Comments on How will Rush Plus affect the Yellow Line? - Greater Greater Washington

Comment by phil

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 13:10:33 EDT

On the first day of Rush+ I was prepared to be underwhelmed, but during my afternoon commute (I take metrobus in the mornings) as I made my transfer at L'Enfant Plaza headed north, the first train to come by was a yellow line train bound for Greenbelt, something I only noticed after I boarded.

Karma, serendipity, or something. We'll see if there is a noticeable difference in the weeks and months ahead. If nothing else, these few trains heading north past Mt Vernon Square might thin the crowds at L'Enfant watching near-empty short-turn yellow trains come and go.

Comment by Alex B.

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 12:49:35 EDT

@David Alpert

It's unfortunate that this change doesn't improve your commute, but no change is going to help everyone.

I think this is true, but Metro has somewhat invited this on themselves. Rush + is a fairly modest service change, but they're the ones branding it as 'rush hour re-invented.'

They haven't really re-invented anything (as ALE's comment points out), so I can't fault riders for calling out Metro for over-promising and under-delivering.

Comment by David Alpert

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 12:42:14 EDT

ALE: It's unfortunate that this change doesn't improve your commute, but no change is going to help everyone. My commute is also not affected because I don't ride on the Blue or Yellow Lines at all. I don't think that's a reason to be annoyed at Metro, however.

Comment by ALE

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 11:39:47 EDT

I take the metro from Huntington to Silver Spring for work during rush hour. Based on their new maps I was hoping that with all these changes I would be able to ride to Fort Totten without changing trains twice so I could bypass the New York Ave area that often has slow track maintenance issues on the Red Line. Instead my service is exactly the same it seems. There is no point in switching to a yellow rush plus since the time it takes to change trains twice I might as well just change at Gallery Place anyway. Thanks for nothing metro.

Comment by GWJ

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 14:11:07 EDT

As per the additional 60 cars needed for full-time yellow line service to Greenbelt, we can get those cars for $174 million, which seems rather like chump change to me in an era of multibillion dollar transit grants.

Extrapolated from here: http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/capital_needs/project_details.cfm?I=068, which in itself seems like a desperately-needed idea...

Comment by Arnold

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 14:07:57 EDT

The number of questions and comments for this post says it all: this is ludicrously confusing. 95% or more of commuters do not keep up with the ins and outs of train service and those that are affected by the changes are going to be seriously confused.

Comment by Stlplanr

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 11:02:09 EDT

Keep it simple. Dashed lines mean limited service. Width of lines mean frequency of service. What's missing on the new Metro map are widths of each of the lines, not more dashes. And to keep it simple, the widths should be summarized as 1-3 categories (ranges in legend) of frequency quickly visualized (so as to not really read the legend) as skinny, medium, or fat.

Comment by AJ

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 13:30:09 EDT

Joe,

Using your logic, the red line would be dashed line above Silver Spring and Grosvenor, while technically, the orange would be dashed west of West Falls Church, and the Yellow would be all dashed below King Street. In my book, that would make things even more confusing.

I guess I'm in the minority that really thinks that separate colors or designators were the way to go with this. After all, if a bus makes a minor deviation, it's no longer the S2 but the S4, yet we now have yellow and orange trains making multiple patterns under the same banner.

Comment by Joe

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 08:47:01 EDT

@Matt Johnson:

As in so much of life, where you stand depends on where you sit. Or in this case, where you board.

For example, if I'm boarding at Shaw headed north for Ft Totten, it will indeed seem like there is full-time, if infrequent, yellow line service, since any yellow line train that arrives carries on to my destination. However, if I'm boarding at Gallery Place, only 23% of yellow line trains that arrive continue north to Ft Totten. For riders boarding at Gallery Place or points further south, that hardly seems to be "Full-Time Service".

