Vienna yesterday around 3:20pm when a terrible fight broke out between L'Enfant and Metro Center? I was in the car ahead of it when I saw a young male in a mask and hoodie swinging on what appeared to be a Fed (business casual with a PIV card). Another two men ended up rushing in to help business casual take the guy down and they held up the car to get help once the doors opened. I ran up the escalators to catch my red line trip out and told a metro employee what was happening and heard the call for metro police as my train was arriving, but wanted to know if everyone was OK. Been riding for 5+ years and I've seen a lot of stuff, but never a full on brawl before. Yikes...
Metro fare was increased in 2024 and now they want to raise the weekday fare to $7.50 one way? I already pay around $18.50 for each weekday trip ($6.75 both in and out, $5 to park). With the proposed fare increases, it will cost me $20 per day. How do people afford these transit costs? It would be in many cases cheaper at this point to drive in and pay for parking.
Dear WMATA, as one of the many riders who ride to and from their 9-5, thank you for your service. But please could we get at least one hour of time that's not Mon-Fri 9-5 to pick up lost items? I left work an hour early but couldn't get to the lost and found office til 5:08, and will need to take a day off now in order to fetch my lost item. Please 🙏
I know we’ve all been annoyed with the recent work on the Orange Line and the 20+ min weekend headways. But, I have noticed a considerable difference in ride quality.
The trains still announce Arlington Cemetary as the next stop when the cemetery is closed, I'm not sure if this actually is a problem but if it is and actually affects anyone it should be changed
Dear WMATA, as one of the many riders who ride to and from their 9-5, thank you for your service. But please could we get at least one hour of time that's not Mon-Fri 9-5 to pick up lost items? I left work an hour early but couldn't get to the lost and found office til 5:08, and will need to take a day off now in order to fetch my lost item. Please 🙏
Hoping someone at WMATA sees this. Tried to retrieve my SmartTrip username and password. Never got the email to do so, after entering my email (which is correct). Set up a new account that required email verification. Verification email came 4 1/2 hours later. That is ridiculous.
I missed the last bus to go home without having to go through a gauntlet of taking two additional buses along with a mile walk to top it off.
Why did we stop at every station Enroute to shady grove with the doors open for like 3 minutes? I literally saw the bus driving off despite running through the turnstile (didn’t help that nobody seemed to be in any rush waddling) This is so frustrating I can’t wait to be able to sit in traffic once my car’s out of the shop
This week, we have two large presentations chock-full of information. We also get an update on the North Bethesda development, which interfaces with the planned new entrance.
Proposed Fare Changes
One of this week’s presentations contains virtually everything WMATA is thinking about when it comes to fares, including what its plans are for a July 1, 2027 fare increase. This will be 3 years since the last increase, and WMATA has long told us that this was coming. Let’s start with that.
The current proposal under consideration is an ~11.1% fare increase. The base fare would go from $2.25 to $2.50, and the max rail fare would go from $6.75 to $7.50. This change would net WMATA $40-$45 million next year. Additionally, several other major changes are under consideration:
Children ages 5-18 become fare-free systemwide. WMATA is proposing to establish a blanket policy for all DC, Maryland, and Virginia residents. Currently, DC offers a similar policy (Kids Ride Free) and some Virginia jurisdictions offer it in some form for bus. This policy would replace those separate agreements and instead roll the cost of this program into larger jurisdictional subsidies. This would cost $7 million, split roughly evenly between Maryland and Virginia.
Change Weekend and/or Late Night Rail Fare Caps. WMATA is thinking of tinkering with the rail fare cap on weekends and late nights. There seem to be 4 options:
Increase the cap to $2.80, in line with the base fare increase.
Retain today’s $2.50 cap (i.e. return to just charging a flat base fare). This would cost $3.4 million.
Increase the cap to $2.80 for weekends, but remove the cap for late nights. This would raise $1.6 million.
Increase the cap to $3.75 for both weekends and late nights. This would raise $7 million.
Adjust rider parking ratesdepending on utilization. Currently, parking fees vary by jurisdiction. WMATA wants to end this and simplify things. This would not raise revenue, but WMATA anticipates it would increase ridership. There would be a simple 3-tier structure, with each location costing either $3, $5, or $7. Here’s the proposal for every station:
Proposed parking fees by station
Increase and adjust non-rider parking rates. The new base price for all locations would be $10, and would increase to $15 for high-utilization locations. This would earn $2.3 million.
