Photo by Philliefan99

Good news for sweaty, suffering Metro passengers who step on a bus or train after sweltering in this week’s heat wave: The transit agency is temporarily lifting its ban on drinking water.

Through Friday night, when the extreme temperatures and humidity are forecast to finally break, people don’t have to worry about getting scolded or fined about refreshing themselves, so long as it’s just water. “The exception to Metro’s ‘no eating or drinking’ policy applies to water only—in stations and aboard trains, buses and MetroAccess vehicles,” a Metro news release states.

That sounds great for this week. After all, today’s forecasted high is 95 degrees, with a heat index of at least 104, and similar projections for the following three days. But even though it won’t be this hot every day through the end of the summer, it’s still D.C., so most days will be steamy and unpleasant.

As with last year’s hottest days, we asked Metro why the ban is rescinded so selectively, and not for, say the entire summer. “We relax the ban for water only during periods of extreme heat, at the direction of the general manager,” Metro spokesman Dan Stessel writes in an email. “Keeping the restriction in place at other times, including most of the summer when temperatures are not extreme, helps keep Metro one of the cleanest large transit systems in the world.”

So next week, when conditions are a hair below the threshold for a heat emergency, Metro passengers will just have to be sweaty and parched and grumpy. But at least the trains will look nice, right?