A reasonable English speaker would probably interpret the phrase "Full-Time Service" to mean something along the lines of 100%, all the time, or without interruption. If you ignore the yellow line beyond the segment between Mt Vernon Square and Ft Totten, you can indeed argue there is full-time, if infrequent, service, on that stretch.

However, that's neither the context of the map nor the context of most yellow line riders. A strict reading of "Full Time Service" would suggest anything under 100% of yellow line trains reaching Ft Totten (well, this is Metro after all, let's say 85%) wouldn't qualify. You might argue that with 51% of trains reaching Ft Totten you could call it Full-Time Service since it's closer to full-time than not. But 23%? Not with a straight face.

So to answer your question: If the map were mine, with the service as described in the original post, the yellow line would be broken/dashed from Mt Vernon Square to Greenbelt and instead of "Rush-Only Service" the description, at least for the yellow line, would be "Intermittent".

Comment by Scott P

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 06:27:24 EDT

Matt,

Thanks for the write up. This is the right thing for all the wrong reasons. The very dense neighborhoods just north of Mt. Vernon are still greatly underserved by rail service and subject to the service cut debate annually as they try to solve budget woes.

This has been a crusade of mine since 1998 when they stripped the Yellow Line and full service from U Street and opened the Columbia Heights and Petworth stations completing the inner Green Line. We had both yellow and green full time during rush hour and off peak from 92-98. The fight then was for extended hours, (ended at 12am on weekends) and frequency of trains.

There are another 2500 units of housing being built on the U Street stop alone over the next few years, not to mention all the growth planned for Shaw that will greatly strain the ability of even this modified service to meet. There does need to be a continued call for expanded service to serve the dense urban areas that got short changed when they cancelled the original plans to take the Yellow line to W. Hyattsville and spur off there and instead opted for the turn around at Mt. Vernon because of decade long delays in green line construction in the 80's.

Glad to finally see a train that traverses directly across the region from SW to NE connecting the VRE and MARC lines and BWI and National Airports. For the sake of off peak travelers I really wish they would continue this service during the whole day, something they do have the train cars available to make happen.

Long time spent waiting for this change that is only happening because of the crisis of the tunnel backups and delays.

Comment by Matt Johnson

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 00:59:24 EDT

@Joe:
I don't disagree that the map could be better, and in fact I think it should be better, but I don't know that I'd describe it as "deceptive."

As I pointed out, Metro struggled with this. After all, you will be able to catch the Yellow Line at Columbia Heights at all times. Just not every Yellow train will stop there.

Think about it this way. Only half of all Red Line trains go to Glenmont (the other half stop at Silver Spring). That's not shown on the map (I think it should be). Should the section of the map from Silver Spring to Glenmont be dashed?

In some ways, this is a Gordian Knot.

In the past, I suggested doing more to call out the terminal stations by putting them in a colored box (like Montreal does). In my submission in the map contest, I even pulled out a "spur" to indicate the station's role as a terminal.

How would you show the Yellow Line between Mount Vernon Square and Greenbelt?

Comment by Sand Box John

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 23:22:47 EDT

@Transport:
You forgot the third option:

* Lesser expensive: Procure rolling stock in sufficient numbers to allow the increase the present 20 trains per hour to 30 trains per hour.

The train control and signaling is designed to accommodate 40 trains per hour.

Comment by Sand Box John

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 23:08:15 EDT

@Vicente Fox:
They did build necessary facilities to accommodate it, what they did not do is procure rolling stock in sufficient numbers to exploit those facilities.

See next to last paragraph in article.

Comment by Joe

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 19:03:29 EDT

So, according to @Matt Johnson, 77% of northbound yellow line trains during rush hour will terminate at Mt Vernon Square.

I paid extra attention to Metro's new map on my way home tonight. The segment from Mt Vernon Square to Ft Totten is solid yellow, signifying "full time service" vice "rush hour only service". 23% of trains is pretty far from full time service during rush hour.

Metro's new map is deceptive.

