Don't take the Metro

[SnowAngel]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041022/ap_on_re_us/cell_phone_arrest_5

Hmmm..
I don't think I want to take the Washington DC Metro Transit anytime soon!

 

[snoopy]

I take the Metro nearly every day and can assure you that they usually don't wrestle people to the ground. Its actually a very safe and certainly efficient way of getting around town.

 

[caitycaity]

well, i do have to say, they keep our metro safe and clean. i have no idea what the deal was with the woman in the story, but i got a fine one time for eating on the metro. i was not handcuffed or anything. i'm sure there is more to her story than was reported in that article.

 

[snoopy]

Caity, just the other day I got a warning for taking a bite out of my bagel I had stashed in my bag. The guy said he'd look the other way but in that time I had better get rid of it. How much were you fined? I've heard of people being fined but never actually knew anyone who got one.

 

[Jeafl]

We LOVED riding the metro last July. It was so clean and user-friendly. We never ate or yelled obscenities, so I guess that's why we found it so pleasant!

(I did get a few funny looks when I carried a Reuben sandwich back to the hotel from Union Station though--I just think everyone was jealous because it smelled so good!)

 

[Galahad]

but i got a fine one time for eating on the metro.

Wow! Did you really? In my 5 years of riding the metro I never saw anybody even approached for breaking those rules.

 

[jrydberg]

MY big complaint with the Metro is the cost. It's not cheap. It is clean and safe. But paying almost $8 each way (for me and my daughter) isn't worth it to me in most cases.

 

[OhMari]

I wish we had a metro in our state.

I loved it when we were in Washing DC too. We had our big black 4-door HD Chevy truck and when we were driving around DC everyone was looking at our truck like we were "A Monster Truck". We parked at the Jefferson Memorial for a day, then left it at our hotel the rest of our stay.

I'll take the metro any day over our diesel guzzling truck.

Loved the Metro!

 

[tkd lisa]

One time I had just bought a soda (in a can), and went to get on the metro. The attendant stopped me and said I had to finish it before going past the turnstiles. If it had been in a bottle, I could have put it in a bag.

I have often seen them enforce the food rule, but never seen them ticket anyone.

They also enforce the headphones rule for music.

I agree, DC's metro is one of the cleanest and safest, and it's probably because they do have no eating, drinking, etc. rules.

 

[Tina]

Although I don't think it was right to wrestle a pregnant woman to the ground, from what I understand, she was yelling and cussing into her phone. She was asked multiple times to lower her voice and refused, even swearing at the officer.

I've seen plenty of folks drinking from water bottles and such, but never saw anyone approached. DH used to ride the Metro everyday and he's so happy now that he works in Tysons and can drive in. We live in PW county, so in order to take the Metro (as if we have some sort of choice in No.VA), he had to drive up 66 for an hour in gridlock, then pay for parking and get on a crowded train to Arlington. His commute was awful. Metro is just too expensive and WAY to inconvenient for those who don't actually live near a station. Some days, if he didn't have any early meetings, he would just leave later and take 66 all the way after HOV lifted -- or sit on the shoulder of the road waiting for the 9am lift. But then he was always stuck at the office until 6:30 when HOV lifted again. Virginia needs to do something with transportation in this area.

 

[caitycaity]

How much were you fined? I've heard of people being fined but never actually knew anyone who got one.

this was around 1996/97 - my friend and i had just gone to the johnny rockets in union station to get vanilla malts.

we were drinking them while waiting for a train and the guy approached us, and gave us citations for (i think) $25. he was out of uniform but had his badge and everything.

of course, i've also gotten a citation for jaywalking across m st. in georgetown, so maybe i'm just "lucky".

dh got warned for drinking water a couple years ago but no citation.

about a year ago, i was waiting at farragut north for my dh (he was coming from one direction, i was coming from another and we decided to meet there). he ended up being like 1 hour late because of something at work, so i was just sitting on the platform watching train after train go by. a metro officer came up to me and asked me "if i was alright."

that kind of thing honestly doesn't upset me - it makes me feel safe, and i'm glad they enforce the rules. it makes it a nicer experience for everyone.

 

[justhat]

from what I understand, she was yelling and cussing into her phone. She was asked multiple times to lower her voice and refused, even swearing at the officer.

I live in DC and I heard this too. Swearing at an officer is never going to get you good results, even if you're pregnant. Though I enjoyed the news report on her yesterday where they just kept filming her pregnant belly, and would occasionally show her face.

My husband got a written warning for drinking a Coke on the metro once too. It was a fountain Coke, with a lid and straw, but the 'undercover metro cop' told him that he didn't like his attitude for disrespecting the metro. He wasn't trying to disrespect the metro, he took a sip without even thinking he was on the metro and it wasn't allowed. When I was pregnant and always had a water bottle on me I occasionally forgot and drank on the metro, but luckily was never fined.

Oh yeah, and the cost is getting incredible. Since I moved here in May 2002 it has gone up so much. Luckily we live in DC so it doesn't cost us much to go anywhere since we're pretty much in the middle (between Foggy Bottom and Dupont Circle), but a lot of our friends live in VA at the end of the orange line and they spend a fortune commuting.

 

[caitycaity]

Luckily we live in DC so it doesn't cost us much to go anywhere since we're pretty much in the middle (between Foggy Bottom and Dupont Circle),

that's where i lived when i lived downtown. i love that area.

 

[Galahad]

Originally posted by caitycaity
this was around 1996/97 - my friend and i had just gone to the johnny rockets in union station to get vanilla malts.

I was in Johnny Rockets in Union Station in 1996. I thought that was you with that Vanilla Malt.

 

[clutter]

Expensive? Try $10.65/day, rt. That's the cost of parking and riding from Vienna to Farragut West. Then there's the $45/month to make sure you have a parking space between 7:30 and 10 am....

And for all the increases we've had, the service has gotten less and less reliable.

I'm so happy with my Prius, now that I'm taking the HOV lanes in. Parking is $9/day downtown, and gas costs me $17 every 400+ miles. And it's usually faster. Not always, but usually.

 

[clutter]

Oops. Double post.