Results tagged “transitauthority”

Hilda Mason, 91, who served more than 20 years on the D.C. Council, died yesterday at Washington Hospital Center.

If you see emergency response vehicles zipping around town laden with folks shouting into walkie-talkies about evacuations and floods, don't be alarmed. Today Washington area officials are running their first ever joint hurricane response exercise. Federal workers, along with their counterparts from D.C., Maryland and Virginia are gauging the region's ability to deal with a watery disaster. While most associate hurricane-strength storms with the Gulf Coast and tropical climes, many vividly remember the destruction wrought...

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent begins a new weekly opinion column on neighborhood issues today. To many central city residents, the suburban enterprise can seem a quixotic one, and the suburbanite a perplexing character. Pressing ever outward, he seeks to leave behind the impedimenta of urban life, only to find that the more pristine his new surroundings, the faster and thicker does the baggage of congestion gather around him. Almost immediately he finds that his new...

The sad reality of Dan Tangherlini's departure from the helm of Metro has long since set in, and we have shifted from transit-geek depression to equally geeky curiosity over his potential replacement. As was reported on Tuesday and confirmed on Wednesday, D.C. native John Catoe Jr., currently second in command at the L.A. Metropolitan Transit Authority, has been asked to come home and run the trains and buses here in Capital City. The Post and...

Let's start with the good news this morning: this excessive, unrelenting, soul-sucking heat is expected to come to an end tomorrow, say the guys at Capital Weather. And we say they better not just be leading us on. However, today is yet another day in Scorcher '06 -- and may even be the hottest one yet -- with highs once again flirting with triple digits. Heat-related Problems Continue: With near record temperatures, people are...

We've had some good times with WMATA over the years, haven't we? There was the time some guy was eating a candy bar while entering a station and was arrested. Or the time WMATA officials handcuffed a talkative pregnant woman? And, of course, there was that lovely moment when a 12 year-old girl ate a french fry on a Metro platform and, as a result, was searched, handcuffed, put into a paddy wagon, and kept in the juvenile processing center for three hours. Ahh, Metro. Happy golden days.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority held their first-ever annual town hall meeting last night at their downtown D.C. headquarters.

If you've entered the Dupont Circle metrorail station from the 19th Street escalators, you may have seen this sign, which seems to be a joint Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority-Krispy Kreme public service announcement about taking Krispy Kreme underground. It says: "Resist temptation: We know it is hard to wait. But please, don't eat your donuts in Metro stations or trains. Thanks and have a nice day." DCist wonders whether this was done purely on...

Don't get us wrong. DCist likes the bus. We ride it everyday. And we appreciate all that Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority does to get us around town. But we have to wonder whether WMATA realizes that when it tries to do good, it can create more problems for commuters. A case in point: Yesterday, DCist was waiting for a 90/92 bus at the corner of Calvert Street and Connecticut Avenue in Woodley Park. We...

We finally found one. After nine months of searching, DCist spied someone wearing a WMATA metrorail shirt this weekend on a Connecticut Avenue sidewalk. (It was a Metro Center shirt, like the the one at left). Since we love to talk about transit issues, DCist has a few thoughts on D.C.’s attempts to enter the world of transit chic. London promotes “Mind the Gap.” Paris glorifies its Art Nouveau Metropolitan signage. And New York has...

WMATA is going to seek more money from local governments to cover a giant $41.7 million "spending gap" in order to avoid raising train and bus fares for a third year in a row. All the members of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's board have indicated that they do not want to increase the burden on the commuters, the AP reports via the Post.

The region is anticipating a massive amount of tropical moisture to be dumped in the next few days. Flooding is expected so if you are in an area that has bad drainage (e.g. your English basement apartment), keep an eye out for possible storm sewer backups, clogged outdoor drains, etc. The D.C. area is currently under flash flood watches and warnings.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has rolled out a new phone service for Spanish-speaking commuters.

Tired of delayed trains, dirty buses, overzealous transit police who'll handcuff you for eating a candy bar? Trying to file individual complaints with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority can have mixed results. But there may be some hope for D.C. commuters. We're getting a commuters union. Sort of.

It hasn't been a good week for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. As if constant underfunding, flooding and considerable subway delays weren't enough, the transit agency's overseeers aren't reacting well to the national publicity it has received for the arrest of an EPA scientist for eating a candy bar while entering the Metro Center subway station downtown. The Post reports that some Metro board members want a review of its detention policies for...

A day after flood waters shut down a metrorail operations room, a week after it admitted it was running out of electronic farecards and a month it was attacked for reducing late-night subway service to two-car trains all while increasing fares, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority seems to continue to anger riders. It is now arresting violaters of its no food and drink regulations. The Post reports that Metro Transit Police detained an Environmental...