Comment by Transport.

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 17:35:14 EDT

@Jasper: I completely agree; a new crossing should have been in the planning stages starting about 10/15 years ago. Now we need to find a group of competent elected officials from Arlington, Fairfax, Montgomery, and Pr. George's counites, the District, and Alexandria, Falls Church, Rockville cities, etc... to work together to start planning for a new Metrorail crossing to allow for more capacity in the core.

I could say something snarky about what I wrote above about leaders working together but hope the people in the region can make the process start since such a crossing is probably 15+ years away.

"Finally, I see no push from anyone to solve the tunnel-problem between Foggy-Bottom and Rosslyn. In a matter of year, this tunnel will carry the maximum of trains and cars it can, while the number of passengers will keep increasing.

They need to address that. There are basically two options, one expensive, one very expensive.

* Expensive: Make a inter-VA switch in Rosslyn, so Orange and Silver Lines can go to the Pentagon and beyond.
* Very expensive: An extra tunnel and separation of the Blue from the Orange and Silver Lines, with a new Blue Line along M St.

Seeing how long it takes to get anything done around here, they should have been working on this for at least decade now."

Comment by MLD

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 14:22:48 EDT

@Jasper

The reality is that plenty of people who are enjoying that one-seat ride on the Blue Line to Metro Center, Federal Triangle, or Smithsonian will now hop on whatever train (Yellow or Blue) comes first and transfer at L'Enfant if they need to. For those going to the other Western DC Blue Line stations it's going to be less convenient for sure.

If WMATA would actually release station pair ridership numbers (like BART does) then we would have a better idea on how this might affect train crowding.

Comment by jonglix

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 14:07:58 EDT

Alex B at top of the comments is right. The map is really an odd hybrid now. If we went with NYC style coloring of trunk lines then there might be three lines corresponding to the three main tunnels downtown. You could stick with primary colors Red, Yellow, Blue and add letters or numbers for service patterns and terminals. (The Pentagon to Alexandria track would be the only place with multi-line service.)

Comment by Jasper

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 14:04:16 EDT

@ worthing:how bad is the crowding coming north during rush hour?

Depends on which rush hour. The weird thing with metro is that ridership can change quite a lot without reason (that I can detect and I try). However, during morning rush fairly often all seats get taken before we leave Franconia-Springfield. By the time we hit King St, it's standing room only for sure, and then it fills up, especially at the Pentagon. I guess a lot of people come in from buses. In Rosslyn a lot of people get off. I see a lot of inter-VA transfers.

In the afternoon it's about the same. Very busy from Foggy-Bottom/Rosslyn to the Pentagon, and after that it empties out slowly.

So, what I am worried about is the Foggy-Bottom/Rosslyn to Pentagon stretch. Currently, you can generally get on a train. However, the second there is any disruption of regular service, entering a train becomes a problem in Rosslyn.

Furthermore, a 12 minute wait is simply unacceptable for rush hour service in a major city. Can you imagine the mess on days with delays, when that 12 minutes turns into 20 or 30?

Comment by Matt Johnson

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 14:02:12 EDT

@kk:
The last Rush Plus Yellow Line train from Franconia-Springfield will depart at 6:04p and arrive at Greenbelt at 7:00p.

Comment by kk

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:45:48 EDT

What benefit do people traveling in areas that will receive less service get ? The new bus extensions dont seem like a benefit as you have to get off the train and then a bus or from a fare prospective it could end up being more than the rail.

Also how does rushhour work in the system that has always confused me as I have never seen any documents explaining it like they do with the bus.

At 6pm does the last Yellow line going to Greenbelt leave Franconia Springfield or does the last Yellow line arrive at Greenbelt at 6pm

Comment by worthing

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:41:20 EDT

What's "GGC"? I'm voting "Greater Greater Cumberbatch."

