Comments on Metro headway policy needs clarity - Greater Greater Washington

Comment by Shawn

Sat, 25 Aug 2012 16:29:01 EDT

For comparison LA's minimum for both heavy and light rail is 20 minutes (see page 34 in link). That doesn't include maintenance periods as that would be ridiculous since entire lines are sometimes closed for maintenance or otherwise have scheduled maintenance that won't meet the minimum.

Comment by Marc T

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 14:50:07 EDT

This makes a lot of sense. Having reliable standards to count on is an important part of transit, and I think we can point to the success of the Circulator in seeing how a standard headway system can make a system more attractive. Right now, when taking Metro in the evening during the week, I've seen anywhere from 9 min headways, to 26 minute headways with no delays given as a cause.

Comment by Richard Layman

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 17:49:15 EDT

As I write frequently, headways or LOS requirements should actually be defined in metropolitan level transportation plans and then be negotiated with the various transit operators. WMATA is doing both here. When they are allowed to do so, budget considerations will always trump general LOS standards.

- http://www.scribd.com/doc/34657145/Metropolitan-Transit-Planning-Towards-a-Hierarchical-and-Conceptual-Framework

In a different way, it's also relevant to bus service:

- http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2012/07/washington-post-article-on-demand-for.html
- http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2012/07/metropolitan-mass-transit-planning-more.html

Comment by Alex B.

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 14:37:59 EDT

Also, beware of averaging headways.

20 minute headways during weekend single-tracking on the Orange or Blue lines might not sound so bad in the shared track portion, right? 10 minutes, not so bad.

Except that trains aren't evenly spaced. You'll see an OR and BL train 2 minutes apart, and then an 18 minute gap until the next OR.

In short, a headway needs to be true headway, not some weaselly average.

Comment by Transport.

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 14:33:42 EDT

@MDE
While in the District the trunklines generally have good service on shorter headways with more than one line providing service, the Orange Line between Rosslyn and Ballston, for example, suffers from (my opinion) being underserved. At present, this is beacause that section is only served by the Orange Line. 12 - 20 minute headways can be common off peak. While this may be fine for the more suburban branches, such as between Dunn Loring and Vienna; Largo Town Ctr and Benning Rd, it can cause crowded trains in areas with higher ridership, such as Rosslyn-Ballston. This issue goes away with the Silver Line but shouldn't be forgotten.

Comment by MDE

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 12:46:04 EDT

A third element to be added anticipating the Silver Line would be to set policy headway minima for the trunk lines instead of the individual color lines. This way, even if an individual line has a big headway, if the trunk still has 3-minute combined headways, it's less of a big deal for most.