April 7, 2008
First Rush Hour Baseball Game to Test Metro
Like a lot of people, I wasn't able to land Opening Day tickets at Nationals Park, so I went ahead and purchased a pair for tonight's second regular season home game, a 7:10 p.m. matchup against the Florida Marlins. Tickets at various price levels are still available, in fact.
Unlike Opening Day, which was on a Sunday evening, tonight's game will be the first time we'll be able to see how Metro handles combining a regular weekday rush hour with increased ballpark traffic. WMATA wants customers to be aware of tonight's potential fubar-iness, which will be especially pronounced at the Gallery Place-Chinatown and L’Enfant Plaza stations, where riders transferring from Red, Orange and Blue lines to the Green will crowd platforms even more than usual during peak hours.
Metro says it will have additional station managers, rail supervisors, and Transit Police at the Gallery Place-Chinatown, L’Enfant Plaza and Navy Yard stations to assist customers with service questions, and how to get to and from the ballpark. Those going to the game are asked to remember to spread out along the platform to board six-and eight-car trains, and to use both exits at the Navy Yard station. Those not attending tonight's game will want to avoid using either Gallery Place (consider walking to either Metro Center or Mt. Vernon Square to enter) or L'Enfant Plaza (walk to Archives or Federal Center SW). Or better yet, figure out an alternate bus option.
Photo by eclectico63
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I heard that they're adding extra trains on every line...except the Yellow. Which didn't help on Opening Night (waited almost 20 minutes to catch one post-game, along with about a thousand others), and will be very annoying in the future.
When do you think the game will end? I'm working late tonight and I don't want to compete with baseball fans on the ride home. I don't know much about the length of baseball games -- are they three hours long? Two?
I shudder at the thought of going home tonight. Yeah, it's great that when I go to a game I don't have to change lines, but I hate the idea of being on the metro with a whole bunch of shiny happy soon to be drunk baseball fans, when I'm grumpy and stressed from being at work and all I want to do is to go home, take off my work clothes and drink box chianti until my piss turns purple.
Well, this might not be the disaster people are thinking it will be. If most of the metro riders are going outbound, hopefully the platforms won't get too clogged with the Nats fans going the opposite direction. They just seriously need to run 8 car trains... it's silly to tell people to spread out on the platform and then have everybody try to converge at once.
alwis,
The Cluster F will happen from L'Enfant down to Navy Yard on the green. This is usually completely packed on a normal day, besides that just few more red hats on the Metro.
C'mon Washington and Washingtonians. I know you can do it! You're all growed up now!
It's not as if this hasn't been happening for the past three years but on the blue & orange lines people...I realize of course that there was more parking at RFK, but come on....
that was also two lines going to RFK...this is just one.
people will also be transferring from the yellow line. don't leave us yellow liners out!!!
hiking from gallery place over to joo-di-shoo-ary square would be worth your while if you're heading up in the glenmont direction on the way home, too...
Think about Wednesday night.
DC United
Wizards
Nats
Yikes.
Go take a look outside. It's going to be this drizzly and cold at first pitch, and knowing how the average Washingtonian is a big pussy when it isn't 72 degrees and sunny, I have a feeling that there will be quite a few empty seats tonight.
Those people on their regular commute on the Green Line to PG County are going to be pissssssssssssed!!!! Watch out.