@Jasper - and others who regularly take the Blue line now - how bad is the crowding coming north during rush hour? When I rode blue south to Pentagon City/Crystal City, I found the trains to be stunningly ghostly. I imagine the manageable southbound ridership is one reason this service reduction came to be.

Comment by Jasper

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:33:51 EDT

@ Payton:Jasper, I'm sorry that you will experience worse service under Rush+. However, for ever one person in your situation, five other riders (myself included) will see improved service.

I understand that, but it does not preclude the fact that my commute will (most likely) become longer and more crowded.

You really should blame the Silver Line for this.

Is the Silver Line running yet? No, it's not.

In order to get enough Silver and Orange trains through Rosslyn, some Blue Line trains will certainly be rerouted via the Yellow Line bridge."

Metro will have more trains by then, and hopefully at some point, they'll be able to run 8-car trains on the Blue Line to alleviate the crush.

Finally, I see no push from anyone to solve the tunnel-problem between Foggy-Bottom and Rosslyn. In a matter of year, this tunnel will carry the maximum of trains and cars it can, while the number of passengers will keep increasing.

They need to address that. There are basically two options, one expensive, one very expensive.

Seeing how long it takes to get anything done around here, they should have been working on this for at least decade now.

Comment by Alex B.

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:30:34 EDT

Pelham,

I wish GGC would stop trumpeting every METRO effort as wonderful or inspired.

I read this as a nice description of what will be happening. I don't see anyone calling it 'wonderful' or 'inspired,' yet alone trumpeting those terms. You seem to be the only one using those words.

Comment by Matt Johnson

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:22:45 EDT

@kk:
Rosslyn: Rosslyn will be seeing more Orange Line trains, but will see a 30% reduction in service south toward Franconia.

Huntington: Nothing will change at Huntington.

Arlington Cemetery: This station will see 30% fewer trains in each direction.

Eisenhower Ave: Nothing will change at Eisenhower Ave.

Stadium/Armory - Largo: The number of trains will stay the same. 3 trains per hour (out of 10 total) in each direction will be colored Orange and will run to Vienna instead of Franconia.

Comment by Pelham1861

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:20:26 EDT

I wish GGC would stop trumpeting every METRO effort as wonderful or inspired. This change wrecks havoc on the Blue Line. It is not credible to say that increased bus traffic from say Pentagon City to Rosslyn is a good substitute. That's insulting in fact. Never seen a METROBUS in flight...therefore the trip from Pentagon City to Rosslyn is going to be mighty slow crawling along the same roads auto commuters use.

Comment by kk

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:17:38 EDT

How will service be effected for this going to/from Rosslyn, Huntington, Arlington Cemetery, Eisenhower Ave, they seem like they will get the short end of the straw is there any benefit for them. What about the eastern Blue line east of Stadium Armory.

How will they avoid confusion for passengers that are blind/deaf trying to take trains that run to multiple terminals ? I have been on Metrorail many times when a train did not show anything on its signs, the PID was not working or you could not hear the operator those could be big issues on the Yellow and Orange lines.

Comment by worthing

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:09:46 EDT

@Juanita - "I commute from Rosslyn to Crystal City via the Blue Line. It already is a wash between riding the train and driving. I suspect "Rush Plus" will made the auto much more attractive."

Are you transferring from the Orange line or a bus, or does your commute start in Rosslyn? Even with the drop in frequency of service, it's pretty hard to beat 8 minutes on one train, unless your office is on 23rd street and you've got that walk every day, too.

When I used to do Ballston to CC I often drove simply because the Orange line transfer at Rosslyn could be brutal, especially coming home. Had I been starting with the Blue line, I never would driven.

Comment by Michael Perkins

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:07:18 EDT

@Ted, that looks right. All the Greenbelt yellow trains during rush hour will be going to Franconia-Springfield rather than to Huntington.

Fortunately, there will be 24 trains per hour or more on the tracks, so just step off and transfer just like you used to.