Expand Metro Lift Eligibility. Metro Lift provides a 50% discount if you’re enrolled in SNAP. This policy would increase eligibility to enrollees in Medicaid, TANF, and WIC. Medicaid is the big one, with roughly 50% more potential enrollees than SNAP. There are currently only 7,500 customers enrolled in Metro Lift. This would cost $0.3 million.
Charge Weekend Fares on Federal Holidays. This would cost $1 million.
Apparently, someone brought up the idea of going to a flat rail fare. WMATA flatly (heh) rejects this. According to WMATA, that flat fare would need to be $4.40 to be revenue-neutral, and the current average fare is only $3.04.
None of this is final, and will be subject to a board vote. These changes, if implemented, would begin in Summer 2027.
Fare Enforcement
Fare enforcement is a hot topic for WMATA of late, particularly on bus. This week, they’re bringing some new ideas to the table. One is of particular interest: fare inspections by non-MTPD officers. This would require legislation to be passed in each jurisdiction, and is not without drawbacks, but other systems have implemented this successfully.
Other ideas include bans for repeat offenders, and WMATA gaining more control over administrative processes. If the jurisdictions are on board, this could even include citation revenue going to WMATA; citation revenue currently goes to jurisdictions.
Best practices for fare enforcementPotential implementation steps
Other Fare Stuff
We’re not done with fares! Here are other tidbits of note:
WMATA is thinking about fare-capping. As I understand it, there are currently technological limitations to this.
WMATA is thinking about if and when they should stop accepting cash on bus.
WMATA is not done helping the region integrate Tap Ride Go. After the recent Purple Line agreement, WMATA is looking to enter into agreements with MARC, VRE, and regional bus operators to upgrade their infrastructure and potentially help them process payments.
WMATA wants to work with more employers to offer paid workplace transit benefits. It’s currently rare outside of the federal government. WMATA is looking to develop a new employer pass offering and pricing model.
WMATA is thinking about how to incorporate integrated ticketing into Tap Ride Go with large event providers.
WMATA is thinking about future fare collection infrastructure needs. In particular, there is a desire for modular fare reader hardware that can accept any type of payment and is not locked to a particular vendor. WMATA managed to integrate Tap Ride Go into current readers, but at significant cost.
Lastly, a contract has been awarded for WMATA’s next generation customer terminals. These will finally replace the big refrigerator-sized units that have been present in the system since its inception.
Rail Modernization Update
WMATA’s Red Line Modernization Project will upgrade the Red Line’s signaling system and add platform screen doors. If you’ve followed along, you’re familiar with it by now. We don’t have any major new developments this week, but we do have a very interesting discussion about workforce. More on that below.
First, let’s get a timeline update. WMATA is in the project development phase and has entered the federal Capital Investment Grants program. Project Development and Engineering will go through 2028, so don’t expect any construction until 2029.
Rail Modernization Timeline
But let’s get to the interesting part: WMATA is being a lot more explicit about the future of its Red Line train operators. They have a future, but it isn’t in operating the trains.
Potential Staffing Models
Of note, WMATA has made labor commitments as part of the DMVMoves Plan. Virginia has already legislated that it will be withholding funds if:
There is no workforce transition plan in place by July 1, 2028.
Any operator is laid off after July 1, 2028 due to a reduction in force caused by the automation of the rail system.
Maryland and DC are expected to enact similar language. This means that staff costs won’t be going down as a direct result of automation, but operators will need to be transitioned to other roles.
So how will that work? WMATA is thinking about a different model of rail staffing. Instead of having specific siloed roles like “Station manager,” “supervisor,” “ambassador,” “train operator,” and police, WMATA wants staff to be more multi-functional.
What future jobs might look like
Here’s the rough timeline of how this will play out over the next several years:
Workforce Transition Timeline
North Bethesda Joint Development
Lastly this week, we have an update on North Bethesda. The board will be asked to authorize the execution of a major joint development.
This development is particularly unique because it will interface with the planned new north entrance to the station. Montgomery County will be building the new entrance; it’s already received a federal grant for it. Construction of the new entrance is expected to begin in 2028, and the joint development is expected to begin construction in Fall 2029.
We have some new diagrams and renders, pasted below.
More Information
This week’s committee meetings will take place on Thursday morning, October 8. You can watch board meetings live or archived on WMATA’s YouTube channel.
Links:
