This year has proved to be quite a ride for D.C.’s commuters, travelers, and residents. There were highs: record ridership, the Yellow Line extension (scheduled for Saturday!), the rollout of NextBus, Tangherlini’s arrival. There were lows: MetroAccess troubles, worker fatalities, Virginia politicians, Tangherlini’s departure. And of course, there was more traffic.

Heading into 2007, we’re looking forward to having a big debate over closing Metro’s budget shortfall. We’re excited to watch Metro’s new chief John Catoe take the helm, and we’re hoping he can pick up where Dan Tangherlini left off. There will be another infuriating rhetorical battle over transportation in Virginia (starting today, apparently), though elections looming in November might force some actual progress. We’re looking forward to a 2007 full of bad transit jokes, Examiner rebuttals, and long, long comment threads, and we hope you are too!

In our current post-eggnog, pre-champagne state (transit geeks like to party too!), we’ll probably wait ’till next week before we think about anything too seriously (besides the critical question of what to cook next on the panini press we got for Christmas…). It’s just as well, since this week has been predictably slow for transit news. However, the Post did run two interesting think pieces for those of you just itching to debate something in the comments.

We also have a few other last-minute trinkets we thought you might enjoy:
– Metro’s operating schedule for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day
– a long list of changes to Metrobus routes in the District, Maryland, and Virginia, that will take place in 2007 (beginning Sunday, Dec. 31)
– Metro’s schedule for winter track work.
Make sure you take a look before heading out into D.C.’s transportation wilderness. Happy, traffic-free New Year, everyone. We’ll see you in 2007!

Photo by methTICALman