Comment by spookiness

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:04:06 EDT

That 10E extension was the bus I wish existed when I commuted from Del Ray to Courthouse. Would have reduced to just 1 transfer instead of two. I value more seat-time and fewer x-fers, regardless of the mode.

Comment by Ted

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:02:06 EDT

I am what I imagine is a rare commuter from Greenbelt and points north to Eisenhower Avenue. But as far as I can tell, the yellow line will now service both my origin and destination, but I won't be able to take a train in between the two without transferring, which is essentially what the very first comment says about unlinking the lines and services. I'm not mis-interpreting anything, am I?

Comment by Payton

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:00:43 EDT

The answer: Rush Plus will make the Yellow Line better.

Jasper, I'm sorry that you will experience worse service under Rush+. However, for ever one person in your situation, five other riders (myself included) will see improved service. I think that Metro's communication on the matter has been very clear.

You really should blame the Silver Line for this. As Matt wrote earlier here: "once the Silver Line opens, Metro will not have much choice in the matter. In order to get enough Silver and Orange trains through Rosslyn, some Blue Line trains will certainly be rerouted via the Yellow Line bridge."

Comment by Justin Russo

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:35:49 EDT

The worst that will happen is someone waits 12 minutes on a station platform.

That's really an unacceptable amount of time to wait at a close-in station during rush hour.

Comment by Juanita de Talmas

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:28:31 EDT

I commute from Rosslyn to Crystal City via the Blue Line. It already is a wash between riding the train and driving. I suspect "Rush Plus" will made the auto much more attractive.

Comment by GWJ

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:28:26 EDT

@Tom Coumaris

I'd go so far as to say you "probably will" have to still get off at Mt. Vernon. The Rush+ changes amount to a single train every 20 minutes that doesn't terminate there. So as someone said up above, it's basically a crapshoot - once in a while, you might get lucky and not have to transfer at Mt. Vernon.

What I really don't understand is why there's no push for the additional trains needed to a) run to Greenbelt all the time, and b) run 8-car trains on the entire system.

Comment by Jasper

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:24:47 EDT

@ Transport:In fact, they highlight in their bus imporvments that the 9E and 10E Metro bus routes are being extended to run express between the Pentagon/Crystal City and Rosslyn to make up for lost Blue Line service.

And how does the 9E or 10E get me to Franconia-Springfield frmo Rossyln?

People need to take it upon themselves to be properly educated about their commute on a transit system.

I have. And I will be experiencing a reduction in service. That's why I call it Rush-Minus.

The worst that will happen is someone waits 12 minutes on a station platform.

You forget that people have connections to catch. VRE trains, buses. Things that don't wait for trains. Missing a VRE train or bus can easily mean that those 12 minutes turn to 30 or more.

@ charlie:Thanks Silver Line!

The Silver Line will be a massive improvement for the system. I am not blaming this on the Silver Line.

Comment by Tom Coumaris

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:22:20 EDT

Thanks Matt.

Comment by Vicente Fox

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:20:52 EDT

The original Metro map shows the Yellow line terminus at Greenbelt, so it is interesting that they didn't build the necessary facilities to accommodate that.

Comment by Matt Johnson

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:19:39 EDT

@Tom Coumaris:
During rush hours, each hour there will be 13 northbound Yellow Line trains running north through Gallery Place. Of those 13, 10 will end at Mount Vernon Square. That's 77% of the Yellow Line trains.

All trains that currently end at Mount Vernon Square will continue to do so.

The only Yellow Line trains that won't end there are the ones from Franconia-Springfield and the ones that are stored in the Greenbelt Yard that run through at the beginning and end of rush hour.

Comment by charlie

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:13:05 EDT

@Jaspar; exactly right. And now a major inconvience for people in the West End and Orange Line (Arlington) to get to National as well.

Thanks Silver LIne!

