Nords said:
We spent a couple weeks riding it last July. Stayed for a week on U Street and commuted regularly to the Mall for the Smithsonian museums and over to Arlington. We even used the bus link to Mount Vernon. Plenty of trains, no dirt, no crowds out side of rush hour and rush-hour crowds not too bad. It was the type of experience that's so good you don't even notice it.
I don't know how recent this improvement is, but the platforms now have digital displays that let you know when the next train is coming. It eliminates a lot of guessing.
We still gamed the fares. If we'd known that we were going to ride the Metro as much as we did then we would have bought a pass. Commuters are strongly encouraged to buy fare passes that reduce the gate time. But the fare machines were pretty painless and I managed to charge almost every ticket on a well-worn credit card.
How did you like U Street? Was there last week at Bus Boys and Poets -- great place for lunch. We recently moved into a condo off the Orange line in Arlington and are loving the walking to places and taking Metro. My son can easily visit us from Annapolis, your old grounds (he'll be USNA O7), by driving from the Yard to the Metro and taking the Metro to us. This is a transitional place for us as we transition into retirement in the next few years. I think Ha is right on target -- walking is great and an urban lifestyle near rapid transit really adds to your quaility of life.
I also grew up in NYC, like Ha, and took the subway everywhere for my first 25 years of life, until I came to the DC area, where I had to get a driver's license and then proceeded to drive to everywhere for the next 28 years, including a nightmare long distance commute for 20 years. I loved having a single family home to raise our 3 kids, I hated the maintenance head aches. Condo living near the Metro is very appealing. And we are adjusting from downisizing a 4000 Sq ft home into a 1370 Sq ft condo -- but the walking part of our new lifestyle is great and it will be a number one priority for our permanent home, which might suggest an urban lifestyle or home near rapid transit.
After spending so much of my time in a car the last 28 years, I really am enjoying walking to work, the grocery store, library, movies, barbershop, Gym, church and I'm 25 or fewer minutes by Metro away from the Kennedy Center, Mall, U Street, Reagan Airport, Union Station. DC metro is great and I'm really surprised by the high level of ridership on the weekends and evenings, after the work schedule. By the way, you can link into the Metro website and find out when the next trains arrive at your station -- people do this with their Crackberry's.
