Based on suggestions from Richard Layman and others, I’ve added to the fantasy map to create an even fantasy-er map (as before, click for big version):

There’s fantasy, and then there’s even more fantasy. In the world of today, a lot of these lines are probably more cost-effectively served by light rail, streetcars, BRT, or something else. They’re slower, but if branded well, they could be actually achievable versus the billions required to build this system. However, who knows? Maybe one day soon we will have automated construction robots that can build Metro tunnels for a fraction of the price.

Detailed notes below (or click “read more” to see them) on what’s new in this map versus the other one, again in approximate order of realism:

Arlington Cemetery. I had just forgotten this in the last map by mistake. It’s now restored in the other map too.

Pedestrian walkway from Metro Center to Gallery Place. This was actually seriously proposed by WMATA. Metro Center and Gallery Place are really quite close, but a lot of people ride the Red Line one stop to transfer between Green/Yellow and Blue/Orange, or when going to or from games at the arena currently called the Verizon Center. A walkway would facilitate transfers and encourage people to walk the one stop instead of riding the Red Line.

Infill stations at Poplar Point and Oklahoma Ave. Poplar Point would serve the upcoming development and possible soccer stadium even better than the Anacostia station, and the Oklahoma Avenue station, which would be in what is now the north parking lot at RFK Stadium, would serve a potential high-density mixed-use development there along the Anacostia waterfront.

Brown Line north of Union Station. To avoid conflicts with the Red Line, this now runs along North Capitol street, serving the neighborhoods in between the current Green/Yellow and Red lines like Eckington and Bloomingdale, and then stopping at the hospital complex and the Armed Forces Retirement Home, part of which is planned for mixed-use redevelopment. After connecting with the Red Line (though not sharing track) at Fort Totten, this line turns west along Missouri Ave/Military Rd with stops at Kansas Ave and Brightwood. After crossing Rock Creek, it turns southeast on Nebraska Avenue and stops at the Politics and Prose area at Connecticut, intersects the Red Line at Tenleytown, continues to AU, then turns southeast on New Mexico Ave to Glover Park, finally going south on Wisconsin Ave to Georgetown.

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Tagged: maps, technology, transit, wmata

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.