Comment by Tom Coumaris

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:11:37 EDT

During rush hour you "might" still have to get off the yellow line at Mt. Vernon Square ?

That's a big unexplained "might". Hopefully it won't happen much.

Comment by Rich

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:10:07 EDT

The yellow/green redundancy should compensate for any confusion going North, particularly given that this is not major visitor corridor. Unlike the Red Line stopping at Grosvenor, the Mt Vernon terminus has the green line redundancy and doesn't strand large numbers of office workers in the am 1 or 2 stops short of their destination. Having occasionally gone to King St on the Yellow line, I'd say very few people coming from DC, esp. points N of Gallery Place, will be going further than DCA and inconvenienced.

This being the DC area, there will be much whining in the beginning, but this mostly looks like a positive step. It probably would have been better to roll this out after the peak tourist season, so that locals would be used to helping the many tourists who can't seem to read a map.

Comment by selxic

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:05:58 EDT

Several years ago, I was one of those Blue "reverse commuters" who needed to get to the R-B corridor. Most of my co-workers who used transit used the Blue line. Eventually, it became better for me to drive. I too feel bad for those who are often overlooked with this, Jasper.

Comment by Matt Johnson

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:03:12 EDT

@Another Josh:
One more thing. I won't say you're wrong about waiting through several Greens between Yellows. You obviously experience this.

But the gap in Yellow Line trains is not because the first one to start running to Fort Totten takes longer to come back.

In the afternoon, when the last "rush" Yellow Line train ends at Mount Vernon Square, the Yellow Line train that will follow it southbound 12 minutes later is already running southbound on the Green Line.

To prevent a big gap in service, a few Yellow Line trains are dispatched from Greenbelt Yard to cover southbound coverage, while northbound trains cover the additional track between Mount Vernon Square and Fort Totten and back.

It takes a train 11 minutes to get from Mount Vernon Square to Fort Totten. Let's assume it takes about 2 minutes to turn a train at the crossover. It then takes 11 minutes to get back to Mount Vernon Square. If there were no Yellow trains dispatched from Greenbelt, there would be a 24 minute gap in service.

I've observed this happening a good bit, since I transfer at Fort Totten every day. Generally, when the first Yellow Line train of the evening to Fort Totten arrives, you can watch a southbound Yellow Line train arriving (with passengers) on the southbound platform.

Comment by Matt Johnson

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:53:22 EDT

@Another Josh:
I'll reiterate what others have said. The number of trains departing Huntington will not change under Rush Plus.

Currently during rush hour, 10 trains per hour depart Huntington and run to Mount Vernon Square. Additionally, 10 trains per hour depart Franconia and run to Largo.

Under Rush Plus, 10 trains per hour will depart Huntington and run to Mount Vernon Square. 10 trains per hour will depart Franconia. 7 of these will go to Largo, the other 3 will run to Greenbelt.

So, if you're a Huntington to L'Enfant commuter, you will see no reduction in service.

Comment by Transport.

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:47:54 EDT

@Jasper- WMATA doesn't brush this over. In fact, they highlight in their bus imporvments that the 9E and 10E Metro bus routes are being extended to run express between the Pentagon/Crystal City and Rosslyn to make up for lost Blue Line service. People need to take it upon themselves to be properly educated about their commute on a transit system. In additiona, and most important, no one will be stranded. The worst that will happen is someone waits 12 minutes on a station platform.

I feel the Rush+ campaign is one of the more well-done campaigns to educate the public with most of the campaing being in the rail cars and online.

Comment by Another Josh

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:41:55 EDT

Got it. I thought that current Yellow trains were being diverted from Huntington to Franconia/Springfield. Now that I look closer, it's current Blue trains that change from following their current route to going over the Yellow line bridge.

I still have that end of rush hour gap in Yellow to Huntington service to deal with, when that first Northbound train start running to Fort Totten and then takes longer to head back southbound. I don't know how many times I've made it to my L'Enfant transfer just in time to see a Southbound Yellow line train pull away, then to wait through 3 Green line trains.

