Vincent Orange, fighting Kwame Brown for Gray’s seat, went with a smaller Cadillac SUV than his competitor. What, he couldn’t afford an orange paint job?

WMATA has announced that its Customer Information Call Center will reduce its operating hours in the coming new year. Beginning Sunday, Jan. 10, you won’t be able to reach a live person at 202-637-7000 after 8:30 p.m. Previously, the call center was staffed until 10:30 p.m. daily. Metro says it’s reducing customer service hours in an effort to trim costs, which is sure to be just the first in a series of service reductions customers are likely to see in 2010 as the transit agency grapples with impending budget shortfalls. Calls to the call center after 8:30 p.m. will still be routed to the 24-hour automated system that accesses Next Bus, trip planning, and other general information.

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