Posts about Orange Line
Transit
Half-hour Metro headways are not acceptable
Last weekend WMATA ran trains 30 minutes apart along the entire Orange Line. Although some reduction in service was necessary due to single tracking between Eastern Market and Cheverly, such extremely infrequent trains along the rest of the line was unnecessary and was a disservice to Metro's customers.
Photo by BeyondDC on Flickr.
Metro's job is not merely to run trains. It's to serve customers who ride trains. Occasionally it is necessary to inconvenience customers for a short while to fix long-term repair issues, but when that happens WMATA must do its best to minimize the inconvenience and provide adequate alternates. Last weekend they failed to do so.
WMATA planned the single tracking between Eastern Market and Cheverly to accommodate a range of repairs and reconstruction in that segment. Half-hour headways may have been necessary to ensure worker safety and maximize efficiency, so that the work could be completed prior to Monday's rush hour. That's all perfectly justifiable.
But there was absolutely no reason for riders along the entire length of the Orange Line to be left with such terrible service. Metro's track schematic clearly shows there are crossover tracks between Federal Center SW and Capitol South stations. Trains coming and going west from Federal Center SW could have used that crossover track to turn around, ensuring regular weekend headways through downtown Washington and in Virginia.
We know trains can turn around using the crossover tracks since they do it every day at Mount Vernon Square and Grosvenor, so why couldn't they have done so last weekend at Federal Center SW? This simple solution would have prevented thousands of Metro customers from being greatly inconvenienced.
It's possible that Metro had repairs under way elsewhere along the Orange Line, but the press release didn't communicate that. In any event, there are crossover tracks every few stations all throughout the system. Trains could have turned around at McPherson Square, Foggy Bottom, or Clarendon, and at least riders west of the turnaround wouldn't have been faced with 30-minute waits.
Sometimes officials forget that keeping the rail system in proper order is a means to an end, not an end in and of itself. If the system isn't serving customers then it's not working. The next time Metro has to perform single tracking, they should use one of the system's many turnarounds to ensure short headways along the rest of the line.
Cross-posted at BeyondDC.
Public Spaces
Orangington?
Arlington: The Rap is a hilarious spoof that lovingly pokes fun at Washington's even-more yuppie-filled western extension. The rap isn't really about Arlington, though; it's about that specific portion of Arlington lying along Metro's Orange line that over the past generation has morphed from sleepy suburb to central city destination. The rap got me thinking: That part of Arlington needs a unique name. People talk about it all the time. Why not give it a single identifier?
"Arlington," after all, refers to the whole 26 square mile county, from Chain Bridge on the north to Four Mile Run on the south, and west almost to Leesburg Pike. "North Arlington" also won't do, since it refers as much to the rolling suburbs north of Route 29 as it does to the Orange Line Corridor. "Orange Line Corridor" itself is too much of a mouthful, as are the other frequent substitutes, "Wilson Boulevard Corridor" and "Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor". Even shortening to "R-B" or "R-B Corridor" leaves much to be desired.
But how about "Orangington"? It spells a little awkward, but it sounds verbally clean, fits the blankington scheme used by both Washington, Arlington and Shirlington, and the connection between the neighborhoods in question and Metro's Orange Line is so strong that it's immediately obvious what the name refers to. Normally I'd be hesitant to try and force a contrived name on unwanting locals (Penn Quarter and NoMa, anyone?), but in this case there does seem to be a need and the name does seem to be pretty organic. Indeed, I've been dropping it in casual conversation lately and although I get some "I've never heard that" comments, everyone I've spoken to has understood the reference immediately. It seems a natural moniker for an area that increasingly needs one.
So how about it, folks? Orangington from now on?
Approximate boundaries of Orangington (in orange). View larger map.
Cross-posted at BeyondDC.
Transit
Arlington's Smart Growth Journey: Metro
If Arlington had built the Orange Line stations in the median of I-66, as Fairfax did, the county today would look very different. Leaders had to push very hard for closely-spaced stations on the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.
At the end, Jay Ricks talks about funding becoming available for Virginia Square because Georgetown rejected a station. However, we learned from Zachary Schrag that this isn't true. What really happened?
I emailed Dr. Schrag, who explained that Ricks is probably thinking of the Oklahoma Avenue station instead. According to Schrag, around 1971 there was a proposal to cut the Virginia Square station. "Also on the table at that time was the Oklahoma Avenue station in D.C., which was the only station removed from the 1968 Adopted Regional System in response to community concerns. (Jackson Graham memo of 22 December 1971, Cody Pfanstiehl papers, box 1, folder 5.)"
There was also some debate over whether the Oklahoma Avenue money could go to Arlington or stay in DC. Schrag explained, "As of April 1971, the D.C. government wanted any savings from deleted stations to stay in the jurisdiction, while the WMATA staff wanted funds to go to the system as a whole. ([Jackson] Graham to Board, 'Paper on Allocation of Costs,' 8 April 1971., Pfanstiehl papers, box 7, folder 7.)" It sounds like DC lost that battle and Arlington got the money.