Comment by Jasper

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:33:36 EDT

@Another Josh: You're confused with being a blue line rider between Rosslyn and the Pentagon, i.e. the inter-VA travelers. Those will get less trains and once Rush-Minus service kicks in next week. It is appalling that metro brushes over this reduction in service in their campaign.

Comment by Nick

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:25:08 EDT

Oh, wow. I didn't know that some of the Yellow trains would still be turning around at Mt Vernon. Without this post, I would have just assumed they all were going to Ft. Totten, which I thought was a brilliant idea. This is disappointing.

Comment by phil

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:16:07 EDT

This is a really good post, though it neglects the fact that even now Metro often short-turns yellow line trains at Mt Vernon Sq at off-peak hours and on weekends, despite service indications on the old maps to the contrary.

I'm disappointed to read this post. Based on Metro's new maps I had been expecting ALL yellow line trains to run at least to Ft Totten starting June 18. The new system maps are misleading, at best. There are going to be a lot of surprised non-GGW readers who, when they are unceremoniously dumped at Mt Vernon Sq next week, will conclude that it is just more random Metro service deficiencies instead of planned short-turns that simply aren't reflected on the maps.

Comment by Transit Guy

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:10:58 EDT

If WMATA had adopted Matt's map portrayal of the Red line with the width of the Red line adjusted at Grovsner and Silver Spring these terminals would jump out at a customer.

Comment by Bud

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:09:14 EDT

As a Columbia Heights to Crystal City commuter, I'll be curious to see whether the Rush Plus trains will run at regular times each morning so that I can deliberately catch them. More likely they'll operate at somewhat variable times and catching one will be an occasional lucky-strike-extra. Anyway it's all upside for us Yellow-liners (sorry Blue-ists).

Comment by Michael Perkins

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:01:49 EDT

Didn't read the paragraph where you said why they couldn't do that. Sorry!

Comment by Michael Perkins

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:00:03 EDT

What would it cost to just run all rush hour yellow line trains to greenbelt?

Comment by Gray

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:53:00 EDT

@Another Josh: Rush Plus won't reduce your service. There will be just as many yellow trains running between Huntington and L'Enfant Plaza. There will just be some additional trains branded yellow that don't run to Huntington.

Comment by Another Josh

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:49:57 EDT

As a rider who takes the Yellow line between Huntington and L'Enfant Plaza, I'm one of the lucky users for whom the Rush+ change will reduce my rush hour service. The biggest problem I've had previously is with the end of the afternoon rush hour change when Yellow line trains start running to Fort Totten. I'm heading south, and there is a pretty large gap in southbound Yellow service at this time. Now, with the Yellow lines running to Franconia/Springfield, I've got a lot more of those gaps to deal with, especially if one of the new Rush+ trains comes towards the end of rush hour.

Comment by Matt Glazewski

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:48:36 EDT

I remember hearing that the "extra" Orange trains were going to turn around at West Falls Church to get people "used to" Silver Line trains peeling off at East Falls Church. But now, I'm hearing all trains will go to Vienna. Which is true?

Comment by Alex B.

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:44:07 EDT

If short-turning trains are to be enshrined in the service patterns, then Metro ought to look at re-branding the way they identify their services.

To this point for most of Metro's history, a 'line' (e.g. the physical tracks) and a 'service' (e.g. the trains that run on said tracks) have been synonymous with a few exceptions for short turns and track work. The Rush Plus services change that.

The addition of the Silver Line will only broaden the potential universe of rail services. WMATA needs to consider a step towards New York's method of identifying services. It doesn't need to be that complex, since WMATA's system isn't that complex, but it would better be able to identify regular services without forcing the rider to think about the line, the destination, and the service patterns.

Matt, I believe your map entry into the GGW map contest did some of that, did it not?