Roads
Brunch links: What's next?
Free Segway tours at Car Free Day 2008. Photo by M.V. Jantzen.
More Metro on I-66? Every time I post a future Metro map, no matter what the topic, some commenter(s) ask to add an Orange Line extension to Centreville. Now that the Silver Line is a done deal, Congressman Gerry Connolly wants to extend the line down I-66 at least to Gainesville. (WTOP) BeyondDC argues that extending Metro is the wrong approach. With the same amount of money, "we could extend VRE to Gainesville and drastically improve service frequencies on the entire VRE system and build a regional network of streetcars on several corridors around Northern Virginia."
Ground floor retail? Arlington required new buildings to include ground-floor retail. Now there's too much of it. Good thing or bad? Ryan Avent says it's good, since arts spaces, doctors and dentists can and are starting to use those spaces. On the other hand, some planners say that upper Georgia Avenue has too much retail space, leading to widespread vacancies and an overabundance of liquor stores. DC's current approach recommends consolidating Georgia Avenue retail into smaller nodes. Which is better? Is the right choice different between Arlington and Georgia Avenue?
Transit
Getting more out of Metro with "skip-stop"
Metro ridership has been steadily rising for years. The Orange Line in Arlington and Fairfax, the "Orange Crush," has the worst crowding. In 1994, when I lived near Court House Metro, I could get a seat on my commute into DC. By 2000, I would only occasionally get a seat living two stops further out at Virginia Square. Now East Falls Church is my closest station, and most mornings it's unlikely I'll get a seat. There is no way someone at Court House ever gets one.
Photo by AlbinoFlea on Flickr.
Metro has added some 8-car trains, which help. There is a fairly simple operational change that I believe can add capacity at no extra cost. Philadelphia has used this since 1956, and call it A and B trains. New York City called it "skip-stop" until they recently ended the practice.
Here's how it works. During rush hour each train is either an "A" train or a "B" train. Each train skips some stops. "A" trains start at Vienna and skip Dunn Loring and Virginia Square. "B" trains also start at Vienna and skip East Falls Church and Clarendon. (Skipped stops should be the least used stops, and should come in pairs, to balance ridership between the A and B trains).
The trip from Vienna to, say, Farragut West becomes 24 minutes instead of 27, a 10% time savings. The entire trip from Vienna to New Carrollton shrinks from 57 minutes to 54, saving 5%.
That time savings could allow Metro to save cars and run longer trains. There are more than 20 trains operating on the Orange Line during rush hour. Freeing up one train will allow 3 6-car trains to be extended to 8-car trains, thereby increasing the capacity.
The shorter runs could also allow more trains. Right now, Metro can't fit more actual trains through Rosslyn, but one day that might change if they send Blue Line trains up the Yellow Line, change signal technology, or build new river crossings. If it does, or if they try this on a different, less constrained line, Metro could run the same number of physical trains more frequently. Instead of 360 second headways, for example, they can reduce to 342 second headways, increasing the capacity of a line by 5%.
How does this affect passengers? Most will benefit, but some will be inconvenienced. Here are outcomes for commuters to DC from Virginia stations:
- Vienna to DC: 2 stations reduced ride time (BIG WIN!)
- Dunn Loring to DC: Increased waiting time and 2 stations reduced ride time (about a wash)
- West Falls Church to DC: Either 1 or 2 stations reduced ride time (WIN!)
- East Falls Church to DC: Increased wait and 1 station reduced ride time (slightly negative)
- Ballston to DC: 1 station reduced ride time (WIN!)
- VA Square to DC: Increased average wait and 1 station reduced ride time (slightly negative)
- Clarendon to DC: Increased average wait; no time savings (lose)
- Court House/Rosslyn to DC: No change
A small minority of riders traveling to one of the skipped stations also experience increased times waiting for their train. In a few cases, they may actually have to change trains if both their boarding and deboarding stations are served by different trains.
Vienna, WFC and Ballston riders all benefit, Clarendon riders lose about 3 minutes average waiting time, and Dunn Loring and EFC riders may be slightly negative or about even. The three benefiting stations represent roughly two-thirds of the ridership of these 7 stations, while Clarendon represents about 8% of the ridership. Therefore, two-thirds of the riders benefit directly. And everyone benefits from reduced crowding on the trains because of the increased capacity afforded by longer trains.
Plus, this same system could work on the other lines, too, including ones not at maximum capacity. It's probably easiest on the Red Line, since it does not have to merge with another line like the Orange does with the Blue and the Yellow does with Green.
They've been doing it for more than 50 years in Philadelphia. When I lived there (near a "B" station), it was just considered normal operating procedure. If it can work there, why not here?
@ggwash
- Successful speed cameras require fair speed limits
- Amid scandal, don't lose sight of Gray's policy achievements
- Montgomery plans 160-mile, "gold standard" BRT system
- VDOT ignores own data, pushes widening I-66
- DC's parks are 5th best in the nation, says "Park Score"
- Bethesda gets new but terrible bike racks
- DC's divide need not be black and white
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